Sockets (was:: Solus Troubleshooting Results)

[Haible Juergen]

	>BTW sockets are not recommended for analog circuits - contacts may
	>get lousy after some time.

I use sockets for everything (not the cheap ones, though).
The good thing is that you can try different components
while you're testing (should I stick to the 4558, or can I
replace it with a 5532 - not so obvious, sometimes ...).
When everything is finished, you can still solder the IC
to the socket. I rarely do this for DIL ICs, but for transistors
or TO-case ICs in DIL sockets.
You can also solder two corner pins to the socket only,
as a compromise. (Easy to remove, and still some security
against breaking loose.)

There are a few ICs that should *never* be used in sockets,
though. LM339 is one example. (Unless you have a 
hysteresis on each comparator)

JH.