How is Chipageddon affecting you?

[SiliconWizard]

Surely tube distortion is understood well enough that someone could implement it in a DSP block.  I get the 'cool factor' of having real tubes but that only goes so far.

A lot of guitar amp simulation in DSP is going exactly that.

Yep. And coming up with a good simulation is incredibly hard. It has been attempted for several decades with varying levels of success. Some approaches do sound better than others. Most of the "best" ones are patented anyway. It's a lot harder than it looks. There are also hundreds of papers about just this.

Anyway, the idea is relatively irrelevant to the current situation.
Many DSPs and CPUs in general are not any more currently available than tubes, so...

[TimFox]

Before the current panic, the usual problem that the hardware engineers at my employer had is that they would find an ideal product from Maxim, design it in, and then they would discontinue the device.
My useful reply was "But, I can still buy 6L6s!"

[IDEngineer]

My useful reply was "But, I can still buy 6L6s!"

In keeping with the title of this thread, updated for the Russia situation and that comment about the guy in France:

"But, I can still buy make 6L6s!"

[TimFox]

Maybe UX201As, but 6L6s are a bit harder.

[IDEngineer]

I'd still argue that for garage-based fabrication I'd have a better chance with tubes than semiconductors.

Although that one guy has been fabbing chips in HIS garage, so there is hope.

[tom66]

Maxim has been the odd one out in this whole situation, almost no issues with their parts.  Meanwhile we're not designing any new products with TI parts as we receive zero assurances about their availability and frequently there are no stocking distributors for the majority of their parts.

[M4trix]

41.494 Expected 5/12/2023

LM35DT is almost unobtainium these days. Well, looks like I will have to redesign my project with some other solution. 

https://hr.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Texas-Instruments/LM35DT-NOPB?qs=QbsRYf82W3GXt6%2FRzDIixw%3D%3D

[MadScientist]

I’m trying to design an e-fuse system , but there’s not a high side automotive switch to be had , sheesh

[MT]

ASML the machine that makes chips cant get chips to make the machine that make chips says its CEO who also includes the geopolitics aspect
 

[cdev]

No more distorted Putin rock and roll!

Putin was one of the guys that made the blue jeans illegal, raising their prices through the roof..
He stayed in the KGB building to protect the files when the STASI guys were all deserting their posts, and "changing into civilian clothes" whatever that meant. Or so I heard. (He was in the former DDR) He was mad that the former USSR was imploding under its own weight.

[thinkfat]

i have a design using an AD5693R nanoDAC which is hardly available these days. Looks like I will be able to buy some in August this year, right now they're not in stock at any of the major distributors. This particular DAC is hard to replace, for me, mainly due to the 2ppm internal voltage reference. The price has gone up, too. In single quantities, it's listed at >8€ at Mouser. When I last bought it, the price was around 6.50€.

[peter-h]

Maxim has been the odd one out in this whole situation, almost no issues with their parts

Maybe, at a price of 3x what it should be... OK if you aren't buying 10k of them.

And there are fake parts circulating so you have to be very careful
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/fake-max3089csd-date-code-1338/msg4092550/#msg4092550

[SiliconWizard]

That's ironic, as Maxim parts' availability in general was recurently problematic before the shortage.

[tom66]

That's ironic, as Maxim parts' availability in general was recurently problematic before the shortage.

And this might be one reason they haven't suffered as much.  Anyone with two brain cells avoided designing in Maxim parts unless there was no other option due to their spontaneously disappearing nature, but ironically that means during a supply shock they actually manage to keep most lines going better than TI or ADI. 

[peter-h]

I cut Maxim out of all new designs the moment they changed from "normal comms" (email, phone) to that stupid ticketing system.

My firm has a direct account with Maxim and it became a real battle even just to get a quote. So I moved to buying Maxim chips from their distis, paying some 20% more. I told their US chief exec that this is an incredibly stupid and arrogant policy; he sounded supportive but soon moved on.

Lately, they have managed to communicate ok by email about that fake MAX3089 but I think the damage has been done. And the reality is that an awful lot of Maxim chips can be replaced with TI or ST, and a lot of the ST ones are relatively unknown, so are available.

