Pay close attention to the instructions for positioning the bargraphs. They must be oriented correctly to work and is almost impossible to remove them once soldered to the backpack!
Remove the parts from packaging and place the LED bargraphs over the outlines on the top of the PCB.
The bargraph must be soldered on the correct orientation or it will not work! Check for the side of the bargraph that has printing on it. Then look for the outline on the PCB that has "Text on this side" marked!
Do not solder the matrix onto the back of the PCB, it won't work either!
The bargraph must be soldered on the correct orientation or it will not work! Check for the side of the bargraph that has printing on it. Then look for the outline on the PCB that has "Text on this side" marked!
Do not solder the matrix onto the back of the PCB, it won't work either!
To keep the two bargraphs lined up nicely, you can use a little masking or scotch tape on the bargraph modules, tape them so they are in a straight line. There is a little play during soldering so if you don't do this the two modules may not be in a perfect line.
Turn over the PCB and bend opposite-corner pins of the modules out so that the modules are fixed in place against the PCB. Now is a good time to do a last check that you oriented the modules the right way!
Once soldered, clip each pin. They're quite short and the pins are thicker than usual, so do this over/inside a trash bin so that the pins don't fly off and it you or your pets.
Soldering on breadboard pins
This is an optional step - you only need to do this step if you're planning on using the bargraph in a breadboard. Chances are you may want to solder wires directly to the pads instead, so you can mount the bargraph elsewhere. Anyhow, skip this step if its not for you!
