Earth People Technology DAC Breakout Puts an MCP4901 DAC and Potentiometer Onto Your Breadboard
This serial peripheral interface (SPI) digital to analog converter (DAC) breakout is breadboard-friendly.
Product development specialist Earth People Technology has launched a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) breakout board, based on the eight-bit MCP4901, designed to make it as simple as possible to use on a breadboard.
"This DAC board features the MCP4091 eight-bit Digital to Analog chip. It is designed to fit into a breadboard and connect to any Arduino board," the company writes of its latest product design. "The chip operates from a single 2.7V to 5.5V supply with any SPI-compatible Serial Peripheral Interface. So, it can accommodate the +3.3V and +5V Arduinos such as the Mini, Mini Pro, Nano."
"The EPT-4901-DA-S1 is ready to be plugged into a bread board and connected to any MCU that supports the SPI bus. It can be powered by either +3.3V or +5V. This board has an example sketch in the Arduino IDE that shows the user how to send a digital value to the board and produce a voltage output."
The compact board is based around the MCP4091 DAC, which generates analog voltages from ground to its voltage reference (VREF) — the latter adjustable using an on-board potentiometer, from ground to its VCC input. The chip accepts a digital input from 0-255, converting it to analog based on 0 being ground and 255 being VREF.
"The device include double-buffered registers, allowing synchronous updates of the DAC output using the LDAC pin," the company adds. "These devices also incorporate a Power-on Reset (POR) circuit to ensure reliable power-up. The device utilizes a resistive string architecture, with its inherent advantages of low Differential Non-Linearity (DNL) error and fast settling time. This device is specified over the extended temperature range (+125°C)."
The board is now available from the Earth People Technology Tindie store, priced at $6.99; more information is available from the datasheet.