JW wrote:
On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 12:18:50 -0400 JW wrote in Message id:
:

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 08:55:26 -0700 "Walter Harley"
wrote in Message id:
:

"JW" wrote in message
. ..
It occurred to me that these could be
forgeries.

Send one or two to TI - I'm sure they'll be able to tell you pretty quickly.


Good point, I'll see if I can contact someone there...

Well, it looks like they're forgeries. This is from the support engineer
at TI, after I supplied them with a picture of the markings on the chip:

"I would say that the parts were not manufactured by Texas Instruments. We
acquired Burr Brown in 2001 and the top side markings *if* correct would
imply a date in 2004. The top side marking standard would have been
switched over to TI's 5 or 7 digit date code rather than 4 at a year and
definitely by 2004.

It is possible that Part Miner procured the INA118's from our authorized
distributors but they will have to be able to show the paper work to prove
that they acquired them from such authorized channels. We can guarantee
how the parts are stored and shipped when they are sold by our authorized
distributors: Arrow, Avnet, Mouser, Digikey, and Newark; however, when
parts are obtained on the grey market then all bets are off."

Another reason not to use unauthorized suppliers, and to stay away from
Part Miner.

Thank you for posting a follow-up. If Part Miner is unwilling to
verify their sources then they will definitely go on my no buy list.