[sdiy] synth uses for LM3909

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Thursday 13 January 2005 04:57 pm, anthony wrote:

> I used to have an LM3909 LED flasher that I played with when I was a kid. I
> was lamenting the fact that I seem to have lost it somewhere over the years
> and wondered what synth uses it might have had. So I thought I'd just check
> and see if they had them at Mouser. It's like $11.50. That seems like a lot
> for such a simple little chip.

That's absurd.  Perhaps it's no longer being made?

> So should I just cherish fond memories and say goodbye to the LM3909 and 
> just stick with 555's (and 556's and 558's)?

The biggest advantage to using one of those chips is that you could get a 
flashing LED that would run off a _single_ 1.5V cell.  Other than that there 
was nothing all that special about them.  I saw a web page somewhere where 
somebody was trying to create an equivalent circuit,  but I wasn't real sure 
why they were bothering to do that...