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Tag Archives: A3PN250
gedasymbols.org is a great part of using gEDA
I’ve joined up as a contributor to gedasymbols.org. This great resource, run by DJ Delorie, hosts schematic symbols for gschem and footprints for gEDA’s layout software, PCB. A search engine helps locate symbols and footprints, and gedasymbols includes links to … Continue reading
The iambic keyer core is alive
With just a few tweaks, I brought up the “IambicV” iambic keyer core on one of my A3PN250 breakout boards. I was stunned when it made dits, dahs, and iambic dah-dits perfectly the first time out. Yes, I know that’s what a testbench is supposed to make possible, and yes, I’ve had it happen before, but I still always expect smoke the first time I turn something on.
I made a few changes from last week’s version. Continue reading
Smoke testing the A3PN250 FPGA board
There comes a point in any project when one has to find out if it works, but first, there is the “smoke test”: Turn on the power and see if anything goes up in smoke. I smoke tested the A3PN250 … Continue reading
Making progress on the A3PN250 FPGA breakout…
I’ve made lots of small steps on the A3PN250 FPGA breakout board the last two weeks. Firstly, I built an JTAG adapter cable to work around a wiring error on the PCB. When I laid out the board, I accidentally … Continue reading
FPGA breakout board PCB errors
I’ve recovered from the busy last few months and that means I can spend a little more time at my workbench. The first of the A3PN250 (ProASIC3 nano) FPGA breakout boards is built. Here it is, in all its glory:
Posted in Projects
Tagged A3PN250, breakout board, construction, FPGA, PCB, ProASIC3, soldering
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Building the ProASIC 3 nano FPGA board
After a busy week spent traveling for work and a morning digging out from a surprise snowstorm, I had a great weekend with my family. It was Sunday night before I heated up the soldering iron and got down to business building the ProASIC 3 nano FPGA board.
I started with the toughest component, the FPGA. Its central location and low height means …. Continue reading
Posted in Projects
Tagged A3PN250, breakout board, construction, FPGA, PCB, ProASIC3, soldering
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FPGA Breakout Board Layout
Here at last is the printed circuit board layout for the FPGA breakout board. I’m planning a series of projects involving FPGA-based DSP for ham radio, and in order to build them, I need an FPGA and a PCB on which to mount it….
The goals for this layout constrained it to be a nearly single-sided layout, … Continue reading
FPGA Breakout Schematic
Yay! Now we’re getting somewhere!
Here is the schematic for the FPGA adapter. Continue reading
FPGA Breakout Design Decisions
To get to my goal of a DSP-based ham radio using an FPGA as the DSP, I first need a way to prototype with an FPGA. Available FPGAs all use modern, small packages such as QFNs, QFPs, and BGAs. I can’t imagine soldering wires directly to a hundred tiny pins, so “dead-bug” construction, with the chip upside-down on a piece of copperclad board, is out. I need a breakout PCB that holds the chip and brings out its pins to something more reasonable to work with. Continue reading
