MCP42XX Digital Potentiometer Evaluation Board
The MCP42XX Evaluation Board allows the system designer to quickly evaluate the operation of MCP4261 Digital Potentiometer device. The board uses the TSSOP20EV Generic PCB and has been populated for the MCP4261. The 6-pin header (PICkit Serial) has been jumpered to the MCP4261’s appropriate pins. This allows the PICkit Serial to communicate with the device.
The MCP41/42XX devices are non-volatile, 8-bit (256 wiper steps) digital potentiometers that are programmed/reprogrammed through an SPI compatible interface. The MCP41/42XX devices offer a variety of configurations simplifying design while minimizing cost, package size and pin count. These devices offer WiperLock™ Technology which allows the user unlimited reprogramming and locking of the wiper setting. This is useful for equipment that requires factory trimming or recalibration. The MCP41/42XX family of devices are available with resistor values of 5KΩ, 10KΩ, 50Ω and 100KΩ.
Devices Supported: MCP4231, MCP4241, MCP4251, and MCP4261
The MCP42XXEV Evaluation Board allows the system designer to quickly evaluate the operation of the MCP4261 10 kΩ (-103) digital potentiometer device using the PICkit Serial Analyzer. The PICkit Serial Analyzer is available separately (order number: DV164122).
This board is a minimum configuration for the device. As well as the device, other desired passive components (resistors and capacitors) and connection posts may be installed. The board can also be very easily jumpered into a customer’s existing circuit. This gives an indication of the MCP4261 device performance, but is affected by the jumper lead length and the EM noise that the jumpers pick up.
The device’s Resistor Network 0 has been configured in a Potentiometer mode with the A terminal connected to VDD through a 0Ω resistor and the B terminal connected to VSS with a 0Ω resistor. Resistor Network 1 can be evaluated for rheostat operation.
The MCP42XXEV Evaluation Board uses the generic TSSOP20EV Evaluation Board PCB. The kit includes a second PCB which is blank for the user to populate as desired. Additional PCBs may be ordered (order number: TSSOP20EV). The TSSOP20EV kit includes 5 blank PCBs.
Other boards can easily be built up using the TSSOP20EV PCB to allow evaluation of other resistance options (5 kΩ, 50 kΩ, or 100 kΩ) or any of the other digital potentiometer devices in the following packages:
- TSSOP-20 package
- MCP4331, MCP4341, MCP4351, or MCP4361
- TSSOP-14 package
- MCP4332, MCP4342, MCP4352, MCP4362, MCP4231, MCP4241, MCP4251, MCP4261, MCP4631, MCP4641, MCP4651, MCP4661, MCP42010, MCP42050, or MCP42100
The board also has a 6-pin interface (PICkit serial, ICSP™, etc.) whose signals can easily be jumpered to any of the device’s pins.
TSSOP20EV Evaluation Board
The 20-Pin TSSOP and SSOP Evaluation Board allows the system designer to quickly evaluate the operation of Microchip Technology’s devices in any of the following 20-pin packages: TSSOP-20/16/14/8 and SSOP-20.
The board has a 6-pin header (PICkit Serial, ICSP, etc.) that can be easily jumpered to the device’s desired pins to communicate with the device (using PICkit Serial) or in the case of PIC microcontrollers or EEPROM, programmed (using ICSP).
The board also has footprints for a crystal circuit (for PIC microcontrollers) This board is generic so that any device, of the appropriate footprint, may be installed.
As well as the device, other desired passive components (resistors and capacitors) and connection posts may be installed. This allows the board to evaluate a minimum configuration for the device. Also, this allows the device to be easily jumpered into an existing system.
Features
- MCP4261-103E/ST is installed
- 0Ω resistors connect MCP4261 VDD and VSS signals to the appropriate power or ground plane
- 0Ω resistors connect MCP4261’s Resistor Network 0 A terminal signal to power plane, resistor network is in a voltage divider configuration
- 0Ω resistors connect MCP4261’s Resistor Network 0 B terminal signal to ground plane, resistor network is in a voltage divider configuration
- Through-hole connection terminal (orange) for all wiper pins
- Connection terminal points for all device pins (either through-hole or surface-mount)
- Footprints for optional passive components (SMT 805 footprint) for:
- Power supply filtering (C1 and C2 footprints)
- Device bypass capacitor (RxD footprint for device pin connected to VDD)
- Silk-screen area to write specifics of implemented circuit (on back of PCB), such as MCP4261 10 kΩ
- PICkit Serial Analyzer Header
- The included TSSOP20EV board has the following features:
- Connection terminals may be either through-hole or surface-mount
- Three package type footprints supported:
- TSSOP-20
- TSSOP-14
- TSSOP-8
- SSOP-20
- DIP-20 (600 mil body)
- Footprints for optional passive components (SMT 805 footprint) for:
- Power supply filtering (C1 and C2 footprints)
- Device bypass capacitor (RxD footprint for device pin connected to VDD)
- Output filtering (RxD footprint)
- Output pull-up resistor (RxU footprint)
- Output pull-down resistor (RxD footprint)
- Output loading resistor (RxD footprint)
- Silk-screen area to write specifics of implemented circuit (on back of PCB), such as MCP4261 10 kΩ
- PICkit Serial Analyzer/PICkit 2 programming (ICSP™) Header
Ships With
- MCP42XXEV Evaluation Board
- One TSSOP-20 and SSOP-20 Evaluation Board blank PCB, 102-00272.
- Extra blank PCBs can be ordered (order #: TSSOP20EV)
- Important Information Sheet