> When the DS1620 is in continuous conversion mode, polling the DONE bit
for conversion status does
> not seem to be a good idea since it *seems* to be always logical 0
(conversion in progress). This makes
> sense why my PIC16C84 was caught in a loop waiting for the conversion to
complete (logical 1).

> I'm not sure if the DS1620 always keeps the DONE bit cleared in this
continuous mode *or* the chances of
> catching "1" in the DONE bit comes down to chance (due to the cyclical
nature of continuous mode).
>
> It *seems* that the DONE bit is only useful in one-shot mode (which I'm
now using), but the data sheet
> does not particularly say so.
>
> Any comments?
>
> Please humble me if this seems obvious, but this may prevent someone else
from wasting a few hours like I did.

First comment is that your timing is impeccable. I just delivered a 1620
based device yesterday and did go through the time wasting.
There are a couple of things that aren't crystal clear in the data sheet. I
came to the same conclusion that you did regarding the done bit. The other
thing that wasn't very clear, was if the data register was buffered or not.
The diagram infers that it isn't but I was never able to get a stupid
reading, so it looks as though it is.
Random reading seems to be OK. I didn't try multiple reads within a (1
second) conversion time though.

Steve.