The first thing I want to do is lay out my components and get some header tacked in place on the PCB where they will go. I'm going to get the header onto the PCB before I solder to the components themselves, because I'm perpetually blessed to always make a mistake and I'd rather do the rework before I've soldered onto my more expensive components if I have to.
Start by laying out the components on the perma-proto where you'll want them to go. The perma-proto board is numbered the same as a half-sized breadboard, so I can create a mirror image of the PCB by simply rotating the breadboard 180 degrees so that the number 1 is on the right side instead of the left. I'll then put some strips of header into the breadboard in the same numbered columns that I used to lay out the components.
Start by laying out the components on the perma-proto where you'll want them to go. The perma-proto board is numbered the same as a half-sized breadboard, so I can create a mirror image of the PCB by simply rotating the breadboard 180 degrees so that the number 1 is on the right side instead of the left. I'll then put some strips of header into the breadboard in the same numbered columns that I used to lay out the components.
Next, I'll take the perma-proto and line up the "1" columns and place the PCB on top of the breadboard so that the white silk screened side is facing the breadboard.
Now I'll solder the header wherever it is sticking through.
When I remove the PCB, I should have header neatly soldered in the same locations that I laid out my components. Take a moment to do a "dry fit" here and make sure that everything is where you'd like it to be. I actually did end up doing some rework on this project, so some of the subsequent pictures might look slightly different, but this layout should work fine:
After test fitting your components, go ahead and solder them on too.
With your flush cutters, snip off the long ends of the header pins.
Your PCB should look something like this at this point:
One change I made later on, I didn't use the straight header pins in the power rail or right above the Arduino; I switched to right angle header instead to make it fit inside the keyboard case.
Lay out your wiring now, strip the ends and put the leads through the holes, bending the leads over to keep everything in place.
Now flip the PCB and solder up the connections. See the Fritzing
diagram to see how to do your wiring... and don't forget the 1K resistor
for the LED button we'll be using.
After soldering and clipping the leads, the converter portion of your circuit is fully assembled:
Notice the place of the right angle header on the power rails and near pins 2 and 3 on the Arduino... make sure you don't forgot to solder these, you'll need them to connect to the keyboard and power circuitry!
Page last edited December 31, 2013
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