SDI-12 USB + Analog prototype

So finally the boards and parts are here and I built the first batch of 3 boards (purple as in oshpark.com). Here is a photo of one of them with my hand as size reference:

This board is twice the size of the original SDI-12 USB adapter and features the following additional features:

1. 4 SDI-12 screw terminal blocks. The original adapter can handle multiple SDI-12 sensors if you wire them all together to the single SDI-12 block. On the other hand, I can make this easier by providing more connectors. 4 connections don’t mean limit of SDI-12 sensors to 4. You can wire any number of sensors to the same connection. More connections just mean more convenience when building your logger or swapping sensors in the field.
2. External power supply block. With the original adapter, SDI-12 sensors are powered by 5V from USB. If it is not enough, you need another power source and some additional wiring. With the new version, just wire external power to this connection and select the SDI-12 power jumper to Ext., less wiring.
3. Analog channels: Many users asked about using analog sensors that are NOT SDI-12 sensors. That requires additional hardware and distracts you from focusing on making your logger. Enter 4 analog channels! Each channel is capable of 16-bit analog to digital conversion and can have up to 16X gain. The smallest voltage you can read is down to 8 micro volts! You are welcome, pyranometers! You can use them as 4 single-ended channels, for PT1000 or other resistive temperature sensors or as 2 differential channels, best suited for pyranometers.
4. Resistance sensors: resistance measurements are available on every analog channel. The channels come with select-able high-precision low-temperature-drift pull-up resistors. You can select 1K resistor for PT1000 and anything with low resistance or 10K resistor for 10K thermistors or anything with high resistance. If your sensor generates a voltage, such as pyranometer, you can disconnect the jumper to disable this pull-up resistor. Each channel is separately configurable and auto-scales for best precision.
5. Analog channels are sensed the SAME way you would sensor an SDI-12 sensor. The address is ‘z’ (lower case). Just in case you wonder, there is also a differential mode to further increase precision of small signals if you pair channels 0 and 1 as a differential channel, or 2 and 3 as another differential channel. Send zM! to the adapter for single-ended measurements. Send zM1! for differential measurements. If you have them mixed, say channels 0-1 is used as differential for a pyranometer and 2, 3 are single-ended for two PT1000 temperature sensors, sense it twice, once as single-ended, discard values from channels 0 and 1. Then sense as differential, discard value from 2-3 differential.
6. Every key component, such as the analog-to-digital converter IC, the ATMEGA328 processor, the FT232RL USB chip, crystal oscillator, fuse, and precision resistors, comes from reputable vendors such as digikey, mouser, or newark. Every adapter is assembled by myself and tested with an actual SDI-12 sensor (also an analog or resistive sensor). I don’t know how else to ensure excellent quality! There is no guarantee coming with ebay purchases!

I expect this product to be available in a few weeks after I conclude my testing phase. My estimate retail price is $89. I will release data logger code that can log both SDI-12 sensor and the analog channels when this is offered for sale.