Quick Start

The MAX2396 EV kit is fully assembled and factory test-

ed. Follow the instructions in the Connections and

Setup section for proper device evaluation.

Test Equipment Required

This section lists the recommended test equipment to

verify the operation of the MAX2396 EV kit. It is intended

as a guide only, and some substitutions are possible:

• DC supply capable of delivering 200mA continuous

current at +5.0V

• DC supply capable of delivering 200mA continuous

current at -5.0V

• DC supply capable of delivering 50mA continuous

current at +2.8V

• DMM, to measure IC supply current

• HP 8648C or equivalent signal source capable of

generating -30dBm up to 2.2GHz

• HP 8561E or equivalent RF spectrum analyzer

(baseband spectrum only)

• TDS3012 or equivalent digitizing oscilloscope

Connections and Setup

This section provides a step-by-step guide to testing

the basic functionality of the EV kit:

1) Install the MAX2396 control software on a PC. This

software uses a 3rd-party DLL to allow communica-

tion through the parallel port: “DriverLINX” by

Scientific Software Tools (www.sstnet.com). The

Maxim installer installs this DLL for you automatically.

2) Connect the interface board and cable from the PC

parallel port to the EV kit header. Pin 1 on the rib-

bon cable is indicated with a stripe, and pin 1 on

the header is nearest to the corner of the board.

The interface board is just populated with logic

buffers to protect the parallel port against acciden-

tal shorts, but be careful with these connections.

3) Calibrate the power meter, with the low-power

head, at 2140MHz. A rough interpolation of the cal

factor does not introduce noticeable error if reading

the cal factor from a table.

4) Set the signal generator for a 2140.18MHz CW

(unmodulated) output at -27dBm, and connect a

3dB pad to the DUT side of the SMA cable. Use the

power meter to set the input power to the DUT at

-30dBm. Use measured attenuators and/or the

signal generator’s internal step attenuators (-40dB)

to reduce the signal to -90dBm.

5) Connect the RF source’s SMA cable and attenua-

tors to the EV kit’s LNAIN SMA input.

6) Connect the BNC cable from either I or Q to the

spectrum analyzer. Connect the other output into

the oscilloscope—be sure to set the oscilloscope’s

inputs to 50

Ω, and not 1MΩ. Cable loss at 180kHz

is negligible; as long as cables are about the same

length, no calibration is required at the output to

observe proper signal level, as well as proper I/Q

gain-and-phase balance.

7) Set one of the DC supplies to 2.8V and set a current

limit of 100mA (if available). Connect this supply

through the ammeter to VCC_IC, and readjust the

supply, if necessary, to get 2.8V at the IC when

powered up. This supply connection only powers

the IC on the EV kit—read the ammeter to watch IC

supply current for the receiver. Connect another

line directly from the 2.8V supply to VCC_EXT to

supply the external logic on the kit. Not having the

voltage drop of the ammeter in line means the volt-

age is slightly higher than VCC_IC, but this does

not cause a problem.

8) Set the other supplies for ±5.0V with a current limit

of about 100mA. Connect these supplies to the +5V,

GND, and -5V on the opposite side of the kit. These

are the bipolar supplies for the MAX4444 differential

line drivers that buffer the I/Q outputs. Note that all

GND test points are connected to the same ground

plane—it is only necessary to use one of them.

9) Set the spectrum analyzer to span from DC (mini-

mum sweep) to 2MHz. Set the reference level to

+10dBm.

10) Set the oscilloscope for a sweep rate of about

1µs/div, DC-coupling, with an amplitude scale of

about 100mV/div.

MAX2396 Evaluation Kit

_______________________________________________________________________________________

3

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.