[hpsdr] backup boards?

[Philip Covington]

On 3/2/07, Jason Hitesman <jason at hitesman.com> wrote:
> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>
> On 3/2/07, Philip Covington <p.covington at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
> >
> > On 3/2/07, Eric Ellison <ecellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > As to the problem of components becoming unavailable - well, can't do
> > too much about that...
>
> Well there is a little.  This is another place that my idea to build
> an interactive BOM for the bare board people could be helpful.  If it
> turns out to be viable, which is looking up, I got some suggested
> modifications to the official BOM which sources more parts from mouser
> instead of digikey so they can be purchased in reasonable quantities,
> I just won't have time to roll it into my pages until next week.
> Anyway if these pages do prove to be viable then there are a couple of
> things they could lead to.
>
> One is this could help keep interest alive past the initial buy since
> it would help lower the barrier of entry to those who want to build
> their own.  The big issue there would be continued availability of the
> bare boards (and special parts as for Janus.)  I'm hoping that making
> it easy for people to buy parts for the boards will help convince TAPR
> or someone else (this is an open project after all) that more runs of
> boards will be purchased and it is worth their time/money to do
> another run.
>
> It's also possible that a builder community could develop.  If people
> keep building these boards then as parts become unavailable then those
> who are currently building will investigate substitute parts and share
> their findings.  The interactive BOM page could even be setup to read
> a CSV file that's kept in the wiki so anyone who can edit the wiki
> would be able to contribute changes to the "live" BOM.  (Though for
> reliability having someone act as a gatekeeper on the BOM that
> suggested changes go through would probably be better.)
>
> So if interest in this can be kept up (and I have a feeling that once
> some RF boards start to become functional interest WILL pick up even
> faster) then a page like the one I'm working on could become a great
> repair reference when something like the original poster asked about
> happens.
>
> I'm cautiously optimistic that this initial group buy through TAPR is
> just the tip of the iceberg of what this project can become.  Getting
> functional boards into a sizable number of hands is the kick-start
> that will help speed software development and RF development.  Once
> more progress is made interest will rise even faster - and if we don't
> want that interest to die off then a means of getting more boards into
> peoples hands will have to arise.
>
> So a few years down the road rather than a static BOM that was put
> together two years ago when the initial build was done and hasn't been
> updated....we could have a live BOM that is a living document
> constantly updated with current information to account for parts
> availability.
>
> ----
> Jason Hitesman
> N8INJ

Hi Jason,

Good deal...

We used Sierra Proto Express (SPE)  for the OZY alpha boards.  The OZY
and JANUS boards are 4 layer boards.  SPE charges $51 each for their
no-touch service on 4 layer boards with a minimum order of 3.  So if
someone wanted a few boards later after TAPR sells out, they could
send the design files to SPE and have a set of three made for $153 +
$12.15 FedEx Super Saver shipping = $165.15.  Split between three
people that is $55.05 per board.

SPE also has a no-touch service for 2 layer boards at $31 each, minimum qty 3.

The only really difficult part to get seems to be the AKM chip.   Many
of the other parts have substitutes as you are finding out.

73 Phil N8VB

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