I am always amazed at how one project can lead to
several more. The latest example of this
for me was the Signal Generator project my HB Club undertook last year.
Once that project was completed, I wanted to be able
to control the output. So that lead to incorporating the PE4302 step attenuator
chip and how to use it.
Next was instead of calibrating the SigGen and then
selecting an output and calculate the output level, I wanted to measure and
display the actual reading. I also
wanted to be able to read at least to one decimal point. This led to exploring an
alternative to the Arduino Map function and experimenting with a 16bit ADC,
ADS1115 chip. It also has led to utilizing an opamp on the output of the AD8307
and seeing if that can help in reading accuracy especially in the area of the 2nd
decimal point reading.
Of course, it does not stop there as now I needed to better
understand how I2C communications worked.
With all the different boards laying about and a too
numerous to count number of interconnecting cables, test leads, power leads,
erratic and intermittent performance, I needed to build a test bed. So here was another project that this time didn’t
contribute directly to the project, but I did end up with a good test bed for any
future Arduino projects.
In the Altoids tin is the AD8307 board. Opamp to the immediate left and further left is the ADS1115 and Si5351 boards. The 2 Nanos, LCDs, ADS1115, and Si5351 boards are all connected via I2C.
More details to follow shortly about how all this pans
out.
