QUACK Start

TL;DR

You will need the following items to correctly summon the QuACK. For more information on each step, see the Detailed Instructions tab in the navbar.

• 1 working qick setup including RFSoC, RFSoC accessories and software
• 2 to 32 CN0531 DAC boards
• 1 to 4 QuACK input boards
• 1 to 4 QuACK output boards
• 1 QuACK coupling board
• 1 Custom Front Panel
• 1 Custom Support Panel
• 1 5-12V power supply (minimum 5A for full 32 DAC system) (output as either Molex-6 Minifit or two Banana Connectors)
• 1 qickquack installation
• Tools for modifying stock enclosure back panel
• Flathead and Phillips screwdrivers
• Ribbon Cable Crimper, or some ingenuity with pinching flat things
• A fair bit of time
• Some patience
• Stale bread (quantity varies) (quack)

Hardware

There are three main places that a user will have to go to order items for the QUACK box.

• JLCPCB – Custom Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Manufacturer and Assembler

  • Input Boards (5)
  • Output Boards (5)
  • Coupling Board (2)

• Front Panel Express – Custom Front Panel Manufacturer

  • Custom Front Panel (1)
  • Custom Support Panel (1)

• Digikey

  • Everything Else (screws, nuts, spacers, cables, stock enclosure, etc.)

To get started on this list, head over to the Detailed Instructions -> Ordering Overview page. Work your way through the 3 pages found there.

After all of your items have come in, head over to the First half of the Detailed Instructions -> Assembly page to do some basic preparation and testing of components.

Once ready, continue on the same page to assemble the full system. That will be a wrap on hardware setup!

Software

QuACK expands on both the firmware and software aspects of QICK.

If you are content to use what we have provided (which should definitely be your starting place if you’re just checking it out the first time), the two files you need are quack.bit and quack.hwh. If you want to edit the QuACK firmware, go you, because that’s an advanced operation. See the Advanced Usage tab.

The software upgrades provided by QuACK are all contained in the qickquack package. You can use pip install qickquack to check it out on your laptop, but you’ll need to follow the instuctions in Detailed Instructions > Installation if you want it on the RFSoC (the only place it’s actually useful fyi).