Gabotronics

The frequency adjust has been updated in version 1.00.

Hi there!

Yes, I am aware of this behavior. I am planning to improve this in the next few versions. About the revision 'H', that is the revision of the microcontroller. The firmware version of the system appears when you power up the device. As of today, 2010/08/03, the latest revision is 0.99. If you have an AVR programmer, I recommend you update to the latest version.

You can always send me an email to answer your questions faster.

Regards,

Gabriel

Hi, I bought an Xmultikit, and I love it, but I have one problem. It feels like the frequency sweep for the AWG is in some sort of "fine tue" mode. Spinning the decoder takes forever to signifigantly change the frequency, and I was wondering if this is intended, if my machine is broken in some way, or if there is another way to change the frequency more quickly. I already know about the numpad and how it changes the nymber of cycles in the buffer, but even the 0 key only gives me around 20 Hz (If I were to spin it for a very long time, I'm sure I could get it to go much higher). I am running revision H (It says revH on the test screen) and my unit was produced in May 2009. If this issue has been fixed in a firmware update, please let me know. Thanks!

It won't be possible with the current firmware, the clock to the ADC is changed constantly after each capture (for triggering purposes). For the subsampling to work correctly, the clock to the ADC has to be fixed. However, this may change in a future update, so subsampling is a possibility.

Other inconviniences:

1) The analog bandwith is set at 2MHz, a 9MHz signal will be attenuated by a few dB.
2) Triggering on a 9MHz signal will be a little difficult for this system, so you will see some jitter when analyzing the signal in the time domain.

The Xmegalab is the next revision of the XMultiKit.

I decided to change the name because it was a little confusing if the device was an assembled unit or a kit to build, The Xmegalab is a completely assembled unit and ready to use. I may add an option to sell just the components in the future, or I can do sell a kit by request.

The major differences between the XMultiKit and the Xmegalab is that the triggering will be improved and that the analog front end now has offset control.

I have changed the name from MultiKitC to Xminilab, to avoid confusion when buying the device, it sounded like if the device was a kit to be built by the user.

I made 3 flavors of the Xminilab:

- Xminilab limited: It will not use have the external ADC, it will use the XMEGA's internal 2MS/s ADC. It will have a 128x64 LCD.
- Xminilab: It will have a 128x64 LCD.
- Xminilab-b: It will have a 128x128 LCD.

The PCBs are on order and I should have working units perhaps in a month or two.

The Xminilab is my next version of the MultiKit, it will use an XMEGA microcontroller.

This is a design in progress. Right now I am working on the first prototype.

Post here any questions and suggestions you have about this project.

If you have an instrument with a 3.5mm Line Out, you can use an adapter to BNC:
http://www.adinstruments.com/products/hardware/research/product/MLAC23/

If you are planning to use a microphone alone, it has to be a dynamic microphone. A capacitor or electret microphone will not work, unless you use a preamplifier.

You just need a serial cable to the PC. You can also use the AVRISPII for faster programming without the bootloader.
What kind of pictures do you want to embed? There is limited space in the AVR so I usually compress the bitmaps using run length compression.

In general: any help in re-using the routines that you are implementing and also some guidance in how to program your kit in such a way that its specific soft- and hardware setup can be modified and extended without too much trouble would make it a dream come true.

cheers

I see the code update of 9/21/2009 listed on the development board page, but the files are dated 6/22/2009. Is there another place to download the newer files than the resource download page?

We have a new website layout!

Tell what you think in this thread.

The COMA is an idea I had many years ago. I started the project with Microchip's PIC32 contest.

Right now the COMA is just a prototype, but maybe in a year or two it will be a real product.