New FCDEV3B boards are here

[Mychaela Falconia]

Hi DS!

> Perhaps it would be adequate to update the page at
> https://www.freecalypso.org/fcdev3b.html to reflect the availability
> of these boards, as well as the price and payment methods?

I was going to make that update once I have the FCDEV3B User's Manual
finished.  Given the high price of these boards (high relative to what
today's spoiled-by-cheap-stuff people are used to paying for hardware),
the User's Manual needs to be prominently linked from the availability
and pricing page so people can see exactly what they would be getting
for their money, to avoid problematic misunderstanding.

As I already said in my original announcement, the price for one board
with minimal accessories (just the antenna and a connector for making
your own power supply cable) will be $500.  However, there are two
additional extra-cost accessories which at least some people will
likely be interested in, and I still need to figure out how much their
extra cost will run:

* An ultra-compact power supply just like the one you've got.  I have
a finite stash of these, and while I *can* sell units from this stash,
the stash is small enough that if I sell these PSUs, I need to be
prepared for the stash running out and needing to get more.  I have
located what appears to be the original manufacturer of these PSUs:

http://www.keic.com.tw/sa06-8%2812%29%2815%29%2818%29s-series-en.html

The units I've got are the 8W, 3.6V output version, mechanical form
factor type 'V' in the description page above.  I need to email the
people at the company linked above and find out how much it would cost
to make a run of, say, 50 units for us, and if they would be willing
to make such a small run.  Their answer will determine whether or not
I can sell the units from my existing stash, and for how much.

* A custom hand-made cable for connecting the two UARTs on the FCDEV3B
to an FT2232D adapter board.  Anyone can easily buy one of those
adapter boards from pldkit.com, but the "standard" way to make the
connection between the FCDEV3B and the FT2232D board is to manually
connect each wire individually, looking at the pinout chart and
manually matching up wire colors.  This "standard" way is OK if you
are only going to assemble the setup once and leave it stationary on
your lab bench afterward, but if you need to be able to take the setup
down for transport and quickly reconnect in the field, this approach
is unacceptable, at least to me.

As an easier-to-use alternative, it is possible to hand-assemble a
special cable using Molex crimp terminals and crimp housings.  With
this approach the result is a cable that consists of a solid ribbon in
the middle, a solid 5x2 connector on the FCDEV3B end which you simply
mate with the board, and two solid 15x1 connectors on the FT2232D end,
which you simply mate with the two rows of pins on the adapter board
from PLDkit.

So far I have only made one such cable (hand-made it myself), and I
use it for all my current FCDEV3B work.  However, in the process of
hand-making that cable I have discovered how much of a pain it is,
despite using the expensive "official and professional" crimper from
Molex.  A member of my family has expressed an interest in serving as
the cable maker, but I have not had a chance yet to show her how that
crimper works, thus she has yet to see just how much of a pain it is.
Thus I still need to find the time to sit down with my family member
in question, show her the crimping process and see if it is something
she is still interested in doing, and if so, what she would consider
to be a fair price for that labour.

M~