<d1b2>
<Hardkrash> Could a solder on replaceable flex be a reasonable option.
<d1b2>
<Hardkrash> Damage the flex tip solder on a new probe.
<azonenberg>
hardkrash: Possible but realistically i am not expecting the tip to be damaged THAT easily
<azonenberg>
the actual needles will be socketed
<azonenberg>
as those are (rightly) considered a consumable
<d1b2>
<Hardkrash> The rigid flex idea is rather compelling then. Considering connector fatigue
<azonenberg>
Well also it cuts $100 off the BOM
<azonenberg>
$100 plus either a very long tail of lossy flex pcb, or a pair of very expensive SMPM cables
<azonenberg>
Neither of which seems attractive
<azonenberg>
Having the amp right up next to the tip would minimize losses
<azonenberg>
then go straight to coax as quickly as possible
<azonenberg>
The big challenge is going to be the mechanical design. I think I'm gong to design a standalone tip first that connects either via cable or mating direct to the amplifier to start
<azonenberg>
not with the intent of ever using it
<azonenberg>
but just to prototype how the adjustable spacing thingie will work
<azonenberg>
Also, a flex-rigid combo pcb is going to be expensive and involve a "real" pcb fab
<azonenberg>
ideally i would prototype the flex part on oshpark, design the mechanical side of the system around that
<azonenberg>
fine tune the amplifier on oshpark
<azonenberg>
then do a flex-rigid board that combines the two
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<azonenberg>
david.lenfesty: ping
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<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> pong: haven't made too much progress, still haven't ordered parts because I seem to like avoiding doing that (ordering today though). I'm pretty close to being done the firmware, just a little more work on the SPI interface and the core USB PD state machine to go
<azonenberg>
So the reason i ask is that i'm starting to work on the AKL-AD3 (AKL-AD1 based amplifier on a handheld browser form factor)
<azonenberg>
I'm debating making the initial prototype usb-c power/control interface
<azonenberg>
So i wanted some sense of how confident you were that it would work :p
<azonenberg>
(also, we should write a usb pd control plane protocol decode for scopehal)
<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> I'm pretty confident that the USB PD stuff will work, because I basically just followed the example application from the datasheet
<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> not really confident in the power delivery side
<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> but that's the easiest to test
<azonenberg>
Well I'm at least a week from being ready to order hardware I think
<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> Reading week is coming up on the 15th so I can probably do a full full evaluation then (i.e. can it send PD packets and does the power work)
<azonenberg>
I havent even started schematic, still working on the mechanical design
<azonenberg>
Great. So I'll hold off on ordering any boards until then
<azonenberg>
I'll sync with you probably middle of this week regarding the MCU and such so that we can work out the details of what I have to put on my board
<azonenberg>
so i can at least get sch and layout roughly figured out
<azonenberg>
Also, I''m going to need one of your host boards to power it (at least until i have a BLONDEL or similar to run it off)
<azonenberg>
Do you have extra bare PCBs you could send me?
<azonenberg>
Or if it's not too much work could you order parts for a second one and populate it? I'll reimburse your costs of course
<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> Sure yeah I'll add parts for another
<azonenberg>
Great
<azonenberg>
For the probe side my plan is basically to clone your schematic except putting an actual amplifier on instead of whatever resistor or dummy load you do
<azonenberg>
and adding a spi bus and one GPIO from the mcu to it
<azonenberg>
and maybe a uart to test points
<d1b2>
<david.lenfesty> sounds good. The PD protocol is pretty simple so a decoder shouldn't be too hard