MAX038 Function Generator IC?

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Does anyone know where to get this chip? I have been searching for this one a couple of weeks now, with no luck. Maxim is not forthcoming with samples, and all suppliers seem to be out of stock with rediculous lead times (like April 2003!). Only Newark quoted me a resonable lead time of 21 days (and I'm not sure I believe them), but minimum order is 18 units (SOIC version too).

This is such a nice chip, and I have all the parts necessary to put together a dandy function generator with it. Till then, I'm stuck with my much less satisfactory XR2206 based function generator...

I guess there is the possibility for a group purchase here... but how reliable is that lead time provided by Newark?

Any leads? Anyone?
 
Hey! Why didn't they give me any samples! :grumpy: I've tried three times over the last few months, and haven't even heard a peep out of them. I even tried ordering them (as in, actually paying for them!) through their website. Maybe they're on to me... 😀

Can somebody spare one for me? I'm more than happy to cover shipping cost, and have a large inventory of parts to trade. I guess I could always order from ELFA, but... er, um... well my Swedish is a tad rusty... :scratch:

The ICL8038 looks ok, but it lacks some of the features which set the MAX038 apart from the crowd. 300kHz vs. 20+MHz is the major one.

Thanks,
 
300kHz vs 20MHz?

Maxim makes some very neat stuff-- but they get so-so marks from a lot of engineers who have the "out-of-stock" blues, particularly in 1999 -2000.

No, the ICL8038 isn't a drop in for the MAX0838 -- (the latter being 20 pin!) but the idea is pretty much the same. Just look at the block diagrams. I wonder, however, how long Intersil is going to be making the 8038 as it's not recommended for new designs.

It's nice to have all the artwork done for a PCB and then find that the part is on a 6-week backorder since the foundry in Taiwan is switching over. Or worse yet, as I pointed out with On-Semi's HV MOSFET's -- they are dropped from the product line.
 
MAX038

On thing I seem to remember is that the MAX038 has a ground ref for working with dual supplies, so the output is symmetrical around ground. The ICL8038 has it's output at 1/3 to 2/3 of supply voltage IIRC, so you need to AC couple the output.

There is also a difference in setting and/or sweeping the freq.

Jan Didden
 
Re: MAX038 in stock at Digikey

jackinnj said:
$12.45 ea

I checked digikey today and they are out of stock. It shows $12.45 each minimum order 35 ship date 4/15/2003. Maybe someone bought them out. I have had a hard time finding certain maxim parts also. Now I don't even look at their website since I will find some part I want to use and cant get it. You might want to look at TI/BurrBrown. They actually send free samples when I request them.

I am interested in building a function generator in the future, and would like to know what you end up using.

Darrell Harmon
 
FN generators

The easiest function generator is a 555, but for really nice quality and low distortion, and assuming you can program something like a Basic Stamp or PIC 16F84-- you use the <em>FREQOT</em> function and a pair of Linear Tech 5th order low pass filters (LTC1063) (and one regular analog filter to knock down the clock-through) -- this idea appeared in Audio Amateur about 5 years ago:
 

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Another option would be to use a fast DAC, some ram, a counter, a clock source and a microcontroller. The DAC would be connected to the data lines of the SRAM, and the address lines would be connected to the counter. The SRAM could be preloaded with the waveform by the microcontroller. All that would be necessary after that would be a variable frequency digital clock source for the counter/DAC. 80Mhz DACs are cheap.

I am planning to build a DSO with a similar setup but an ADC instead of a DAC.
 
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