kits?

[Guest]

lady
when u say u will have kits, do u mean kits for minty mp3, or the mini minty? or both. i want to order the mini minty, if you are finish.

[adafruit]

im just going to have miniminty kits. hopefully soon...working on it. i just got my MP3 chip samples from VLSI so I can start writing c0de

[xoxota]

Hi LadyAda. Which VL chip are you considering using? The 1003 just became available for sampling, and supports MP3, WMA, and MIDI. Check it out: http://www.vlsi.fi/download/download.shtml

[adafruit]

MIDI? wtf?

that chip isnt available in SOIC so im not using it.

[xoxota]

What the heck does SOIC stand for, anyways? I never took a surface mount course or anything, so I'm not familiar with all the package names, and what they mean. I mean, I know TQFP stands for something Quad Flat Pack, and that a 1206 package is larger than a 0603, but...

Do you know of a good Web Reference I can use to look these things up, when I get lost?

thanks,

[adafruit]

i think SOIC stands for "small outline IC" and its the 'easiest' of the surface mount components. i think philips has a big catalog. basically, the ftdi/pic is TQFP (thin quad flat pack) and the STA013 and CS4334 (or whatever) is SOIC. my list of preference (for kits) is: DIP, SOIC, PLCC, TQFP, TSSOP, CSP and BGA. I need good tools to do TSSOP, can barely do CSP and BGA is impossible.

SOIC is a happy package: its easy to solder, and the pins are wide enough to pass traces through.

[xoxota]

my list of preference (for kits) is: DIP, SOIC, PLCC, TQFP, TSSOP, CSP and BGA. I need good tools to do TSSOP, can barely do CSP and BGA is impossible.

uhmm.... Okay. Where can I find information on all these package types? I've also heard of a "no-lead" package type (similar to TQFP, but with no leads at all). What possible use can this package type be, if you can't connect it? Maybe I'm just naive...

thanks,

[LP]

I am so buying a kit when they are ready

[chaostic]

my list of preference (for kits) is: DIP, SOIC, PLCC, TQFP, TSSOP, CSP and BGA. I need good tools to do TSSOP, can barely do CSP and BGA is impossible.

uhmm.... Okay. Where can I find information on all these package types? I've also heard of a "no-lead" package type (similar to TQFP, but with no leads at all). What possible use can this package type be, if you can't connect it? Maybe I'm just naive...

thanks,

I think by no leads it means that the connections are underneath the body, like the V1003 has, or spring leads which make it easily removable. The pic18LF542-I/L I got for minty is the latter. (I did get the right package as well, also got the dip package)

And boy was I wrong to start a USB soundcard project with the main chip being SSOP28 then... Thank god for that toaster oven reflow trick.