I have used 7 of these modules before, and now I don’t seem to be able to get any of the new ones purchased recently to work.
I can see all of the correct data, Clock and Strobe signals from the PIC. The voltages are correct on both IC’s. I can see my audio going into the TC9413 IC but there is nothing on the output of either channel when looking on the oscilloscope.
It seems like the TC9413 is not responding to the data it receives from the pic.
I have purchased 7 kits all with the same problem.
I have tried 2 different amplifiers on the output, and also tried with nothing connected to the output.
Could this be a batch problem with the TC9413 IC’s?
At this time we are investigating the problem.
We suspect that our supplier (beyond his control) has supplied us with ‘fake’ TC9413 IC’s.
As the TC9413 is obsolete, we have no second source at this time.
Please return your assumed defective IC’s for investigation to:
I recently purchased a MK164 (IR Electronic volume control kit) together with a MK162 (2 chan IR Remote Transmitter). I found the assembly easy and upon testing operation yesterday morning the volume control worked perfectly and I was impressed with the
performance on incremental level changes. I switched off and left it complete and in situ.
Last evening I went to use the control for a programme I was listening to and it appeared to have stopped working. Upon close examination the system worked with the remote about 2 centimetres from the receiver . Clearly something in the TX/RX path has failed but without a service manual I cannot track waveforms or signal paths on either device.
Can you help please?
Sorry, there are no service manuals for minikits.
Schematics are supplied with the kits.
Check remote control battery.
Make sure there are no IR sources in the room that swamp the receiver.
We are afraid that the purpose of this forum is not to supply information regarding the status of repair items.
Please contact the repair dept. at lvp@velleman.be
I was thinking of buying an MK163 but after reading the comments in this thread I am concerned of the possibility of buying a kit with a fake TC9413 IC.
There seems to be no conclusion to this issue in the thread - please could someone from Velleman let me know what the status of this issue is please?
All customers have received replacements.
We still have some stock to replace parts that have been sitting in distributors warehouses.
If you have an affected part, please return it for exchange.
Sorry, no exchanges without return of defective parts.
I’ve just bought two MK163 kits and one MK164 from QKits in Canada.
(They are getting hard to find, but QKits had stock).
However, I’ve just built the first MK163 and it seems like it has the same problem as the original post - the PIC appears to be working fine (IR Rx lamp flashes in response to IR and buttons; voltages on pins of TC9413P look good; but nothing coming out of TC9413P).
I realize this could be a lot of things, but what are the chances I have bad TC9413P’s? (All the kits have chips that look the same, the chip says “TOSHIBA TC9413P 9734H JAPAN”).
Does Velleman still have any good stock with which to replace them?
Yes. I bought two MK163 kits and one MK164, for a total of three TC9413 chips. After the first MK163 didn’t work, I tried a second TC9413 (from the MK164 kit) in it; no difference. Then, for an independent check, I assembled the MK164 and tried all three TC9413s in that (including one that had never been in the other assembly). The MK164 has a delightfully rich range of outputs on its LEDs (it seems like the number of “chases” when it comes out of mute indicates the current volume level?), but, sadly, no audio output under any conditions using any of the chips.
I’ve checked the audio cables, etc. It would so neatly explain everything if I could pin it on the chips.
I’ve tried to find some kind of batch number on the kit packaging, but I can’t see anything distinctive. The MK163 kits have UPIC 5 410329 314774, the packaging has a red stripe across the top and a black-and-white picture of the device on the front. The MK164 kit has UPIC 5 410329 314798, a green stripe across the top of the packaging, and a color picture of the device (in three views, plus a model operating it) on the front.