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update on the THS3062 problem

J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Just over 6 weeks after we filed our first service request on the
THS3062 problem, TI got back to us. In the interim, we bugged them at
least weekly, and also got involved two distributors, the local TI
rep, and the ultimate motivator, TI's vice-president of ethics.

The problem is that, when powered from +-12 volts and outputting a
+-10 volt sine wave, at about 12 MHz signal frequency the chip
crashes: amplitide falls by about 4:1, the chip draws huge supply
currents and gets red hot, and output phase reverses. After a lot of
flunkies questioned our layout, bypassing, intelligence, and stuff
like that, they finally announced that the amp is intended for use in
applications where rapid slews are separated by time in which
"internal amplifier nodes are allowed to reach equilibrium."

Jim suggested such, based on small wiggles in the closed-loop
frequency graphs on the datasheet. So, why is the problem only hinted
at by small wiggles? Why isn't this massive defect noted on page 1, in
24-point type?

We're re-doing the pcb layout, an 8-layer VME board with a bazillion
parts... uP, two fpga's, dacs, all sorts of stuff. Grrrrr.

This is, incidentally, a function generator that was supposed to
output +-10 volts behind 50 ohms, up to 32 MHz, sort of what somebody
brought up in another thread nearby. We may keep the +-10 volt spec if
the replacement amps hold up, but we are adding power supply hooks to
use lower-voltage amps and bail down to about +-5 swing if necessary.

John
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Just over 6 weeks after we filed our first service request on the
THS3062 problem, TI got back to us. In the interim, we bugged them at
least weekly, and also got involved two distributors, the local TI
rep, and the ultimate motivator, TI's vice-president of ethics.

The problem is that, when powered from +-12 volts and outputting a
+-10 volt sine wave, at about 12 MHz signal frequency the chip
crashes: amplitide falls by about 4:1, the chip draws huge supply
currents and gets red hot, and output phase reverses. After a lot of
flunkies questioned our layout, bypassing, intelligence, and stuff
like that, they finally announced that the amp is intended for use in
applications where rapid slews are separated by time in which
"internal amplifier nodes are allowed to reach equilibrium."

Jim suggested such, based on small wiggles in the closed-loop
frequency graphs on the datasheet. So, why is the problem only hinted
at by small wiggles? Why isn't this massive defect noted on page 1, in
24-point type?

We're re-doing the pcb layout, an 8-layer VME board with a bazillion
parts... uP, two fpga's, dacs, all sorts of stuff. Grrrrr.

This is, incidentally, a function generator that was supposed to
output +-10 volts behind 50 ohms, up to 32 MHz, sort of what somebody
brought up in another thread nearby. We may keep the +-10 volt spec if
the replacement amps hold up, but we are adding power supply hooks to
use lower-voltage amps and bail down to about +-5 swing if necessary.

John

How thoroughly irritating.. and if yours was a start-up company it
could be considerably worse than irritating.

Thanks for the follow-up on the problem and TI's handling of it. I'm
sure many of us shall find the information helpful in the process of
selecting suppliers.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
John said:
Just over 6 weeks after we filed our first service request on the
THS3062 problem, TI got back to us. In the interim, we bugged them at
least weekly, and also got involved two distributors, the local TI
rep, and the ultimate motivator, TI's vice-president of ethics.

The problem is that, when powered from +-12 volts and outputting a
+-10 volt sine wave, at about 12 MHz signal frequency the chip
crashes: amplitide falls by about 4:1, the chip draws huge supply
currents and gets red hot, and output phase reverses. After a lot of
flunkies questioned our layout, bypassing, intelligence, and stuff
like that, they finally announced that the amp is intended for use in
applications where rapid slews are separated by time in which
"internal amplifier nodes are allowed to reach equilibrium."

Jim suggested such, based on small wiggles in the closed-loop
frequency graphs on the datasheet. So, why is the problem only hinted
at by small wiggles? Why isn't this massive defect noted on page 1, in
24-point type?

We're re-doing the pcb layout, an 8-layer VME board with a bazillion
parts... uP, two fpga's, dacs, all sorts of stuff. Grrrrr.

This is, incidentally, a function generator that was supposed to
output +-10 volts behind 50 ohms, up to 32 MHz, sort of what somebody
brought up in another thread nearby. We may keep the +-10 volt spec if
the replacement amps hold up, but we are adding power supply hooks to
use lower-voltage amps and bail down to about +-5 swing if necessary.

My condolences. Had a similar experience with a TPS LDO regulator. If
Vin came up too fast ... phssssst ... *BANG*. They did not release the
innards for sims and also did not want to sim our (simple) circuitry
using their internal model. So I designed them out and never looked back
at that regulator series. Or any other LDO for that matter.

Other than that TI was usually pretty good. Now if they'd just lower the
MSP430 prices ...
 
H

Henry Kiefer

Jan 1, 1970
0
Joerg said:
My condolences. Had a similar experience with a TPS LDO regulator. If
Vin came up too fast ... phssssst ... *BANG*. They did not release the
innards for sims and also did not want to sim our (simple) circuitry
using their internal model. So I designed them out and never looked back
at that regulator series. Or any other LDO for that matter.

Ugly. TI makes so fascinating fast OpAmps.

