XR2206 Signal Generator DIY Kit (OT3256)

If you are looking for a simple signal generator kit that is cheap and can be built in less than an hour, this is the kit for you!
An impressive addition to your existing electronics lab.
Please note that it is not a replacement for a professional function generator, but it still looks quite useful for electronics hobbyists/makers to repair/debug certain projects. This is definitely a gadget you can learn a lot from and with.
A function generator is an indispensable part of an electronics lab, but unfortunately very expensive for the average electronics hobbyist. The most popular (and cheap) DIY Chinese kit on the market is the one based on the handy function generator chip XR2206.
This easy to build 1Hz-1MHz XR2206 function generator kit allows for many different routine measurements and experiments, and provides fair quality sine, square and triangle waveform outputs with moderate stability and accuracy. More than enough for a small home electronics hobby lab!
When you purchase this DIY kit, it requires a little soldering and you will get everything you need to complete the project. The package includes mounting hardware and an instruction leaflet that I'm sure most makers will be able to follow. Fortunately, the kit comes with through-hole components, and there are legends on the double-sided PCB that clearly tell you where to mount and solder each part. There is also a good quality socket for the XR2206 chip, nice caps for the jumpers, and knobs for the potentiometers.

Kit assembly instructions:
Assembly is a breeze once you know what you're doing! As usual, solder all the low-profile components one by one first, and then solder the IC socket last. Remember to pay close attention to the polarity of electrolytic capacitors and the orientation of the XR2206 IC. Cut the legs of all components as short as possible to also prevent accidental short circuits.

Quick Testing Tips
When construction is complete and you are ready to use the function generator, pay attention to the polarity of the power supply. Then, feed 9-12V DC (9V typical) through the DC input.
Short the lower two pins (Tri/Sin) of the waveform selection jumper Short the upper two pins (65K-1M) of the frequency selection jumper Turn the knob of the fine tuning potentiometer to finely tune the signal frequency Turn the knob of the coarse tuning potentiometer to coarsely tune the signal frequency Turn the knob of the amplitude potentiometer to adjust the amplitude of the output signal
For the power supply, you can use a 6F22 9V battery, because the total current consumption with 9V is very low. However, if you use a 9V-12V (never more than 12V) power supply, make sure it is a stable type with very low output noise and ripple. After successful construction and first test, you can choose to put the XR2206 in a specially designed case (OT3631 available separately)
Please note that the square wave output does not go through the amplitude control. Only the amplitude of the sine/triangle waves can be controlled by the knob (and is also affected by the input supply voltage).
XR2206 Function Generator DIY Kit is really a cheap and easy to build kit that can be useful for most beginners and electronics enthusiasts. Makes almost perfect square, sine and triangle waveforms.

We recommend our USB soldering iron for soldering this kit.


DimensionsLength: 6.3cmWidth: 4.5cmHeight: 1cm