Thursday, December 24, 2009

NES Arduino PCB - v0.2



The new revision grabs the Arduino ground off the board which eliminates that extra wire. I also chained together 2 shift registers to make use of all of the Arduino digital outs. So now the board has 14-bits of control through a single NES port. I'm using some new 1/2 oz copper boards and they give a nice clean etch! I dig the clear board too.

Well I drilled the board (almost destroyed the last pad too), soldered everything together and popped in the two ICs. I crossed my fingers and turned on the NES, loaded up my test program and... no joy. I did notice a strange humming sound coming out of my TV, so I did the usual sanity checks. The first chip felt pretty warm, so I unplugged the board from the controller port, and I noticed that the humming went away. I had a hunch that there was a short somewhere, I could only hope that it wasn't in my design.

Let me just say that a continuity tester is key for diagnosing these issues, you can make a simple one with an LED or make sure that your multimeter has the option. Even budget ones have this feature, mine (<$15) has an audible one, which is really handy. I started poking around, and I noticed that two pins were conducting (none should in this design!). Bastard! It's the first time I've used a ground plane fill for a board, you'll notice in the board layout below that a lot of the areas are solid. This saves on etchant and gives a clean look to the board. I guess I got sloppy though, I traced the path and found a splash of solder between VCC and GND. Yikes, I shorted the power lines. I was able to clean up the trace without much of a problem. I wired everything back up and it worked perfectly. Whew!

Finished (working) board, I'll extend the test software to 14-bit tomorrow.

18 comments:

  1. We are the honored guests who visit blog locales like yours is incredible, thanks a lot.This is One of the best posts. This gives a ton of data exceptionally those heading for informist Thanks for sharing this post.
    Electronic stores in Australia

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you are unequivocally right. I was fulfilled as of late when I got one of our understudies say, "I like it here in light of the way that your not a pack of eggheads." We surely enroll mentors who can add to a positive proclivity with the student.Nice to scrutinize that such planning centers are the spot to be, in light of the fact that when in doubt, most understudies don't fit the setup of preparing. Especially now in the modernized time, schools require better approaches to manage preparing. An obligation of appreciation is all together for the article.
    Logo design new orleans

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello mates, how is the entire thing, and what you need to say in regards to this post, in my perspective its truly magnificent for me.
    Broken immersion

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely fantastic posting! Lots of useful information and inspiration, both of which we all need!Relay appreciate your work.
    agen judi poker online terpercaya di indonesia

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very nice and always successful.
    This is a very good article.
    I’m waiting for you the other article.

    Misteri Dunia

    interesting articles and this is my first first reading a very interesting article thanks for this article that fits with the theme news.

    Prediksi Togel Hongkong

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very nice and always successful.
    This is a very good article.
    I’m waiting for you the other article.

    Konspirasi Hitam

    interesting articles and this is my first.
    first reading a very interesting article.
    thanks for this article that fits with the theme news.

    Prediksi Togel Jitu Pasti Tepat

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope to hear more from you. Thank you so much!
    instagram

    ReplyDelete
  8. شركة تنظيف
    شركة تنسيق حدائق بالرياض
    شركة تنظيف منازل بالخرج
    شركة تنظيف فلل بالرياض
    لا تعد الخزائن المليئة بالثغرات وأعلى سطح الثلاجة المتربة وفرنًا يدخن في كل مرة تقوم فيها بالخبز مكونات المطبخ المثالي. قم بإحياء هذه الغرفة المهمة في منزلك من خلال برنامج تعليمي خطوة بخطوة حول التنظيف المكثف للمطبخ. ستحتاج إلى مجموعة من مواد التنظيف و 90 دقيقة على الأقل من الوقت.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 토토사이트 Thanks for your personal marvelous posting!
    I quite enjoyed reading it, you happen to be a great author.I will
    make sure to bookmark your blog and will eventually come back later in life.
    I want to encourage yourself to continue your great work, have a
    nice morning!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great looking web site. Assume you did a lot of your very own html coding.

    토토사이트

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am regular visitor, 카지노사이트 how are you everybody?

    This post posted at this web page is truly good.

    ReplyDelete
  12. 카지노사이트 Usually I don't learn article on blogs, however I would like to say that
    this write-up very pressured me to take a look at and do it!
    Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you, very
    great article.

    ReplyDelete