IC Chip Pin-out Cheat Sheet

[mimmotronics]

I've made up this cheat sheet to help myself out, thought I'd share it here for everybody: http://mimmotronics.com/resources/

It has pinouts for most single/dual/quad op amps, PT2399, LM13700, along with other digital ICs. Hoping I included everything I normally use, if there is anything largely/moderately used in your projects that isn't on the sheet let me know and I'll update it!

Looking on doing a smaller one for various Transistors next. Most are the same pinout but there are enough differences to justify a cheat sheet. Any recommendations there?

Hope this helps somebody!

[Rob Strand]

Those things are always useful.    When I was kid the Disk Smith catalogue (an electronics part's supplier) had a section in the back with that type of thing.  It was really useful.  Especially since datasheets were not readily available to kids.   Some companies might send them out if you asked nicely.

Adding transistors, JFETs and MOSFETs would be useful.

[Edit:  oh the internet ...
https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/F98/XNNF/HRTWJLRK/F98XNNFHRTWJLRK.pdf
It got edited over the years, this is a later version.
]

[DIY Bass]

Man that brings back memories.  Those catalogues were indispensable, and a bargain for only $2.  Best place to get resistor colour codes as well.

[Rob Strand]

and a bargain for only $2.

There was a period where I remember holding out until April to see if EA or ETI came with a free copy.

[R.G.]

Another useful version of a pinout cheat sheet is to simply grab the datasheet for each new chip you use. As Rob says, it used to be very difficult for anyone not in the electronics business to get any part data, but the internet now makes it super simple. Type the part number into a search engine and you have many, many places to find the datasheet. The chip makers even offer all of their datasheets at their web site.

I guess that in a way, the internet IS the compendium of all pinouts and datasheets. But sometimes I don't have an internet link when I'm working. So I've taken the precaution of never simply looking up a datasheet - when I find a sheet for a chip I don't already know, it gets downloaded to the "Datasheets" file folder, in the sub-folder for that kind of devices: transistors, JFETs, MOSFETs, Opamps, CMOS, microcontrollers, and so on. This is a little bit of a pain at first, but after a while, there are very, very few parts that need searches any more. All the common parts are already in there.

But that doesn't make a readily available printed sheet. I've also become fairly fussy about printing out the schematics and pinouts of the parts in a project. It becomes very useful after a while to have a proper schematic for the unwelcome but always possible troubleshooting. Over time, it's become a time saver for me personally to draw up the schemos and such as I go along and print them when I start soldering on parts. The little time on every project saves me a lot of time on the few that neet a lot of troubleshooting.

I have done a similar thing to the pinout sheet you mention. I include a pinout page on all the booklets I do on Vox amplifier service and repair. The folks who will be doing those generally don't do enough electronics to have accumulated a part data subdirectory on their own, I reasoned.

[reddesert]

Beavis Audio had a convenient page of transistor pinouts and gain range data. Still available at https://web.archive.org/web/20150515172712/http://beavisaudio.com:80/techpages/Transistor-Pinouts/index.htm

[amptramp]

One more reason to love tubes.  I have the General Electric, RCA and Sylvania tube manuals and they each have their uses.

I have transistor and IC manuals as well and they come in handy as well.

A lot of information is on the net as well.

[Rob Strand]

So I've taken the precaution of never simply looking up a datasheet - when I find a sheet for a chip I don't already know, it gets downloaded to the "Datasheets" file folder, in the sub-folder for that kind of devices: transistors, JFETs, MOSFETs, Opamps, CMOS, microcontrollers, and so on. This is a little bit of a pain at first, but after a while, there are very, very few parts that need searches any more. All the common parts are already in there.

Funnily enough I do a similar thing.  What's always been the case is datasheets for a given device don't always contain the same information.  Some have specific data or graphs, min/typ/max info which is not on any other datasheets.  For these I write a note in the filename.    Believe it or not, at one company I worked for my compiled datasheets for all the projects were forcefully impounded without offering me the chance to make a copy to my local drive!

[R.G.]

I saw similar experiences at my longtime first employer.  When PCs came around, and some data in my PC was worthwhile to me and not company property, an offsite backup always got made.

They reinforced for me that a modest sized or larger company does not and can not love you. No surprise that, but it's amazing how many people forget it. Your employer rents your talents and abilities. Keep that in mind and both you and your employer will do better from the arrangement.

[Rob Strand]

They reinforced for me that a modest sized or larger company does not and can not love you. No surprise that, but it's amazing how many people forget it. Your employer rents your talents and abilities. Keep that in mind and both you and your employer will do better from the arrangement.

Actually I do draw a line between company stuff and my own.  My work PC's have virtually zero personal stuff on them.   In my case the data impounded was for the company's projects.  It was effectively part of their design documents.  That included data for the obsoleted parts, the replacement parts and any notes I made about them!

[R.G.]

Actually I do draw a line between company stuff and my own.  My work PC's have virtually zero personal stuff on them.   In my case the data impounded was for the company's projects.  It was effectively part of their design documents.  That included data for the obsoleted parts, the replacement parts and any notes I made about them!

I have the same kind of line. The company made this more difficult by having a practice of allowing personal use of company machines as long as it did not consume significant resources, was limited in scope and did not interfere with company business. How's that for making things muddy?

[Rob Strand]

The company made this more difficult by having a practice of allowing personal use of company machines as long as it did not consume significant resources, was limited in scope and did not interfere with company business. How's that for making things muddy?

I can see the intent but where the line is is like spreading chalk dust over the whole field.

[R.G.]

Yep. It was muddy at best.

However, much like USA enforcement of laws today, it was, as they say, subject to prosecutorial discretion. Whether any sanctions were ever enforced depended on who you were, who you knew, how well placed the people you knew were, and whether there was a prosecutor looking to make a name for themselves.

Of course, we didn't have the added attraction of legislatures engaging in legislating as theater; passing laws criminalizing [insert current public frenzy here] and posing for photography with statements about how "There, we fixed that. It's now illegal, so no one will ever do it, right?"

[Rob Strand]

However, much like USA enforcement of laws today, it was, as they say, subject to prosecutorial discretion. Whether any sanctions were ever enforced depended on who you were, who you knew, how well placed the people you knew were, and whether there was a prosecutor looking to make a name for themselves.

Of course, we didn't have the added attraction of legislatures engaging in legislating as theater; passing laws criminalizing [insert current public frenzy here] and posing for photography with statements about how "There, we fixed that. It's now illegal, so no one will ever do it, right?"

I have to say I share your views.   It's all a crazy show and I wonder where it's all going.  The concept of doing the right thing is either non-existent or diluted by the short term knee-jerk BS.    Having said that I look at what goes in other countries and they are pretty screwed-up.  The innocent guy in the street can really suffer through no fault of his own as a result of scape-goating and/or corruption.