Extreme Electronics
What is your favorite 4000 series CMOS chip ?
Mar 10 at 7:54amWeb
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
Mine was always 4011... closely followed by 4001, 4020 and 4017.
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@Extelec 4011 is just too useful and foundational for all the other circuits but what about a 4007 which is almost lot logic at all? It was a favourite of a late friend and it should get a mention, you can make so many cool things with a 4007.
Show threadconcretedogMar 10
@Extelec oooh 4017 is a beauty. CD40106 hex schmidt was in many ways my 555. Loved a 4011 and a 4040. Cheekily gonna add the motorola mc series 14557B as well!
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@concretedog what did you use the 14577 for ?
Show threadconcretedogMar 10
@Extelec why a musical tap looper design of course! https://concretedog.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-tap-looper-design.html?m=1
New Tap Looper Design

I'm continuing to explore the tap looper concept and have come up with this schematic for a variable length, tap programmable looper (click ...

Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@concretedog ahem thats a 14557 not 14577 video amp :)
Show threadconcretedogMar 10
@Extelec doh!
Show threadconcretedogMar 10
@Extelec I got the 14557B bit right though... its a long time ago!
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@concretedog It did prompt the question, I really thought there was an alternate use for the video amp chip i was unaware of :)
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@concretedog @Extelec 40106 was also the favourite of Ray Wilson of MFOS and I can see how it could be your 555.
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@synx508 @concretedog 4011 was my 555 :)
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@synx508 @concretedog and this was my bible :)
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@Extelec @concretedog Weirdly mine was 4047, because my introduction to 4000 series parts was through Tom Duncan's Adventures with Microelectronics, the followup to Adventures with Electronics. I never had the third book, Adventures with Digital Electronics, so I don't know what happened next…
Show threadconcretedogMar 10
@synx508 @Extelec I was a big fan of Ray. So sad when he passed. I chipped in a donation for his funeral costs. :(
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@Extelec I once owned about 10,000 4020s that I'd bought from Bonex for £50, which also meant that I'd cycled the 11 miles home with them on a bike without panniers. It took me years to get rid of them at rallies and still find tubes of them in unexpected places. I still remember the huge box that they were originally in had a hole in it and it would occasionally launch some tubes of 4020s as I cycled home.
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@Extelec thinking about it, it must've been more like 2,000, an unmanageable quantity …anyway
Show threadftgMar 11
@synx508 @Extelec
I still have around 900pcs of TC4069UBP's.
Many problems start looking like they can be solved by some unbuffered hex inverters.
Show threadDamonHDMar 10
@Extelec 4007
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@DamonHD interesting choice and not one I've ever used.
Show threadDamonHDMar 10
@Extelec IIRC ~50Y ago I was able with a #4007 to build an audio oscillator that drove a crystal earpiece, drew ~7nA (??? that's my memory!), and ran off a 470uF cap for ages!
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@Extelec Difficult to choose, when I was 11 it was 4511 7 segment decoder driver, followed by 4017 for making LEDs flash in sequence. Today I know too many and although I like the more MSI ones perhaps something mundane like a 4011 would be a favourite but I use 4066s the most. If you'd asked me in 1991 it would've been a 4060, 4024 or a 4046
Show threadNathan DumontMar 10
@Extelec 4060 although I was once shocked to find that Fairchild and Phillips made chips with different output dividers with the same part number!
Show threadAdrianMar 10
@Extelec as a fan of 9V batteries I'd say all of them, but 4046 especially
Show threadchmod777Mar 10
@Extelec
Not really my favorite but the one I know the best. For a class I implemented the 4511 on an FPGA.
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@Extelec I've just remembered a discussion about 4000 series chips where one of the designers entered the chat (actually a redesigner). I think it was the 74HC4046A, which *is* awesome but maybe HC doesn't count here.
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@synx508 the 4046 (non hc) counts though, used that a lot when teslacoiling.
Show threadalphabetterMar 10
@Extelec Duh! 4017 - how else are you going to make LED scrollers?
Show threadRhii Alexander 🏳️‍⚧️Mar 10
@Extelec 4011, idk why, I think it was because when I was 11/12 I followed a tutorial that taught how to build a computer out of them; and now I'm here, and here is pretty nice
Show threadRay McCarthyMar 10
@Extelec
It was the 4046 PLL for a while then the 4066 Quad switch.
Maybe now the 4069U unbuffered Hex inverter as it can be an amp or osc up to 18V.
Long ago I switched to 74HC logic instead of slow 4000 series.
Show threadrasteriMar 10
@Extelec IIRC one of the analog switches has an unbuffered control signal, so you could use it like a VCA. 4016? 4066?
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@rasteri 4066 quad analogue switch iirc
Show threadPhilip BraggMar 10
@rasteri @Extelec IIRC 4016 is more amenable to using it in a linear mode but it's a while since I tried. 4066s are used with a PWM control signal in several 1980s and even early 1990s broadcast audio processors, you get a 40dB or so of control range with no meaningful distortion, just add low pass filters on the i/o to get rid of the switching noise and to prevent aliasing.
Show threadrasteriMar 10
@synx508 @Extelec Oh, neat! I used to use the combination of 4066 + 4013 D-flipflop to make click-less mute switches. The latch causes it to wait for the next zero crossing.
Show threadDaveMar 10

@Extelec

the 4069 is pretty nice

Show threadBrian Danger HicksMar 10
@Extelec 4066
Show threadRue MohrMar 10
@Extelec CD4060 crystal oscillator/counter.
Show threadEric BrombaughMar 10
@Extelec The 4046 PLL
Show threadAaronMar 10
@Extelec 4049UB, because you can use it for analog stuff as well as digital.
Show threadSamantaz FoxMar 10
@Extelec Probably the 4017 counter.
Show threadHenning Paul DC4HPMar 10
@Extelec 4052
Show threadartiMar 10
@Extelec 4052 - 2 channel 4:1 analog multiplexer
Show threadTim BMar 10
@Extelec
4060 clocked at 3.2768mhz 😀 
Show threadExtreme ElectronicsMar 10
@TLB73 Yes, done that a few times.