The 555friend is an education board used to learn the three primary operating modes of the infamous 555 timer IC family. It consists of a PCB in the shape of a stopwatch with a 'Mode' button and three other buttons corresponding to the threshold, trigger, and reset pins of the 555 timer. The board has male and female pin headers to drive the system and scope the timer output. The user presses the mode button to toggle thru the modes of operation, with an LED illuminating information about that particular mode. An analog multiplexer then switches the connections of the timer to match the desired modes configuration. The user than can experiment with the buttons connected to the trigger, threshold, and reset pins of the timer to see first hand on their oscilloscope how the chip works. The timer is socket mount so it can easily be replaced in the event a student accidentally fries one.