Yay. I suck.
September 7, 2006
Yep. I fucked up another first run of PCBs. At least I know how.
Too bad it’s substantial enough that I need to order another run.
< sigh >
(I mis-read the original schematic and hooked all the ground pins on all the ICs to 5V. I wasn’t used to the style used in the schematic and I guess I read it how I wanted to, not how it actually was. I’ll fix it, then this project is on hold for a while. Probably until after the PCBs come in and I’ve finished stuffing the 9090 boards.)
Just something to keep in mind..
The stuff you are doing is really difficult. It may seem easy to some, but there are people out there who’d give their nuts to be able to have as much tech knowledge/know now that you seem to have — even when you make a mistake.
I look forward to hearing/seeing this whole process :)
Re: Just something to keep in mind..
Thank you. :)
Here’s a summary…
1) Find schematic for nifty thing.
2) Implement it almost right, repeatedly misreading one VERY crucial part.
3) Order $65 worth of circuit boards and wait two weeks.
4) Assemble things, curse when it doesn’t work, then curse yourself for making a costly error which has smoked some ICs.
5) Post to LJ and whinge.
;)
i’d highly recommend schematic versus layout reviews. most times you don’t find anything, but most of the semi-knowledgeable will find the ground power issues, mismatched bus pins, impedence mismatches and other duh items.
Are you volunteering? ;)
I don’t know too many people who I can ask to double-check things after I’m done laying them out. Laying out either the schematic or the PCB, that is.
i don’t mind doing it as my current job doesn’t even come close to doing anything hardware level and i need practice. b’s stuff is pretty easy so i don’t get much challenge, plus i can teach b some things.
If you don’t mind then, I’ll post the next schematic / layout here (LJ) and ask for review.
I still can’t believe I never made the “uhh… there’s no ground pins on any of the ICs” connection, but, whatever. At least I can improve the boards a bit too.
take it as a learning experience and use it as a story for interviews.
Heh. Interviews.
Every time I really screw something like this up I just think of the old “if you know what you are doing, you aren’t learning”. Just wish I knew who to attribute that to. Google’s of little help on this one.
I, too, could review your schematic/layout. I’ve done quite a few and, of course, made mistakes.
Depending on how many bad connections you’re talking about, some cut traces and jumper wire may be in order. I suppose it’s a matter of wether you feel salvaging $65 worth of boards is worth the time to cut traces and solder jumper wire.