Balun compatibility

[Daniel]

I'm doing a custom board with a nRF51822 FAAG0. I have in it the ST BAL-NRF01D3, with a 0.8pF capacitor. In the forum I read in a post that some versions of the nRF51822 are not compatible with the BAL-NRF01D3, but with the BALF-NRF01D3. In the BAL-NRF01D3 there is not anything about that, but if you check the BALF-NRF01D3 datahsheet you can see this table at the end:

So, the ST information of the BAL-NRF01D3 and the BALF-NRF01D3 seems to be contradictory. For one part the BAL-NRF01D3 says that you can use it with all the nRF58122 series, and on the other side the BALF-NRF01D3 says that my particular processor FAAG0 only goes with the BALF-NRF01D3, and without the 0.8pF.

So, what to do? Can I use the BAL-NRF01D3 or I need to get a BALF-NRF01D3? They are really so different? What's the difference between the build code of the nRF51822? Thank you very much!

[Anders Strand]

Hi.

Can you link the forum post you refer to?

We have a list of supported BALUN's on our website. According to this, you should use the BALF-NRF01E3 for best results.

The BALF-NRF01D3 should work as well. I do not know why the documentation on ST's site is as it is. My guess is that the BALF version came later, and support the same devices.

The build codes describes what hardware version your chip is. The difference between hardware versions can be small fixes, or bigger changes. The big changes represent chip revisions. We have three revisions of the nRF51822. In page 5 of our compatibility matrix, you can find an overview of chip revisions, build codes and their compatibilities.

[Daniel]

This is the post I refered to devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

[Daniel]

So, anyway, I guest that I will have better results with the BALF-NRF01E3, but I can still use the BAL-NRF01E3. I'm right?

[Anders Strand]

Yes. I cannot really guarantee anything though since we do not list it. But if ST states that it is compatible, it should work. Have you already created the boards, or are you still in the design phase?

[Daniel]

I have already done The board. You can see it here devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../ Thank you very much. I think that the question can be closed.