> It is pretty annoying that they don't explain it better. My bet is Y is > the long orientation of the package and X is at a right angle to that, > both on a plane parallel to the circuit board.. Please report back and > let us know. The irksome thing is that there IS no "long orientation": the package is square, with pads 1, 2, and 3 along one side, 5, 6, and 7 along the opposite side, and 4 and 8 opposite each other on the other two edges. What's more, in the datasheet, the chip is usually pictured from the underside, with pin 8 being at the "top" of the diagram, and numbering clockwise from there with 1 at the upper right. That diagram MIGHT lead one to believe that the X-axis would go "left-right" (as I speculated in the OP), with the Y-axis orthogonal. One would be wrong. ;-) The actual orientation is the other way: Y goes "left-right" and X "up-down". Grrr. Mike H. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist