Microchip Technology MCP4728EV User Manual

© 2009 Microchip Technology Inc.

DS51837A-page 5

The following sections provide an overview of the MCP4728 Evaluation Board and 
instructions on how to program the DAC register and the EEPROM of the MCP4728 
using the PICkit

TM

 Serial Analyzer. The following sections cover the topics:

• Description of the MCP4728 Evaluation Board

• How to use the MCP4728 Evaluation Board with the PICkit Serial Analyzer

The purpose of the MCP4728 Evaluation Board is to provide an easy way of evaluating 
the MCP4728’s performance and functionality with a minimum of work.

The MCP4728 Evaluation Board contains a MCP4728 (which is a 4-channel, 12-bit 
Digital-to-Analog Converter), an interface connector for the PICkit Serial Analyzer, and 
I

2

C test point terminals.The user can evaluate this board by using the PICkit Serial 

Analyzer or by providing the I

2

C serial communication signals through the I

2

C test 

terminals.

Using the MCP4728 Evaluation Board, the user can evaluate the functionality of the 
MCP4728 device, such as: (a) Writing and reading the DAC registers and EEPROM of 
each channel, (b) Selecting the reference voltage, (c) Measuring the DAC output 
voltage, (d) Checking the LDAC pin feature, etc.

The MCP4728 Evaluation Board is designed to work friendly with the PICkit Serial 
Analyzer (DV164122). The PICkit Serial Analyzer (P/N: DV164122) is used for writing 
and reading the DAC configuration and register data. The PICkit Serial Analyzer 
consists of hardware and PC GUI. It is highly recommended that the users order this 
MCP4728 Evaluation Board and the PICkit Serial Analyzer at same time.

• The MCP4728 supports standard mode (100 kHz), fast mode (400 kHz), and high 

speed mode (3.4 MHz) of the I

2

C serial communications. This evaluation board 

has 5 k

Ω for the I

2

C pull-up resistors and supports up to the fast mode. If the user 

needs to evaluate the device with high speed mode (3.4 MHz), please replace the 
R1 and R2 with lower values (less than 1 k

Ω).

The MCP4728 Evaluation Board has test points for SDL, SDA, and DAC outputs. By 
connecting an oscilloscope to these I

2

C test points, the user can examine the data 

communications through the I

2

C

™

 bus line and observe the resulting analog output (at 

V

OUT

 terminals) using a multimeter. Refer to Appendix A. “Schematic and Layouts”.

The MCP4728 Evaluation Board can be used without the PICkit Serial 
Analyzer as long as the V

DD

, SCL, and SDA are provided through the J1 

connector. This board does not include MCU.