Brian Striggow wrote:

> Working at getting first PIC program going on 12c509, ...  By the time
> I had things going, it appeared that 3 output pins were dead.

> I seem to recall breadboarding a CMOS chip once, and in my enthusiasm
> to try the thing, I powered it up without tying down the spare inputs.
> Chip exploded, (post mortem indicated it was wired correctly).

  I can't believe this would occur from having un-tied inputs.  Chip
inserted upside-down perhaps, but *not* un-tied inputs.  Squib maybe!

  Compared to the rest of the list, this guy sounds accident-prone! ;-)
--
  Cheers,
        Paul B.