I came across Ben Eater's Youtube channel and website and thought I'd give the clock circuit a shot (possibly doing the entire 8-bit computer thing in the future). He conveniently put list of items online what's in the kit. I wanted to order it from him, but shipping is quite expensive as I am not based in the US.
I can find basically all items, I do have some trouble finding the ICs though. One is a Hex Inverter 74LS04, but I cannot find that one (and also not the 74LS08 and 74LS32).
When searching for an inverter I do find the 7416, could that be a decent replacement (I checked the datasheets, and I don't really see a big differences). Same for the AND and OR gates, can I safely use ones that look the same on the first look?
Best Answer
Generally, without having looked at any of these chips in particular, yes:
What you need here is the same functionality – if it's from the same logic family (LS), then it will react to compatible voltage levels.
You'll need to make sure these are actually the same functionalities – e.g. some things have push-pull outputs, other open drain, some things have tristate logic, others not...
Timing would not necessarily be the same – but considering this is breadboard, it's very unlikely that timing restrictions arise from the logic gates; the thing will be limited by the wiring parasitic effects.