Originally Posted by
durtman
I placed an order for the transponders this past weekend from JLC. The total for 5 boards came out to a bit over $210 USD ($60 in tariff) with a $10 new user coupon for five panels on github. It appears production won't be effected by the February holidays and they'll be finished and shipped out by the end of the week.
Wow. I'm also paying 27% VAT on every order, and these are the prices I'm seeing historically (with cheapest shipping, taxes included):
2025 October (first design) - 5 panel, 40 pcs @ $130
2025 December - 5 panel, 40 pcs @ $160 (extra components were added though)
2026 February - 5 panel, 40 pcs @ $195
The price increase is quite visible. The MCU's price went up considerably for sure (~$.4x -> $.62), but I don't know what else...
Originally Posted by
durtman
I did get a warning the 20mhz crystal used on the board was in low supply, preventing me from ordering 10 boards. The suggested alternatives use a different footprint, HC-49S-SMD. If you broaden the search there are SMD3225-4P alternatives but the capacitance is different from the 15pf in the bom.
I think
C654980 (12pf) is a safe choice (actually better), but might have to decrease the shunt capacitors to 18pf from 20 pf (C4, C5). Do not go with 20 pf ones, the current design is a bit "living on the edge" already.