News, Updates and Other Minutiae
August 2019
Website outage - I made some hosting changes and there was a minor hiccup. Hopefully everything is now back to normal but please let me know if anything is missing.
The start of a new project added in the Homebrew category. Specifically, a Frequency Dependant Switch. Measures the incoming frequency and switches 1 of 8 outputs on. Software for this project uploaded.
June 2019
Added another project for the AD9850 DDS modules. A Simple DDS sweeper in the Homebrew section. This is an absolutely basic, no frills project using a 12F1840 to sweep a DDS module between a range of frequencies. Plenty of scope for you to improve on the software and add extra features.
Privacy Policy uploaded. It may be viewed at the Privacy Policy link in the footer.
Custom code/webhost costs
I have, for quite a while, provided modified versions of the code for my projects free of charge. However, the cost of webhosting for this site has tripled in the last few of years and shows no signs of getting any cheaper.
As of October 2017, I will be asking for a donation in exchange for providing custom modified code for my projects to help keep this site available.
GPDR and all that stuff
In accordance with various bits of legislation around the world, either currently in force, about to come into force or proposed, you will now find that annoying "We use cookies" notice at the top of this website. Please note that the ONLY cookies currently used on this site are for that pop-up (see https://cookieconsent.insites.com/) and Google Analytics. The full Privacy Policy is available at the Privacy Policy link in the footer at the bottom of the page. (If you don't know what GPDR is, Google it. Real scary shit for ANYBODY with a web presence.)
3v3 DDS Module Mods
There have been various discussions on the net about 3v3 versions of the cheap Chinese DDS modules. It seems to affect only the AD9850 modules. In fact, if you look carefully at some of the images on the popular selling sites, you can see 3v3 engraved into some of the oscillator modules. Some are not that obvious however. If you are lucky, you may have a module with a manufacturers mark and code on it that you can look up. Otherwise, the only other possible way of telling is, that when running, the 3v3 oscillator blocks will get warm to the touch. I can only conclude that these modules are 'mistakes' or 'rejects', because the AD9850 is only rated to an oscillator value of 110MHz at 3v3 and the AD9851 125MHz at 3v3. See the link between the two? How well they run like this I don't know, as my modules are definitely 5v oscillator types. Egbert PA0EJH, sent me an email with the details of his fix for this situation, along with a note to say that the 3v3 oscillator on his modules died after a week running at 5v. The extra components are shown in red. Click pic for larger version.
The other obvious solution is to replace the oscillator module with a known 5v version if you feel so inclined. So if yours have suddenly stopped working, this may be why.