Other than that TI was usually pretty good. Now if they'd just lower the
MSP430 prices ...

I think you should switch to MARC4: half the current of MSP430 and RPN
in the variant of being FORTH.


- Henry
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Henry said:
Ugly. TI makes so fascinating fast OpAmps.

Yes, I used a THS4021 in a design lately. Stunning performance,
reasonably priced, although I'll probably redesign that to discretes if
that client faces larger qties some day. You can get a BFR93 for around 10c.
I think you should switch to MARC4: half the current of MSP430 and RPN
in the variant of being FORTH.

In contrast to what a lot of folks believe 4-bit micros are by no means
dead. Although the Atmel series appears to be a tad on the pricey side.
However, in Asia stuff is often "priced as needed to land the deal".
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Just over 6 weeks after we filed our first service request on the
THS3062 problem, TI got back to us. In the interim, we bugged them at
least weekly, and also got involved two distributors, the local TI
rep, and the ultimate motivator, TI's vice-president of ethics.

The problem is that, when powered from +-12 volts and outputting a
+-10 volt sine wave, at about 12 MHz signal frequency the chip
crashes: amplitide falls by about 4:1, the chip draws huge supply
currents and gets red hot, and output phase reverses. After a lot of
flunkies questioned our layout, bypassing, intelligence, and stuff
like that, they finally announced that the amp is intended for use in
applications where rapid slews are separated by time in which
"internal amplifier nodes are allowed to reach equilibrium."

Jim suggested such, based on small wiggles in the closed-loop
frequency graphs on the datasheet. So, why is the problem only hinted
at by small wiggles? Why isn't this massive defect noted on page 1, in
24-point type?

We're re-doing the pcb layout, an 8-layer VME board with a bazillion
parts... uP, two fpga's, dacs, all sorts of stuff. Grrrrr.

This is, incidentally, a function generator that was supposed to
output +-10 volts behind 50 ohms, up to 32 MHz, sort of what somebody
brought up in another thread nearby. We may keep the +-10 volt spec if
the replacement amps hold up, but we are adding power supply hooks to
use lower-voltage amps and bail down to about +-5 swing if necessary.

John

At least you tested it thoroughly before shipping it ;-)

...Jim Thompson
 
J

Joel Koltner

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
At least you tested it thoroughly before shipping it ;-)

John still writes much of his code in assembly so he's never had the means to
go the "ship the beta, we'll just fix flaky hardware with a software 'update'
that you can download from the [Al Gore?] Internet!" route.




Just kidding, of course...!
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
At least you tested it thoroughly before shipping it ;-)

John still writes much of his code in assembly so he's never had the means to
go the "ship the beta, we'll just fix flaky hardware with a software 'update'
that you can download from the [Al Gore?] Internet!" route.




Just kidding, of course...!

We occasionally send customers a replacement eprom, to update firmware
or fpga configs, to fix a bug or add a feature. I'm not sure I'd know
how to write code to fix an opamp latchup, at least not in assembly.
Can that be done in C++?

John
 
S

Sniper .308

Jan 1, 1970
0

You call your forgery proof faggot, nah, this is proof:

Damn those pesky IDENTICAL NNTP's, eh Blobby? Google is not your
friend, suckboy.

Seriously Blobby we all know you love shit eating and you are just
projecting that point on to others, so why don't you tell us why you
love it so much

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.flame.faggots/msg/6f75da6958c7630e...

From: "Sniper.308" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.flame.faggots
Subject: Shit on me, please.
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:44:29 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 3
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.220.233.230
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
X-Trace: posting.google.com 1190605469 21079 127.0.0.1 (24 Sep 2007
03:44:29 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: [email protected]
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:44:29 +0000 (UTC)
User-Agent: G2/1.0
X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US;
rv:1.8.1.7) Gecko/20070914 Firefox/2.0.0.7,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe)
Complaints-To: [email protected]

http://tinyurl.com/35swp8

From: bobandcarole <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.politics.homosexuality,alt.security.pgp,bc.politics
Subject: Re: Is cappy a liar or a coward? Or is he both? (I say
"both".)
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:51:40 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
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Message-ID: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
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X-Trace: posting.google.com 1191099100 17639 127.0.0.1 (29 Sep 2007
20:51:40 GMT)
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NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:51:40 +0000 (UTC)
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
User-Agent: G2/1.0
X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US;
rv:1.8.1.7) Gecko/20070914 Firefox/2.0.0.7,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe)
Complaints-To: [email protected]

http://tinyurl.com/2un347

From: bobandcarole <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.politics.homosexuality,alt.security.pgp,bc.politics
Subject: Re: Hey cappy! Why did you tell me 250-613-9183 is your phone
number when it isn't? You've proven yourself to be a lying cowardly
faggot, cappy! LMAO!
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:56:59 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 19
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.220.233.230
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
X-Trace: posting.google.com 1191099419 18779 127.0.0.1 (29 Sep 2007
20:56:59 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: [email protected]
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:56:59 +0000 (UTC)
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
User-Agent: G2/1.0
X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US;
rv:1.8.1.7) Gecko/20070914 Firefox/2.0.0.7,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe)
Complaints-To: [email protected]
 
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