[N8VEM: 19939] Finished building my PropIO board!

[Christopher Trumbour]

<Loading Image...>

<Loading Image...>
And it worked first go!
Though I am not entirely sure about the LEDs. The markings were, uh, a
little confusing? Since everyone else apparently has the Cathode side
marked with a flat edge on the circle marking on the PCB, but the PropIO
board (and the N8VEM SBC V2, and the ECB Backplane) have a square and
rounded solder pad with a pair of lines next to the rounded pad... so I put
the Cathode lead into the round pad. +5V lights when powered separately,
but +3V3 doesn't???

Also, let me just say that SMD soldering sucks. It really does. And I don't
like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot aside from the
soldering. Why couldn't they have like, snap-in pins in the guide holes to
keep it secure?

[Vince Mulhollon]

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 10:55:18 AM UTC-5, Christopher Trumbour

And I don't like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot
aside from the soldering.

<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F292FvZl7EU/VcIvIBnwCwI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/qJHXfUuQb5c/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG>


Congrats on it working.

I zoomed in on your PCB and I soldered the SD card slot to the board, not
everywhere but tacked a few places. Look near the LED and the card slot
where theres a big tinned groundplane next to the solderable card slot
metal. I thought it soldered pretty easily although different brands etc
etc. If you're not careful its probably a good way to lift traces / melt
plastic. I have a nice temp controlled iron.

Believe it or not in the 80s doing microwave RF SMD stuff we used to
superglue components to the board so they wouldn't move around. Super glue
solvent is no big deal. Roughly contemporary with that era there used to
be a cheesy TV commercial for "Super Glue" brand where a dude super glued a
safety helmet to a crane using a post about the size of that SD slot and
then the crane hoisted him into the air held up by his superglued helmet!
So that should be strong enough for a mere SD card. One cool thing about
superglue is the home center sells instant glue and couple hours glue but
the hobby model airplane guys sell (or used to sell) couple minutes super
glue which was so perfect for aligning SMD stuff just right.

[J. Alexander Jacocks]

Post by Vince Mulhollon
On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 10:55:18 AM UTC-5, Christopher Trumbour

And I don't like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot
aside from the soldering.

<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F292FvZl7EU/VcIvIBnwCwI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/qJHXfUuQb5c/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG>
Congrats on it working.
I zoomed in on your PCB and I soldered the SD card slot to the board, not
everywhere but tacked a few places. Look near the LED and the card slot
where theres a big tinned groundplane next to the solderable card slot
metal. I thought it soldered pretty easily although different brands etc
etc. If you're not careful its probably a good way to lift traces / melt
plastic. I have a nice temp controlled iron.
Believe it or not in the 80s doing microwave RF SMD stuff we used to
superglue components to the board so they wouldn't move around. Super glue
solvent is no big deal. Roughly contemporary with that era there used to
be a cheesy TV commercial for "Super Glue" brand where a dude super glued a
safety helmet to a crane using a post about the size of that SD slot and
then the crane hoisted him into the air held up by his superglued helmet!
So that should be strong enough for a mere SD card. One cool thing about
superglue is the home center sells instant glue and couple hours glue but
the hobby model airplane guys sell (or used to sell) couple minutes super
glue which was so perfect for aligning SMD stuff just right.
With reference to SMD soldering, there are fairly inexpensive ways to

create a home reflow oven from a toaster oven. I don't use mine often, but
it's a very easy insurance policy to make sure that all your surface mount
work comes out right.

- Alex

[Wayne Warthen]

Glad it is working.

I admit, I picked poor markings for the LEDs. The "two little lines" are
meant to indicate the flat side of the LED. The square solder pin is the
on the other side and should get the long lead of the LED.

Not sure what is going on with the +3.3V LED. If you installed the +3.3V
LED the same as the +5V LED, it should be working. Possibly a bad LED I
guess. Can you check the voltage at the LED with a voltmeter. If your
Propeller is working, you must have a valid +3.3V bus.

