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Jinx | 1 Oct 01:22
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

> There is any hope someday Latin American to be covered?

Odd that Cuba appears to be supported, unless shipments to there
are restricted some other way

I can't figure out the rationale of how a particular country is included.
You might expect very few, if any, requests from Bhutan and more
than a few from England (England ? Great Britain, please)

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Jinx | 1 Oct 01:34
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

> My reading of the list was that the list contained countries NOT
> supported by the free offer.
> 
> So NZ & OZ are OK..

Yes, that was how I read it too. Sorry, my reply was ambiguous.
The 'snubbed' feeling was meant as a general comment to those
still on the list, although historically local distributors haven't been
helpful with samples

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Terry Harris | 1 Oct 01:07
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:02:14 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

>what happened? It confused people when it happens back and forth. Is the system malfunction?

Maybe they figured out a way to identify the people who were ordering
samples to sell on ebay? 

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M.L. | 1 Oct 01:27

Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 7:07 PM, Terry Harris <terry.harris <at> iname.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:02:14 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>
>>what happened? It confused people when it happens back and forth. Is the system malfunction?
>
> Maybe they figured out a way to identify the people who were ordering
> samples to sell on ebay?
>

Are people really dumb enough to buy samples on ebay?

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Bob Ammerman | 1 Oct 01:30
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry Harris" <terry.harris <at> iname.com>
To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." <piclist <at> mit.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 7:07 PM
Subject: Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:02:14 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>
>>what happened? It confused people when it happens back and forth. Is the 
>>system malfunction?
>
> Maybe they figured out a way to identify the people who were ordering
> samples to sell on ebay?

or they decided that the lost legitimate sampling opportunities (ie: to real 
engineers designing real products) was more costly than what they would end 
up giving away.  Note that a real engineer, especially working for a big 
company would probably have to jump through several hoops to get the $7.50 
s/h paid for sample orders (the bigger the company the bigger the hassle).

-- Bob Ammerman
RAm Systems

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peter green | 1 Oct 01:45

Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.


> Are people really dumb enough to buy samples on ebay?
>   
I can imagine people will buy chips on ebay. Especially if they just 
want one of a chip and  can't get a free sample for some reason (where 
they live, sample quota run out, simply aren't aware free samples exist 
and so on) and want to avoid the small order charges/ minimum order 
sizes that the big vendors give individual customers. How would the 
customer know where the ebay seller sourced the chips?

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Dwayne Reid | 1 Oct 01:55
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Re: [EE] Cheap and easy way to read unisolated thermocouple

At 04:55 PM 9/30/2009, Tony Vandiver wrote:
>Is there a down and dirty way to measure thermocouples reliably even 
>when they are not isolated?

Not really.

Nowadays, I pretty much insist on isolated thermocouples.  They can 
be priced reasonably if you work with the manufacturer and you are 
buying in at least hundred lot quantities.

One approach I tried in years gone by was to use an isolated dc-dc 
convertor and an opto-isolator: the thermocouple reading was 
digitized, then sent over the opto-isolator.  It worked but its not 
cheap.  Figure on at least 10 bucks extra cost per isolated channel.

dwayne

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(780) 489-3199 voice          (780) 487-6397 fax
www.trinity-electronics.com
Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing

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Tamas Rudnai | 1 Oct 02:09
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:46 PM, WH Tan <whsiung.my <at> gmail.com> wrote:

> Just out of my own curiosity, I log on to my account and check what's
> happening.  And I think if you go to the profile page under sample
> home (not the microchip direct or microchip home), you will see from
> the dropdown list. At the moment, I believe the online system accepts
> order from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, NZ, Puerto Rico,
> USA and UK.
>

Oh Gosh! Thanks for the tip! I have checked my account info, and as Ireland
is no longer supported they set my home country automatically to Australia!
I guess it is simply because that is the very first one on the supported
list. So that's why it showed $0 fee when I have checked... (I have not
looked at my profile before as I never could ever possible imagine that this
kind of thing could happen...)

Thanks
Tamas

>
>
> --
> WH Tan
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Terry Harris | 1 Oct 03:05
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:30:47 -0400, Bob Ammerman wrote:

>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Terry Harris" <terry.harris <at> iname.com>
>To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." <piclist <at> mit.edu>
>Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 7:07 PM
>Subject: Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.
>
>
>> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:02:14 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>>
>>>what happened? It confused people when it happens back and forth. Is the 
>>>system malfunction?
>>
>> Maybe they figured out a way to identify the people who were ordering
>> samples to sell on ebay?
>
>or they decided that the lost legitimate sampling opportunities (ie: to real 
>engineers designing real products) was more costly than what they would end 
>up giving away.

Real engineers designing real products don't choose components on the basis
of availability of free samples. Non-availability (in small quantities with
short lead time) can be a factor but not having to pay a few dollars for
them isn't. 

For simple components with a mechanical aspect like switches and connectors
evaluation is mostly just looking at them and putting samples in engineers
hands could be a worth while loss leader. The effort required to evaluate
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Scott | 1 Oct 03:41
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Re: [PIC] Microchip samples totally free again.

>
>
> Real engineers designing real products don't choose components on the basis
> of availability of free samples. Non-availability (in small quantities with
> short lead time) can be a factor but not having to pay a few dollars for
> them isn't.
>
> For simple components with a mechanical aspect like switches and connectors
> evaluation is mostly just looking at them and putting samples in engineers
> hands could be a worth while loss leader. The effort required to evaluate
> most Microchip products make paying a few dollars for the product to
> evaluate irrelevant.
>
> I very much doubt the $7.50 charge lost Microchip any design wins, it might
> have lost them some hobbyist/students who might one day be real engineers
> responsible for design wins, pretty speculative and we don't know how badly
> their sample service was being abused.
>
>
As a college student, I sampled lots of PICs, but I also learned with them
in my spare time. Starting with the 16F, going to 12F and 10F for small
projects, then I started playing with C18, but never made it to dsPICs.

Then I finished school and got a job. I was given sole authority on the
design of my first project. I chose a PIC. Because Microchip sent me free
samples, I became familiar with their product line and use their products as
a hobbyist at home. Now I use them as a professional at work.

I know this is an exceptional case, but their free samples got them another
customer.
(Continue reading)

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Gmane