Undetermined origin c/o LISTSERV administrator wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> Just digging through my scrap box a while ago, I came across an IC
> socketed next to a 7 seg LED display on an old bit of veroboard. The
> markings are all faded badly.
> I'm assuming it is some sort of BCD to 7 seg driver or something
> similar.
> The marking could be:
> DM74S238 or something similar.
>
> Any ideas??
>
> Anton Coetzee.

DM 8880 is a 4-bit to seven segment decoder, a bit hard to get nowadays,
but very usefull 'cos it decodes HEX, (not just 0-9 and shows rubbish
if given a BCD input higher than 1010, like the 7447) and 'cos it has
high voltage open collector outputs, can directly drive gas plasma
displays, incandescent, or just about anythig 7-segment short of an LCD,
which was'nt around then. I think Farnell (in UK) still supply them, at
a silly price of about $10.

jim ford