I love building things around LM or TLC555s but sometimes they're overkill. Many times you're better off just using a suitably rated transistor with a pullup or down to your logic level. Just choose your base resistance to saturate the heck out of the transistor. Pick your series base capacitance for the pulse width that you want. The limitation here is that the input pulse has to be at least as long as the output pulse. You also have to discharge the capacitor between pulses. This might involve throwing in a diode and a discharge resistor.
Anything that I build around ICs usually involves firing up the CADD and running a sheet of the Dyna-Arts paper through the printer. It looks good after I have it etched and tin plated but at least half a day is gone.
If I were to build a trigger ckt like I mentioned above, it would take less than an hour. I would just take a scrap of copper clad that I always have lying around. I just use a utility knife or Dremel to relief cut the foil pattern. Then, I usually use a perf board with .1" centers to guide my Dremel drilling. With TO-92 or TO-220 transistors, the cutting to isolate the pads isn't as difficult to pull off as it is with DIP packages. I never claim that the result is pretty but the electrons don't mind if we aren't playing with RF.
Joe
