Dan

Capacitors arrive today so I finished installing them on K8 attached picture.  I have made 2 changes I used 2N3904 and 2N3906 for Q2 and Q3 as I had them. They are what I used on by test board.  Rather than take apart test system I am also make new front panel for each board.  I have all the front panel parts for this one.  Still need to make the front panel so I can mount the parts and make the wires.  It is nice that for this board all the front panel wires can go to new connections to left of the board. I plan to use screw connectors there.  For my initial testing I will just use screw connections on break out connector.

While I would like to test on VIC Matrix board I am still waiting for the 37 pin sub-d connectors for that board. So I will do initial testing with a break connector as that is how I am currently testing K2 board.  This way I know it works before installing on VIC Board.  Nice thing about these connectors is I do not have couple pins.

Also all you need for a card extender for the VIC Matrix and board is a standard 37 pin straight through cable I purchase one but easy to make with ribbon cable and a couple of connectors just needs to straight through.

note we can  put the jump out  screw terminals on the main board matrix extra screw pins
they  are there to do that ,

 so each slot has screw pin outs
to allow jumping

 idea is we can expand the cards not the main board as it is already rather interesting to learn it

if a card is improved we can use the extra screw pins outs for each card and add traces latter if proven needed

the card extender we put as db 9 out to hydruino

which is basically micro controller Arduino
 it has power rails out the extra
db9

Earl

can you post a excel Bom of the K8 parts you put in
we can audit each against what we posted
as we go to ensure nothing missed or mismatch spec

Dan

Dan I think I found what is causing the problem with the K2 card I am getting 5V dc out not pulses. I think the traces short out the 1K resistor and lays out is not right for a few pins.  I clipped out the 555 timer part of the circuit that has the problem and show a possible fix.

Note: Value on Capacitor needs to be 0.01uF (gives 5khz) I did a test and 0.1uF (gives 556hz) range is about a factor of 10 smaller. Label on board for capacitor is incorrect.

Requirements we need to meet:
Pin 7 it should connect solid with top of 1k and then out to resistor and pots
Pins 2 & 6 should connect with bottom of 1k and positive side of capacitor but not to ground
The way traces are laid down pin1 connection grounds out both sides of resistor and pin 2/6 does connect between capacitor and resistor 1 like it should
See second picture for layout that may fix these problems

Rest of the 555 layout looks good.

ok noted w i will review it now,
let me know if you can adjust board so it runs

as i can make a replacement for test
Dan

Dan I plan on cutting trace to fix problem on my board I have.  To avoid confusion I flip picture above to get back view so I cut right traces.  In doing that I saw a routing that may be cleaner.  See below I just used green for ground so I knew which on it was.

Remove red traces and add blue and green ones.   Should do same things as fix above

In both make sure trace from pin seven connects to resistor when I checked with ohm meter is does not look like there is a good connection.

Earl please check this

resistor was place work i think we edited the board
here is update if ok or more change let me
know
dan

Reader Note this is latest k2 Gerber

Earl do you think track width is ok  i can make up a weight

That looks right nice and clean too.  The board I have matched drawings I marked up.  I have already cut the traces on it (Plexiglas scoring tool make cutting them easy). Once I added 3 jumpers (I put one on pin 7 to resistor as well meter read open circuit.)  I can now get frequency and can adjust it with pot.  Have not finished checking rest of board yet.  I still need to connect 4 - position selector switches was waiting to very 555 worked first.

I should get that hooked up later today and still need to put other chips back on board as well.

I am not a good one to recommend trace size as I have no experience designing PCB boards.

thanks for reader re trace widths
our max amp rating is  as Meyer said 6 amp max

Dan

Installed Chips and checked that they all work.  Other thing I wanted to verify was what is hooked up to the boards output pins 1-4.  There are 4 landing pad labeled COM on board.  There are no numbers but if they are number 4, 3, 2, 1 with 4 closest to COM you use these to set switch go to which output port.

Board Output pins      On-board Pins for Switch Com
Pin 1 - is G to K11         3
Pin 2 - Q to G10         2
Pin 3 - B to K3            1
Pin 4 - C to K3            4

The above is fixed, what can be changed is where you land the common from the 4-position switch.  For example, I plan on initially only hooking up 2 switched but I what them to be B and G so I will land switch commons on COM pads 3 and 2 and label front panel to match.  You can use any set of points for the four inputs to switch where you land Com is all that matters.

