Best IC Test, Adapter and Prototyping Sockets

You might ask, what is an IC test, prototype, adapter socket and why should I use a prototype socket? One way to develop new hardware designs for Arduino, Rasberry Pi and custom boards is to use prototyping and adapter sockets which have through hole pins for easy soldering to a printed circuit board. You can then easily place surface mount devices (SMD) into the dual in line (DIP) adapter mount, without the difficulty of soldering the SMD directly.

Another reason is to have a holder for IC chips that you’ll need to remove / re-install frequently – especially for Flash Memory, micro-controllers or other programmable devices. You also won’t need to build programming circuits onto your development board since you’ll be handling this externally.

We like the company “ANDK” for the variety of different sockets they have available, the quality of the adapters / mechanics, the great price and quick-ship availability on Amazon.

Below we highlight some of the more common socket, and you can click here to view the complete line-up of sockets for QFP, QFN, SOP, eMMC, Crystals, etc.

SOP20 SOIC20 SO20 to DIP20 Programming Socket (about $23)

• 209mil Flash Test Socket Adapter
• Pitch 1.27m
• IC Body Width 5.4mm

SSOP8 TSSOP8 to DIP8 Programming Socket (about $9)

• 173mil Flash Test Socket Adapter
• Pitch 0.65mm
• IC Body Width 4.4mm

MSOP8 to DIP8 Socket Programming Adapter/Converter (about $29)

• MCU IC Test
• Pitch  0.65mm
• IC Body Width 3.3mm

You can find adapter sockets for SOP, TSOP, SOT, QFN, and BGA; as well as eMCP, eMMC and Data Recovery Tools, and Crystal Oscillator Sockets for nearly all of the most common formats and pin counts. These will speed up your design and development, making it easier to prototype your hardware. Especially if you have surface mount chips or need to program Flash or Micros.

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