[aos]

Tangent won't like this one:

The manufacturer has announced this part(s) will become obsolete.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
Description: IC 1/2 RAIL VIRTUAL GND TO-92
Manufacturer Part No: TLE2426CLP
Digi-Key Part No: 296-1994-ND

 

[Arzela]

It will bocome "obsolete"?
I'd hope this means a
superior device will replace it.

 

[Voodoochile]

I just got an email from TI and another from Digikey myself... what a bummer.

 

[jamont]

Yeah, me too. I just ordered some, be interesting to see if they sell out...

 

[antness]

I just got this email as well and was about to post on it.

 

[Gariver]

Other versions of the TLE2426 will be available in the future (the 8-DIP ones, for example). It's just the TLE2426CLP in the TO-92 package that is being discontinued. So people will be ordering other packages of the TLE2426.

 

[jamont]

The number available at Digikey has dropped from over a thousand earlier today to 518 as I write...

 

[aos]

However TO-92 uses the least space and is easiest to use for casual DIYers. I myself haven't ever used this chip, actually, though I have a couple (or so I hope).

 

[Voodoochile]

Quote:

The number available at Digikey has dropped from over a thousand earlier today to 518 as I write...

I know where 25 of them went

.
Glad I didn't put it off after all. I'm sure there are many more elsewhere, but I don't want to be hunting around.

 

[morsel]

There may be a mistake. TI is confused. The TLE2426CLP that Digikey sells is not in the TI database. They are going to research the issue and get back to me.

 

[meat01]

They are gone at Digikey. I am sure some companies bought them all up.

 

[antness]

That would be interesting if it turns out to be a mistake...Digikey sure sold a lot of those today.

 

[Voodoochile]

Yes, that would be interesting. Quite a successful marketing tactic!

They (DK) sent me an obsolescence notice on some Panasonic snap-in caps I had ordered for a very heavy duty PS last year, and sure enough, they were gone within a few months. Considering my TI rep sent me a notice this time, I surely believe it.

I don't use the railsplitter in too many of my amps, as most of them go out with custom internal linear power supplies, but the TLE is a neat and accurate alternative to the resistor divider, and works wonderfully in battery-powered cmoys and metas. My favorite long-life config is the OPA2227 and a railsplitter. It keeps going, and going...

I have some of the pDIP packaged TLEs, but they are giant compared to the TO92.

 

[andrzejpw]

Is there an alternative for the Meta's needs?

Mouser currently has 43 in stock, and 900 in 5 days.

 

[Squalish]

From Tangent's site:
Quote:

The main problem with the TLE2426 is that it can only handle 20-40 mA of current, depending on conditions. If your load draws more than that, a TLE2426-based power supply will become unbalanced. For higher-load situations, you can try a buffer-based power supply instead: This circuit still uses a pair of resistors to split the power supply voltage, but adds a buffer (Burr-Brown's BUF634, in this case) to keep the rails equidistant from the virtual ground. The BUF634 can handle up to 150 mA in the DIP-8 package, and in the larger metal-based packages it can source up to 250 mA, with appropriate heat sinking. The disadvantages are that it's more complicated, it costs about $4 more, and it has a higher quiescent current draw (~1.5 mA vs. 280 μA). Instead of a buffer, you can use any op-amp that's unity gain stable by simply running a jumper from the output pin to the inverting input. I'm told that you should use an op-amp of equal or better specs as your signal amplifying op-amps for this job or else you'll feed the amplifying op-amps bad power which will make them sound bad. I plan on studying this myself; I'll report the results here.