Alpha Build PARC SNA Update

Finally after spending considerable amount of time tracking down and removing solder bridges and a couple of shorts in the traces, checking the board over several times to ensure no shorts remain, I had to admit it was time for the smoke test.  But first a beer to think about it.  Never have I've been so apprehensive to power up a board.

I'm pleased to say all went well with the smoke test. The 8v and 5v voltage regulators remained cool as was the 8307 and memory chip.  Now it was time to plug in the Mega and following that the AD9850 board.

Almost perfect. I have a bit of a loose connection on the ground for the 12v power supply but that's no big deal.

Current draw for the board alone was .03A.
Current draw for the board and Mega was .11A
Current draw for the board, Mega, and the AD9850 board came in at .21A.

Not sure what the draw should be but there's the baseline for the 2 other Alpha builds underway now.

9850 board in the upper right corner, 8307 behind the left bnc connector and the memory chip to the left of the 8307. The MAR6 amplifier is located just to the left of the right side bnc.  The blue wire passes just beside it.  The rather big looking blob of solder is due to the several ground pins coming through the board to ensure good ground for the MAR6.  Hidden under the blue and purple wire is the ground connections on the other side of the MAR.

Up next is to nibble away the pcb area containing the holes for the LCD.  They are not needed and are in the way for the pin extenders needed to raise the LCD to the proper height.  I'll be picking up the screen tomorrow and once that is working ok it will be time to load up the software and put this puppy through its paces.

So far I have about 9 hours into the build. Lesson for me here is hand soldering with such narrow clearances is not the best methodology to be putting a board together.  Good experience though.