Thanks,

Wayne

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 8:55:18 AM UTC-7, Christopher Trumbour

Post by Christopher Trumbour
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F292FvZl7EU/VcIvIBnwCwI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/qJHXfUuQb5c/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DnjQ2L2VwF0/VcIu82P-8GI/AAAAAAAAAFI/XktENbFuA4Q/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG>
And it worked first go!
Though I am not entirely sure about the LEDs. The markings were, uh, a
little confusing? Since everyone else apparently has the Cathode side
marked with a flat edge on the circle marking on the PCB, but the PropIO
board (and the N8VEM SBC V2, and the ECB Backplane) have a square and
rounded solder pad with a pair of lines next to the rounded pad... so I put
the Cathode lead into the round pad. +5V lights when powered separately,
but +3V3 doesn't???
Also, let me just say that SMD soldering sucks. It really does. And I
don't like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot aside from
the soldering. Why couldn't they have like, snap-in pins in the guide holes
to keep it secure?

[Christopher Trumbour]

Okay, so I DID install the LEDs in the proper orientation, it's just most
likely a bad LED.
I had previously gotten a grab bag of LEDs from a site called "Electronics
Goldmine", and just pulled some LEDs from it for this. I did order a blue
LED for the SD Card indicator, since there were no blue LEDs in the bag.
The red LED works and it was from the bag, but I got a funny feeling the
yellow is dead. Thankfully I got a new multimeter the other day from Radio
Shack (it was on sale!) and it has a LED testing function. And it said it's
dead :(

Also, RE: me venting about SMD soldering, it's more of the fact that it's a
pain to solder tiny-ass pins. And I'm very new at this and will probably
not be doing any more SMD stuff if possible, so I'm probably not going to
be making a reflow oven. Though I was not aware you could solder the sides
of the shielding to the board with those pads... hmmm.

Post by Wayne Warthen
Glad it is working.
I admit, I picked poor markings for the LEDs. The "two little lines" are
meant to indicate the flat side of the LED. The square solder pin is the
on the other side and should get the long lead of the LED.
Not sure what is going on with the +3.3V LED. If you installed the +3.3V
LED the same as the +5V LED, it should be working. Possibly a bad LED I
guess. Can you check the voltage at the LED with a voltmeter. If your
Propeller is working, you must have a valid +3.3V bus.
Thanks,
Wayne
On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 8:55:18 AM UTC-7, Christopher Trumbour

Post by Christopher Trumbour
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F292FvZl7EU/VcIvIBnwCwI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/qJHXfUuQb5c/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DnjQ2L2VwF0/VcIu82P-8GI/AAAAAAAAAFI/XktENbFuA4Q/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG>
And it worked first go!
Though I am not entirely sure about the LEDs. The markings were, uh, a
little confusing? Since everyone else apparently has the Cathode side
marked with a flat edge on the circle marking on the PCB, but the PropIO
board (and the N8VEM SBC V2, and the ECB Backplane) have a square and
rounded solder pad with a pair of lines next to the rounded pad... so I put
the Cathode lead into the round pad. +5V lights when powered separately,
but +3V3 doesn't???
Also, let me just say that SMD soldering sucks. It really does. And I
don't like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot aside from
the soldering. Why couldn't they have like, snap-in pins in the guide holes
to keep it secure?

[Wayne Warthen]

I struggled with SMD soldering as well at first. But, honestly, it got a
LOT better with a little practice. Make sure to a liberal amount of flux
on the pins before soldering.

--Wayne

Post by Christopher Trumbour
Okay, so I DID install the LEDs in the proper orientation, it's just most
likely a bad LED.
I had previously gotten a grab bag of LEDs from a site called "Electronics
Goldmine", and just pulled some LEDs from it for this. I did order a blue
LED for the SD Card indicator, since there were no blue LEDs in the bag.
The red LED works and it was from the bag, but I got a funny feeling the
yellow is dead. Thankfully I got a new multimeter the other day from Radio
Shack (it was on sale!) and it has a LED testing function. And it said it's
dead :(
Also, RE: me venting about SMD soldering, it's more of the fact that it's
a pain to solder tiny-ass pins. And I'm very new at this and will probably
not be doing any more SMD stuff if possible, so I'm probably not going to
be making a reflow oven. Though I was not aware you could solder the sides
of the shielding to the board with those pads... hmmm.

