The title says it all.
Is there a discrete circuit that can produce 4 different outputs based on a single tactile switch click?
I'd like to do this with either a discrete design or a 74373 since these are all the parts I have on hand. I'm living in a difficult country to get this stuff delivered to.
Once you get more than two states they are no longer called n-stable multivibrators but instead called counters,
A toggle bistable is the simplest form of counter, but there are plenty of larger examples.
See CD4017 for example that can do up-to 10 stable states.
Alternatively you can chain several toggle bistables to make a binary counter.
If you're wanting to drive these from a tactile switch you may need to de-bounce it.
Yes. There are tristable, quadristable, etc. multivibrators.
They can be called "ring multivibrators".
Here is one with 3 stages.:
How to extend it to four and more stages is obvious.
The simple answer is yes, but only because the question is so vague.
If by "4 different outputs" you mean four different output voltage levels at a single node, then this can be done with a 2-bit counter driving a simple D/A resistor ladder. This is my first guess at what you are asking about, based on the wording. If a bistable has two possible output voltages, then a tristable should have three ...
Another option is that you are talking about four different points in the circuit, four nodes or four output pins, that cycle through a pattern as the button is pressed repeatedly. In this case, a 4017 can be wired to cycle through anything from 1 to 9 outputs.
As above, a truth table of your required results is critical in answering this question.
