I saw this neat little circuit on a hobby website that uses this chip. It is a melody synthesizer that has about 10 Christmas tunes on it. I would like to get about 5 of those UM3481 chips for projects like that. I have checked the usual sources, Digikey, Newark, Maplin, BGMicro, EEM, eBay, but none have it. I know that Maplin had 'em about 3 years ago.
Thanks,
- Tim -
P.S. I filter out all the google mail addresses now, so I won't get a reply if you post info from there.
If you're not finding them, chances are good you won't find them.
That sort of thing never made full sense. Manufacturers want to build in large quantities, and they likely want something small (all those singing gift cards for instance, so they likely use those blobs of epoxy packaging, because their mass manufacturing methods make them easy to use (and maybe easier to use than a DIP) and they want the small package.
Which then leaves the DIPs for what? Prototyping? But anyone building millions of devices has the means to prototype with an exotic package. They also likely want to pick and choose the songs.
The hobbyist really seems to be the most likely target for DIP versions of such devices, and that market is terribly limited.
I once got some similar devices from Radio Shack here in Canada, the songs selection was more varied than Christmas songs, but they only carried them for a year and the two devices I bought were when they cleared them out to make way for new exotic devices that would be cleared out a year later.
That's like asking people to reply by email, but then mangling the email address so they have to fuss to help you.
People who want help can't actually afford to ignore help.
Michael
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:42:05 -0300, Tim put finger to keyboard and composed:
FWIW, the UM3481A appears in a 1988 UMC Consumer ICs Product Guide. If it helps, the Seiko-Epson equivalent was the SVM7990.
- Franc Zabkar
-- Please remove one \'i\' from my address when replying by email.
You can get UM3482 here
and the kits using 3482
FYI, I am not related to this company whatsoever.
Allen
Sorry, the datasheet says that it contains 12 songs but none of them are Christmas songs. Datasheet available here:
The um3481 has 8 xmas songs.... see page 2 of datasheet.
Allen
Those melody-generator chips have been available off-and-on to hobbyists over the years, but usually their sale is shut down by the music companies for (get this) copyright infringement.
When those chips are incorporated into a doorbell or a toy or a greeting card the seller of the doorbell or toy is responsible for paying royalties for the tunes not in the public domain. The raw chips though do not include the royalty charge (the royalty charge usually depends on the country where the end-product is sold - usually not where the chip was made or first sold. Not that there would be much chance of collecting a royalty in most countries where the melody generator chip was maufactured, anyway!)
You might think the music companies would have bigger fish to fry... but you'd be wrong! Look at how the girl scouts have been under legal action from ASCAP for singing "Happy Birthday" at camps:
Tim.
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