Post by Wayne Warthen
Glad it is working.
I admit, I picked poor markings for the LEDs. The "two little lines" are
meant to indicate the flat side of the LED. The square solder pin is the
on the other side and should get the long lead of the LED.
Not sure what is going on with the +3.3V LED. If you installed the +3.3V
LED the same as the +5V LED, it should be working. Possibly a bad LED I
guess. Can you check the voltage at the LED with a voltmeter. If your
Propeller is working, you must have a valid +3.3V bus.
Thanks,
Wayne
On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 8:55:18 AM UTC-7, Christopher Trumbour

Post by Christopher Trumbour
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F292FvZl7EU/VcIvIBnwCwI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/qJHXfUuQb5c/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DnjQ2L2VwF0/VcIu82P-8GI/AAAAAAAAAFI/XktENbFuA4Q/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG>
And it worked first go!
Though I am not entirely sure about the LEDs. The markings were, uh, a
little confusing? Since everyone else apparently has the Cathode side
marked with a flat edge on the circle marking on the PCB, but the PropIO
board (and the N8VEM SBC V2, and the ECB Backplane) have a square and
rounded solder pad with a pair of lines next to the rounded pad... so I put
the Cathode lead into the round pad. +5V lights when powered separately,
but +3V3 doesn't???
Also, let me just say that SMD soldering sucks. It really does. And I
don't like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot aside from
the soldering. Why couldn't they have like, snap-in pins in the guide holes
to keep it secure?

[Gregory Carlson]

It also helps to use 28-30 ga solder!

I struggled with SMD soldering as well at first. But, honestly, it got a LOT better with a little practice. Make sure to a liberal amount of flux on the pins before soldering.
--Wayne
Okay, so I DID install the LEDs in the proper orientation, it's just most likely a bad LED.
I had previously gotten a grab bag of LEDs from a site called "Electronics Goldmine", and just pulled some LEDs from it for this. I did order a blue LED for the SD Card indicator, since there were no blue LEDs in the bag. The red LED works and it was from the bag, but I got a funny feeling the yellow is dead. Thankfully I got a new multimeter the other day from Radio Shack (it was on sale!) and it has a LED testing function. And it said it's dead :(
Also, RE: me venting about SMD soldering, it's more of the fact that it's a pain to solder tiny-ass pins. And I'm very new at this and will probably not be doing any more SMD stuff if possible, so I'm probably not going to be making a reflow oven. Though I was not aware you could solder the sides of the shielding to the board with those pads... hmmm.
Glad it is working.
I admit, I picked poor markings for the LEDs. The "two little lines" are meant to indicate the flat side of the LED. The square solder pin is the on the other side and should get the long lead of the LED.
Not sure what is going on with the +3.3V LED. If you installed the +3.3V LED the same as the +5V LED, it should be working. Possibly a bad LED I guess. Can you check the voltage at the LED with a voltmeter. If your Propeller is working, you must have a valid +3.3V bus.
Thanks,
Wayne
And it worked first go!
Though I am not entirely sure about the LEDs. The markings were, uh, a little confusing? Since everyone else apparently has the Cathode side marked with a flat edge on the circle marking on the PCB, but the PropIO board (and the N8VEM SBC V2, and the ECB Backplane) have a square and rounded solder pad with a pair of lines next to the rounded pad... so I put the Cathode lead into the round pad. +5V lights when powered separately, but +3V3 doesn't???
Also, let me just say that SMD soldering sucks. It really does. And I don't like how there's nothing else supporting the SD Card slot aside from the soldering. Why couldn't they have like, snap-in pins in the guide holes to keep it secure?
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[Christopher Trumbour]

Oh yeah, there was one other issue I wanted to bring up with the
construction of this. It's crazy frustrating, and some people will never
run into it because they don't need to install this part. Connector P8
(external power jack), the topmost pin (square pad) has an opening that is *too
narrow* for the part listed in the BOM. That pin is actually a little wider
than the others. I managed to make it kind of fit by manipulating the pin
with a pair of pliers, but that opening should be adjusted for future
revisions.

[Wayne Warthen]

Yeah, I am well aware of that. Frustrates me too. Unfortunately, I would
need to pay the full cost of the "board setup" fee at the PCB house to fix
this.

--Wayne

On Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 9:51:10 AM UTC-7, Christopher Trumbour

Post by Christopher Trumbour
Oh yeah, there was one other issue I wanted to bring up with the
construction of this. It's crazy frustrating, and some people will never
run into it because they don't need to install this part. Connector P8
(external power jack), the topmost pin (square pad) has an opening that is *too
narrow* for the part listed in the BOM. That pin is actually a little
wider than the others. I managed to make it kind of fit by manipulating the
pin with a pair of pliers, but that opening should be adjusted for future
revisions.