THX-1138 Posted September 21, 2007 Posted September 21, 2007 In salvaging some [very] old PCBs, I came across an interesting little item: a 50mm × 50mm × 10mm DC-DC converter: 5VDC to ±15VDC. Perfect for op-amp breadboarding.. The same board had several socketed DT201A chips (outsized DIP-24) that probably also relate to power conditioning or the like. It's labeled a "DATA TRANSLATION DT15150" and I can find lots of references to that online in the surplus parts categories. However, so far I haven't found anything that defines its specs. I'd like to know what the voltage and current limitations are, but short of disinterring an old hardware design lab I'm not sure where I'd find 'em. The 'Data Translation' company as such doesn't respond to email questions about it, not even to say whether it's one of their old parts or not. The DT201A chips are likewise interesting, but too small to have tantalising legends printed on them. Anyone ever heard of one of these, know anything about them, or have a pointer? Thanks!
Mirabelle Posted September 23, 2007 Posted September 23, 2007 I have heard of the DT15150. I think that part was made about 20 years ago, or am I thinking incorrectly? Have you tried calling the tech support for Data Translation? You may have better luck finding someone willing to get up and look for the spec sheet that is not electronicly available. I have had to do that many times when customer support would not reply. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Good luck.
fattyjwoods Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 http://www.v-infinity.com/ might list it but man that thing is old or you might be able to get it off ebay
THX-1138 Posted October 3, 2007 Author Posted October 3, 2007 Well, I managed to get someone from Data Translation on the telephone, and the basic answer was, 'We can't give you the specs for individual components; that unit was on a PCB we manufactured.' Fortunately I still had the PCB to hand, and was able to give her a serial/part number. Eventually she found a reference to it and noted that it had been out of production for more than twenty years. (No surprise, really.) She opined that anything that old would be unlikely to still function. I don't see why a sealed solid-state component should suffer terribly from the ravages of time, so I took the brute-force approach and pumped +5VDC into the inputs. And got ±15VDC at the outputs. So it works. I'm guessing that as long as I keep it under about 1A it'll probably be close to immortal.
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