First of all, there will be 50 new units made in the first batch. A lack of parts prevents me from making any more than 50 boards, but I'm working on sourcing them all. For a while I thought I had everything sorted, because the shortages used to be mainly semiconductors, which I have now stocked up on (and my intern Oscar has measured and selected them all). But now some parts that used to be available practically everywhere have suddenly disappeared. For instance, a simple resistor I'm using is out of stock in the particular value I'm using and won't be manufactured again until December 2023. I just bought 500 pcs, at a premium, from a Shenzhen parts dealer, but as they need to be measured and selected, I'll be able to use perhaps 50 of them.
After the first 50 units are made, I intend to make a batch of boards for upgrading older units. Most likely, both older Tundra Mono's and Tundra stereo's can be upgraded to a Tundra Mono 3. I just need to confirm that the fitting is perfect also in the oldest of cases, but currently I believe they all will be. I think it will be necessary for some sort of pre-booking of these upgrade kits, so that I know how many boards to make.
So what is new in Tundra Mono 3 compared to the previous version 2.2?
- New output transistors with twice the current rating,
- 8 new inductors in the power regulation - two of these are on special order from the manufacturer, who agreed to make me a precision one, as the standard version is +/-20%, which is far from ideal, and to measure and select them is difficult,
- New capacitor type in feedback loop,
- New components in the power supplies (same as in Boazu 1.3),
- New chassis ground parts,
- Higher printed circuit board quality - the same as is used in SINGularity and Källa, and
- New circuit board layout with optimised high frequency coupling between layers.
- I have four new Thermal Interface Materials that need to be evaluated,
- I have some new tantalum capacitor models that need to be tested, in the hope of finding something better than the old favourites, and
- I need to wait for the high precision inductors that are on special order from the manufacturer.
What will it cost? I don't know yet for certain, but my guess is around 25% more than Tundra Mono 2.2.