 |
Micro908 KIT
(Applicable only to kits received between Dec 1 - Dec 16, 2006) |
About the
AmQRP Club |
Some people have noted "DDS chip problems" while building/operating their Micro908 Antenna Analyst. The problem was inadvertently caused by us in mentioning on the Micro908 Order web page to "request a free AD9850 DDS chip from Analog Devices" ... this is the WRONG CHIP to use for the kit!
The ordering page was used from previous runs of the kit wherein we *did* use that older/slower chip, but we neglected to update that guidance for this newer kit run that needs the newer/faster AD9851 DDS chip. The proper AD9851 chip is indeed noted on the DDS-60 webpage and in the DDS-60 manual ... but chances are that if one ordered the chip in advance per our guidance, no further thought was given to it being the right/wrong number.
If you ordered the chip from us when you ordered the Micro908 Kit, you DID received the correct AD9851 chip, so no worries for you.
But if you DID NOT order the DDS chip from us, and instead ordered the free sample AD9850 based on our (mis)guidance, then you do have a problem.
To correct this problem, we are offering the following options to those kit owners who fall into this category ...
1) If you have not yet started assembling the DDS-60 sub-kit received in the Micro908, you should let us know and we will send you the proper AD9851 DDS chip right away.
2) If you already soldered the wrong DDS chip to your DDS-60 pcb, then we will either send you a proper AD9851 DDS chip so you can replace the chip yourself, or we will send you another new kit, including the proper AD9851 DDS chip. Your choice -- but we recommend just getting a new DDS-60 kit. All we ask is that you pack up the original kit contents (assembled board, any leftover parts, manual) and send it back to us.
So if you indeed fall into either of these categories, please send an email to amqrpkits_at_amqrp.org mentioning this and we'll get the replacements out to you right away. And again, if you are getting a DDS-60 kit replacement, we kindly ask that you pack up the original DDS-60 kit and send it back to the Walled Lake, Michigan address on the original shipping box.
Again, you must qualify for this offer of chip/kit replacement by not having ordered a DDS chip from us with your Micro908 Kit order. We know who you are, so we can check our records when you contact us to be sure, or to reassure you if you are already okay and not in need of a new chip or kit.
This may sound confusing, and we apologize. However we feel that it is very important to do right by the customers we mis-guided, even if it was our accidental typo oversight.
BTW, the guidance for ordering the proper AD9851 DDS chip has been corrected on the website, so if you have recently placed an order and also (separately) requested a free sample of the AD9850, please immediately request another free sample for the correct AD9851 part. Analog Devices is quite liberal and forward-thinking in supplying these samples so you should not feel abashed in doing so. If there are any supply problems from AD, you can always order a chip from us using the Micro908 Order web page. We have plenty for use with this project and it will be a bit cheaper than ordering it yourself through Digi-Key (or wherever).
Material
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These pages are designed and maintained by George Heron, N2APB
Page Last Updated: Dec
17, 2006