Lately I put a lot more effort into replacements and have managed to do most of them - except the MAX3089.

[floobydust]

Analog Devices acquired Maxim for $21B, completed Aug. 21, 2021.
So while I would hope there will be changes with Maxim products, but I won't design them in, still feel a burn when I did that years ago.

[peter-h]

The general idea is avoiding unusual chips whenever possible.

So if you can use an LM358, do so. Of course often it isn't possible, and then one has to look around and make a judgement. Normally TI and ST parts have been good. Normally Maxim have been trouble. Japanese parts are normally ok and are still fairly well available today, probably because they have not been "mainstream" in the West. Who is designing-in Hitachi processors? 25 years ago they were all the rage.

It's gonna be a lot of fun if there are sanctions against China - all those who designed in the ESP32, which gives you loads of bang for the buck compared to ST

[Mangozac]

It's gonna be a lot of fun if there are sanctions against China - all those who designed in the ESP32, which gives you loads of bang for the buck compared to ST

If there are sanctions against China ESP32 availability will be the least of the issues - whether we like it or not almost the entire electronics supply chain is built around China. If everybody suddenly tried to get non-semiconductor parts from the few manufacturers outside of China it would make current 60 week lead times seem like a walk in the park!

[tom66]

If there are sanctions against China ESP32 availability will be the least of the issues - whether we like it or not almost the entire electronics supply chain is built around China. If everybody suddenly tried to get non-semiconductor parts from the few manufacturers outside of China it would make current 60 week lead times seem like a walk in the park!

I think this is a good reason that short of Xi Jinping going mad like Putin (and there's so far no evidence that he will), sanctions against China are unlikely.

China, unlike Russia, is highly integrated with the West with its technology sectors and booming middle class.  While the war in Ukraine is senseless, Putin may have been able to justify his expansionist aims.  There is oil and gas in both Donbas and Crimea.  But China would be decimated by Western sanctions, with very little to gain.   They can shout about Taiwan all day, but it doesn't bring any benefit to them to take it. 

Europe and the USA would still be wise to build up strong semiconductor production and supply chain outside of China and Taiwan though, if only for economic reasons.

[IDEngineer]

Europe and the USA would still be wise to build up strong semiconductor production and supply chain outside of China and Taiwan though, if only for economic reasons.

They'd be well advised to build a defense around ASML's corporate headquarters too. That is the very definition of "single sourced", literally for the entire planet.

[nctnico]

Europe and the USA would still be wise to build up strong semiconductor production and supply chain outside of China and Taiwan though, if only for economic reasons.

They'd be well advised to build a defense around ASML's corporate headquarters too. That is the very definition of "single sourced", literally for the entire planet.

There is. There are nukes stationed just 20km away from ASML's HQ.

[Howardlong]

Even SN74LS04N in DIP is unavailable from distributors.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Even SN74LS04N in DIP is unavailable from distributors.

Well there are some if you're really desperate :
https://www.rocelec.com/part/NSC74LS04PC?utm_source=findChips&utm_medium=buyNow

Also, who still uses DIL 74LS04's?

[Howardlong]

Even SN74LS04N in DIP is unavailable from distributors.

Well there are some if you're really desperate :
https://www.rocelec.com/part/NSC74LS04PC?utm_source=findChips&utm_medium=buyNow

Also, who still uses DIL 74LS04's?

LOL!

Well, it’s not for new stuff, it’s for repairing old stuff.

Back when I started, 74LS was too expensive for a kid on a paper round, we had to make do with vanilla 74 series, many desoldered from surplus boards.

74LS saw in the dawn of microcomputers that didn’t need massive heatsinks on expensive voltage regulators.

Old farts like me used a resistor, a zener and a discrete Darlington using a 2N3055, the posh kids used an LM309K or, posher still, LM323K, in a TO3.

Edit: Holy f…! $10.44 and it’s Nat Semi, not even TI ;-)

[floobydust]

LM555 "Expected 2023-04-24" ouch the jellybeans look affected.