EEVblog: The 555 Timer is 55 years old

(youtube.com)

86 points | by brudgers 2 hours ago

12 comments

  • amelius 2 minutes ago
    What component values do you need to time exactly 55 years?

    Maybe it could work if you used 55 timers?

  • 3form 1 hour ago
    5:55 video released on May 5th, as per description :)

    For something feeling like a fairly specific IC, I remember seeing many projects that use it throughout the years in wacky ways - and seeing it makes me happy to know that the sentiment for this little piece is shared.

  • aj7 1 minute ago
    The late Harold DuBose use to use the 555 as a power inverter as it could sink 200ma at the laser companies he worked for. Convenient and cheap.
  • tuvix 59 minutes ago
    Built an atari punk console using these with my late father. Still have it hanging on my wall in a shadow box.
    • swed420 44 minutes ago
      I recently dug one out to use as a hardware shutdown timer to power off an rpi's PSU once it has presumably halted without having to resort to a dedicated MCU for the task.
  • davidwritesbugs 1 hour ago
    Oh god I feel old. I remember being an excited schoolboy thinking how magic this was when it debuted.
    • Brian_K_White 6 minutes ago
      For me that is blue leds.
    • davidwritesbugs 1 hour ago
      I also remember being amazed, and did a forehead slap, when an old army bomb disposal man explained how, what I thought was an innocent device, was used by the IRA in bombs.
      • nickcw 50 minutes ago
        Ha. When I was a teenager I used to build 555s into timers for the same purpose using a no PCB rats nest construction.

        Though surprising the family at dinner with a small explosion was a much more innocent purpose.

  • longwave 42 minutes ago
    Big Clive is currently livestreaming to celebrate the 555's birthday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzNjFJdaw_I
  • encom 3 minutes ago
    Can't watch it right now, but upvoted for Dave Jones. He's taught me so much. Absolute treasure, and the host of one of the last great active forums. Thank you for not blackholing all that info on the disaster that is Discord, like so many other communities.
  • SoleilAbsolu 40 minutes ago
    I still have the Forrest Mims III Radio Shack "555 Engineer's Mini-Notebook" somewhere in my basement. And rumor has it that Sammy Hagar can't drive 555 because his car just isn't fast enough!
  • nom 1 hour ago
    also today's date is 5.5. and the video is 5m55s
  • kazinator 45 minutes ago
    Time to slow it down to lower frequencies and give it more frequent checkups.
  • ilvez 53 minutes ago
    killer oneshot, laughed hard..
  • robofanatic 59 minutes ago
    and this is the fifth comment