I count about 200 solder joins you'll need to make on the board, although they're almost all through-hole or to pins. You should be able to handle a soldering iron with facility before attempting this kit though. The doc is spartan but clear, and I had no serious trouble with it. I suppose at the end of the day thats what you want your money to go towards in this price range. It does generate accurate frequencies within its spec. Things like the wavy cut edges clearly are just sloppiness. I'm just at a point where I appreciate more attention to detail. I guess you cant really complain for the price. Everything agrees the frequency is accurate though. I tried to confirm them with a Tektronix 2246 and Fluke 87V with varying and worse results. I took these measurements using a Rigol DS1102E. The frequency seems vary accurate but the amplitude leaves something to be desired. Its not very loud and cant be heard over the fan noise of other test equipment but still a bit annoying. One of the pins of the power button has zero clearance to a capacitor it is next to. The USB connector had bent pins I had to straighten before soldering. The bottom plate is pressing against the top of the larger capacitors. I had to go back and "adjust" 3 of the buttons to align despite them looking straight. The buttons have tight clearances and can rub/bind a bit if your soldering was not perfect. The plastic parts have a wavy cut edge to them like they where cut free hand on the short ends. I purchased this as a guest so I apparently cant leave a review. You're best advised to use a magnifying glass while working on the switches and check for solder bridges (that seem to form quite easily on the switch terminals). The pins are small and very close together. However, if you find yourself mesmerized by the low price, be sure to read the assembly instructions over three or four times before soldering anything in place.Īlso, make sure you have a very thin point soldering iron and high-gauge solder. I realize this is my own fault for not reading the assembly instructions as closely as I needed to before soldering down those switches. Also, isn't there some other part that will do the same function as these push buttons that is polarized and not possible to put in backwards? This is an epic design fail these parts might be okay for a production line, but not for one-off kits. But something important like this needs a MUCH bigger warning. I realize the engineer who wrote the assembly instructions is probably not a native speaker. Ever tried to unsolder 300 pins? Well, let's just say I'm not even going to try, I'm just throwing the board away and will resume looking for a decent function generator. Sadly, I soldered in around 25 switches, luck would have all but about 5 were backwards. However, there is an "Important Notice" about the switches that is NOT in line with the assembly instructions warning you that the push button switches only go in one way. I started putting it together following the instructions as best I could. I really don't know if the thing works well or not. I came across this kit and figured "gee, if it's only $50 bucks, what can go wrong?" My instincts told me, don't buy it, my greediness won out. I was evaluating various hobby-level function generators in the $250-$500 price range. This kit reminds me of the saying "Buy once, cry once". It can even be used as an adjustable DC voltage source by setting the amplitude to 0. The FG805 can generate a peak to peak amplitude up to 10V with an offset range from -5 to +5VDC. The incremental step size can even be adjusted to make sweeps over a wide range easier to handle. Frequency, amplitude and offsets can all be set with the number pad and incrementally adjusted with the rotary encoder. The LCD screen and menu system make this an easy instrument to operate. Three different operating modes allow the FG085 to generate 7 different types of continuous waveform as well as servo test and control signals in micro-second resolution. Just solder the through-hole parts in place, attach the face/base plates and before you know it you'll be generating sinewaves at frequencies up to 200KHz! But that's only one of the tricks this thing can do. The FG085 MiniDDS Function Generator is a 'some assembly required' kit that becomes a flexible, functional and easy to use frequency generator. Function generators are useful in a ton of applications from RF to embedded logic.
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