Giannis_TDM
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2019
- Messages
- 895
- Points
- 93
Due to a recent EU wide customs law being passed and Greece being Greece, I can't anymore source parts and PCBs without raising the prices for my drivers, Has happened to a lot of other driver makers in the past and most of them just outright quit making drivers and the designs were lost to time, But I have another solution in mind: Open sourcing my drivers (under MIT licence so Chinese sellers cant copy and sell em) so members can order PCBs and components to make them themselves!
That is a very nice idea and would benefit everyone here but I hate to say that it would kind of financially destroy me atm cause I have about 30 drivers in stock and 200$ ish in parts, not to mention what I have spent on test equipment.... I poured a lot of money on development and test equipment cause a lot of members here were constantly mentioning that there is a lack of drivers but even now I hardly get any orders so I am wondering where the demand went.... This to say the least is also quite demoralizing.
Here is my Idea: Set a Paypal donation thing and as soon as it reaches 1 goal I will release a design(schematics and PCB files), Drivers that have different designs will also have a larger donation goal ex: 3A buck rectangular and circular design. Other designs consist of an 800mA capable small form factor boost and an up to 200mA extremely small PWMable boost depending on diode vF for tiny and cool projects. Some of the donation money will go on designing a 'killer' of a driver built on my previous knowledge with tons of never before seen features. Donation money will also help me make datasheets for the rest of my driver lineup, not only the 3A buck.
I am currently thinking: 1rst goal 200$ for the 2 3A buck designs, 120$ for the 800mA boost and 80$ for the 200mA boost design.
Please post opinions below.
Thanks for noticing, Giannis.
(Note: If you want to, Even after said designs are released as open-source you can still contact me with questions about them, and I should note that manufacturing at scale (above 10 in a single run) Is not allowed except if given permission upon contacting me in order to ensure 1: proper pricing 2: proper rights management 3: proper component selection, No cutting corners!)
That is a very nice idea and would benefit everyone here but I hate to say that it would kind of financially destroy me atm cause I have about 30 drivers in stock and 200$ ish in parts, not to mention what I have spent on test equipment.... I poured a lot of money on development and test equipment cause a lot of members here were constantly mentioning that there is a lack of drivers but even now I hardly get any orders so I am wondering where the demand went.... This to say the least is also quite demoralizing.
Here is my Idea: Set a Paypal donation thing and as soon as it reaches 1 goal I will release a design(schematics and PCB files), Drivers that have different designs will also have a larger donation goal ex: 3A buck rectangular and circular design. Other designs consist of an 800mA capable small form factor boost and an up to 200mA extremely small PWMable boost depending on diode vF for tiny and cool projects. Some of the donation money will go on designing a 'killer' of a driver built on my previous knowledge with tons of never before seen features. Donation money will also help me make datasheets for the rest of my driver lineup, not only the 3A buck.
I am currently thinking: 1rst goal 200$ for the 2 3A buck designs, 120$ for the 800mA boost and 80$ for the 200mA boost design.
Please post opinions below.
Thanks for noticing, Giannis.
(Note: If you want to, Even after said designs are released as open-source you can still contact me with questions about them, and I should note that manufacturing at scale (above 10 in a single run) Is not allowed except if given permission upon contacting me in order to ensure 1: proper pricing 2: proper rights management 3: proper component selection, No cutting corners!)