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NT7S
NT7S
Open source amateur radio and electronics
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Displaying posts with tag Etherkit.Reset Filter
NT7S
Public post

My apologies are in order for going a bit dark over the winter. Without going into unnecessary details, I was struggling with some personal health issues that were difficult but not dangerous. That, in addition to my job as second teacher to my boys while school is still online-only here in Beaverton meant that I had to pause development work Etherkit for a bit. Now that things are mostly better, I'm back to proceeding with plans.

As you can see below, I have reformed my business from a sole proprietorship to a limited liability company in Oregon. I have still retained my assumed business name of "Etherkit", so I'll still be publicly identifying as such. I've reorganized because I intend to make a more serious push into manufacturing by developing more new products and the capability for me to do more mid-scale manufacturing from here. In that vein I've already acquired some new equipment and will be investing in even more soon.

The current plan here is still similar to what I posted late last year: invest some time in the large backlog of issues for my libraries on GitHub, finish OpenBeacon 2 and bring it to market, and then release some other breakout boards and such which have been in the hopper for a while waiting for a final release to manufacturing. I will have more actual news to report soon. Thank you!

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NT7S
Public post

In a bit of Etherkit news, we've encountered a supply chain issue that could put a squeeze on Si5351A Breakout Board with TCXO reference oscillator manufacturing. Late last year, there was a fire at the factory that manufactures many different oscillators, including the Abracon product that is used in the Etherkit Si5351A Breakout Board.

On Oct. 20, Abracon became aware of a fire at the Asahi Kasei Microsystem (AKM) semiconductor factory in Nobeoka, Miyazaki prefecture, Japan. Products produced at this factory are used in many Abracon TCXO oscillator products. At this time, there is limited information on the actual effect the fire will have on production and supply.

I have been able to acquire small quantities of the TCXO used in the breakout board until my most recent attempt. That particular part now is out of stock at all of my usual distributors, and is only available at one distributor but at a substantial markup from the usual price.

As of now, I'm considering the qualification of an alternate TCXO, but that will take some time to do. It may be necessary if Abracon cannot bring production back online in the near future, but I'm hoping they can source alternate manufacturers as is stated in the press release above. In the mean time, there may be a period where the Si5351A Breakout Board with TCXO is out of stock. The breakout board with crystal oscillator is not affected by this and will continue to be in stock.

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NT7S
Public post

This post will be a little more personal than the usual one, but it does involve Etherkit indirectly, so I needed to vent about it.

As you may have seen in previous posts, earlier this year, during the beginning of the lock down, I used my time to complete a big project I was eager to finish: a new office/ham shack for me. We live in a modestly sized house and our boys needed their own rooms, so my office needed to move. The new office turned out just the way I was hoping, but I haven't been able to use it as much because my boys have been home from school since March.

It now turns out that the Beaverton School District won't be holding any kind of in-person school until November at the earliest. The problem with that for me is that the slap-dash online schooling that the boys received at the end of last year was pretty abysmal, and I haven't seen one shred of evidence this summer that shows that Beaverton SD will implement a better system. Since I don't want my kids to fall behind in their education, we decided to enroll them in an online school this year. We made this choice because if they are forced to attend online school, I'd like them to use a system that is proven to work and has been in use for a while. We also got a couple of positive referrals to this school from acquaintances.

What this means for Etherkit is that I'll be out of the office most of the day, and I will be inside, at the dining room table with my boys as they do school on their Chromebooks. The good news is that enough of my work can be done just on a laptop that I think it won't slow me down too much, as long as I invest in a new laptop soon (currently have a 4th gen Intel i3). So even though I'm a bit bummed that I won't have as much time at the workbench, I believe that it won't slow me down too much. The Empyrean campaign should still be on schedule, as of how things are going right now. We all have to adjust to the current conditions. It's not fun, but I'm grateful that our family hasn't been impacted as badly as a lot of others have, even if it has been a frustrating time.

Thanks for listening and for your continued support!

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