Limited Stock

Texas Instruments SN7417N Vintage 1978 TTL Hex Buffer Driver Open Collector DIP-14 Arcade Logic IC

ICs / Integrated Circuits • SKU RFB00525

$5.95

Vintage Texas Instruments SN7417N TTL hex buffer/driver integrated circuit in a 14-pin DIP package. This example carries the vintage TI logo and date code 7819, consistent with production during the 19th week of 1978.

The SN7417N contains six independent non-inverting buffer/driver channels with high-voltage open-collector outputs. It was designed for interfacing standard TTL logic with higher-level circuitry and for driving higher-current loads such as indicator lamps, relays, peripheral circuits, and control interfaces.

The device operates from a 4.75V to 5.25V supply. Its SN7417 outputs provide a minimum 15V breakdown rating and up to 40 mA sink-current capability. Because the outputs are open collector, external pull-up components are used as required by the application.

Applications extend far beyond arcade machines and include vintage computers, computer peripherals, industrial controllers, instrumentation, communications equipment, test equipment, printers, relay interfaces, lamp-control circuits, digital control systems, and other classic 5V TTL electronics.

The Texas Instruments SN7417N is NOT obsolete. Texas Instruments continues to classify and offer the exact SN7417N 14-pin PDIP device as an ACTIVE production component. This particular piece is desirable as original 1978-era Texas Instruments production and may be useful where vintage or period-correct components are preferred.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

The SN7417N belongs to the classic 7400-series TTL generation that became a foundation of digital electronics during the 1970s and 1980s. Electronic systems of this era commonly used numerous individual logic ICs for buffering, timing, decoding, switching, interfacing, and control functions that would later be incorporated into much more highly integrated devices.

The 7417 was particularly useful because its six non-inverting open-collector drivers could interface conventional TTL logic with external circuitry requiring higher voltage or greater current capability. This made the device useful in computers, industrial equipment, laboratory instrumentation, communications systems, peripheral equipment, relay controls, indicator circuits, and many other electronic designs.

The 7417 also became part of the hardware vocabulary of early coin-operated arcade systems. Original arcade PCBs relied heavily on standard 7400-series TTL devices to perform game logic, video support, sound control, input conditioning, buffering, and interface functions. The 7417 is documented in vintage arcade hardware including Midway Space Invaders, making original period devices useful to arcade board restorers and technicians.

This is not an arcade-exclusive component. Its arcade application represents only one part of a much broader history across vintage digital electronics.