Picture is the K2 being tested to determine the above.  New front panel is behind. You can see the new switches I plan on using just have not wired them up yet.  Just found these Electrical Buddy 2PCS 1 Pole 4 Way Rotary Switch with Knob.SP4T 8A/250V on Amazon $10 for the pair.

Dan I am using 29 gage wire on coil max amp for them 1.2 amps.  So I do not expect amps into boards or system to much above that.

BOM for K8 is attached.  Dan is this what you are looking for?

hi Thanks nice posts
 in the k2 you show in test did you adjust traces yet

I review bom
Dan

compare boms k2

Yes cut trace in 3 places and added 3 jumpers so board was fully functional with exception of 4x switch but tested that with jumper as is just a switch.

Note:  The switches in picture have a narrower profile as lugs are on back instead of side.  The were new this year at least I did not see them when I bought  switches a year ago

great ,

37 Pin Connectors for VIC Matrix card came today and I had the screw connectors so I installed them.  I also tested the screw connector interface to 37 pin connector for K2.  You can see interface test card in last 2 pictures.  Just need to make wires between K2 switches and I will be ready to test that board installed in VIC Matrix.  For now I will be using the screw connectors to power K2.

I recommend putting on screw connectors first as the a shorter that 37 pin connectors.  I snapped screw connectors together then installed them as group.  Then flipped the board over and soldered them.  These are a tight fit so you do not have to hold them but with board face down on flat surface it gives you a solid surface to work on.  The 37 pin connectors are a loose fit so I started with 3 one at each end and one in the middle then flipping board over again the flat surface held them in place while soldering. Ten just filled remaining connectors one at a time. 

Connected 2 4x switches and installed K2 on VIC Matrix board.  Provided 5vdc from external power supply.  Checked both 4 position switches with o-scope and they work correctly.  I wired one switch to provide B output to K2 and the other to provide G output to K11 and verified that the signals were on the screw connectors with those labels.  I set the frequency with the trim pot.  I will glue that to the front panel.  I prefer the trim pot as it gives me better control and I have found I am less like to change wrong one.  So K2 is now fully functional.  (I left of the other 2 switches off on purpose).

I had verified 5V and ground connections before installing board and used screw connectors by power card to provide power to VIC board so I can also verify the safety card does work as well.

I am in the process of building a holder for the VIC Matrix card and front panels similar to one in back of picture which hold my breadboards.  Already have the 2 shelf boards mounted to corner bracket just need to make mount for VIC Matric and drill holes for front panels.

Hi Earl,
I like that you have the Safety Jump Card on

 I hope you will test and use the power rails on the board eventually as you gain trust in them ,
as it should help ease the transition from the wire birds nest we designed it that way,

 The Screw Connectors will  allow you to  test and jump wire if there is a need ,

we tried to allow space and blank pins on each db37 position on matrix to advance each card version
as if traces for any new things not on matrix than new areas on that card or cards progression go out screw terminals in the empty spots
safety card is a good example of that
Dan

Actually using power rails now to feed in power from left on screw mount by power card.  I really like that feature and one of the reason I started building card so quick. Having build my test circuits on breadboard I is very nice not having to deal with all the jumper wires   I do plan on build power regulator card just having gotten to it yet.  Will need it for 12v and 10v anyway will still use power supply as power source.  From my testing it looks like there are two separate power paths on left end of the board one for on board and second going off board. A label showing this would be helpful.

yes we built in up to 3 power paths so we have redundancy at least 2 ways on board
 if you blown up power board you can jump to the back up on matrix  from 2 or 3 spots
this means we can scale take risks and physically cash it and mostly likely it will still keep going
worst case with a jump to screw terminal

ideal when it is your source of fuel 

Dan

Dan

I updated doc again to version 2.4 added information in K2 section about where the COM pins on K2 go to on 37 pin connector and screw connectors. It also explains briefly how to hook up switches to K2.  This is the same information I provided in post above just wanted to capture in document before I forgot. 

Dan,

I populated the K3 board and went to order couple for IC I did not have and found DM74LS21N and DM7432N are both discontinued parts.  They both have replacements I updated attached BOM to show that.  I also corrected 2N3094 to be 2N3904 which is what I used on my test board and Ronnie had in his BOM for this board, I believe this was a typo as 2N3094 is a not a transistor.

Both the discontinued chips are standard logic devices so any version of the chip should work. 

Also should indicate direction of diode 2N4007on board. 

Should have parts in a few weeks and will and stall and test board.