Difference between revisions of "ISP Shield 2 Assembly Instructions"

Revision as of 17:29, 31 May 2011

This page walks through the basic assembly process for building the ISP Shield 2.0.

Bill of Materials, or, "What's in the kit?"

Assembly procedure

We'll go line by line through the kit components. This guide assumes that you have had some soldering experience. If not, or it's been a while, you may also want to look at pages 2 and 5-7 of the Bulbdial clock assembly instructions, which go over basic tools and technique. And, if you really are a beginner, there are plenty of good tutorials on line, like this one.

(Assembly instructions will be posted by June 1, 2011. Not yet!)

0. The circuit board

Here's what the bare circuit board looks like:

We'll be adding components to the labeled locations there.

1. The 10k ohm pull-up resistor and 100 ohm auto-reset override resistor

The 10,000 ohm pull-up resistor is the smallest resistor in the kit. It has a color pattern of brown-black-orange-gold. Install it in location R1, solder both pins, and clip the excess leads short.

The 100 ohm auto-reset override resistor has a color pattern of brown-black-brown-gold. Install it in location R7, solder both pins, and clip the excess leads short.

These resistors may be orientated either way; resistors are not directional.

2. The 1k ohm resistors

There are five 1,000 ohm resistors. They have a color pattern of brown-black-red-gold.

These go into locations R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6.

Like the resistors above, these may be orientated either way.

3. The six pin right angle header

This six-pin header covers the two three-pin function select jumpers.

The angled end of the header drops into the line of holes at location J5 and J6 as shown:

Carefully tack down one pin on the top of the board:

Make sure the long pins on the header are parallel with the board and that the header is fully seated on the board (the black plastic block should be resting on the board).

If this isn't the case, carefully reheat the soldered joint and adjust the header as needed.

Once the header is lined up flip the board over and solder all the pins, starting with the pin farthest from the first pin your soldered.

Your board should look like this now:

4. LEDs

There are four LEDs to install.

Don't worry about mixing them up, they are all the same color. The LEDs go in locations labeled PULSE, PROG, HELLO, and ERROR.

Note that the orientation of the LED matters! The long lead on the LED is the positive (or anode) pin. The long pin goes in the hole with the square solder pad, like so:

Simply drop each LED in, bend the leads, solder, and clip off the excess.

Do this four times and your board should look like this:

5. Crystal and Capacitors

The crystal is the elongated silver can, and goes in location XTL. The orientation doesn't matter.

The related capacitors go in locations C2 and C3, on either side of the crystal. The orientation of these doesn't matter either.

Note the black stripe along the top of each capacitor! Make sure you're using the right ones.

6. Capacitor and Switch

There is one more capacitor, at location C1. It will look a lot like the capacitors at location C2 and C3 but will not have a black stripe. Don't forget to clip the excess leads on the capacitors.

The reset switch goes in location RESET.

You don't need to worry about orientation for either part.

7. 6-pin ISP Header

The ISP header is a two by three block of straight pins. It should drop right into location ISP6.

Solder one pin on the back and then flip the board over. Make sure that the header is perpendicular to the board and the black plastic block is seated on the board.

Once you're sure the header is seated properly, solder the rest of the pins on the back.

8. The 'Stackable' Headers

The ISP Shield is intended to be used as a 'shield' with an Arduino or Arduino-compatible board, and so it comes with the appropriate 'stacking' headers.

The six pin variant goes in locations J2 and J4, while the eight pin variant goes in locations J1 and J3.

To add these, we recommend inserting all four headers and then resting the board-- upside down --on the four headers, so that they sit flush to the board. Solder one end pin of each first. Flip the board back over and check that the pins are perpendicular to the board. Also make sure the headers aren't 'twisted' in their sockets - make sure the edges of the socket are parallel with the silkscreen outline on the board.

If any header/socket isn't aligned correctly, heat up the solder on the single soldered pin and adjust the header/socket as needed.

Once everything is aligned, flip the board back over and solder the rest of the pins. Try to use the minimum of solder, so that solder does not wick either down into the hole (bad!) or onto the pins (also bad!).

9. ZIF Socket

This socket goes in location U1 on the circuit board. Orientation is very important: The side with the lever sits above the end of the chip with the "half moon" indentation on the circuit board drawing. In other words, the lever is on the side closer to where it says "ISP Shield."

Press the socket flush to the board. If you lower the lever, you can rest the board upside down on the ZIF socket while you solder the pins in place. The leads on the back side are short enough that they do not need to be trimmed.

10. Add Function Jumper Blocks

Push the jumper blocks onto the six pin header at location J5 and J6.

11. You're Done!

Congrats!