Howard Winter wrote:
> I just checked my Microchip Universal Programming Module (AC162049)
> which has, confusingly, a *black* 3M socket, and its instructions
> say, in BIG LETTERS: "***Warning*** ZIF socket handle must be in the
> up (locked) position prior to programming the microcontorller or it
> will not program properly".  Handle-up on this moves the gold-plated
> leaves in each slot apart, which I had previously thought was "open".

That sounds like a screwup in the documentation.  It was probably cut and
pasted from the PicStart+ documentation, which uses the same Aries ZIF
socket as the EasyProg except with the opposite handle orientation.  With
the Aries units, there is no way to insert a chip with the pins closed.

> Doing it either way will grip the IC pins, but doing it their way
> means the contact is on one side only and the holding pressure is
> from a spring.  Treating handle-down as closed means both-sides
> contact, with the force of pushing the handle down applying the
> holding pressure.

On the Aries units, the handle force is always used to oppose the spring
that tries to keep the pins closed.  This is good, since it means the handle
can't be used to jam the socket shut on unusually wide pins, which might
damage the pins or the socket.


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