Assembling VFD Ellipse Clock recommendations
It is quite easy to assemble this clock. Please have a look at circuit diagram and
components layout documents to see what and were components should be soldered in.
Here is some recommendation, which I hope will help you to assemble your clock smoothly.
Please note
that this clock contains 2 SMD IC chips, which are already carefully
aligned and soldered on the board, so you do not need to do it yourself.
Assembling main uC PCB:
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You are welcome to solder components in any order you would like to do, but below
are my recommendations based on the experience I’ve got assembling this clock.
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To help you easy identify diodes in your kit, we usually cut shotky diodes in
one pair, so if you see 2 diodes stuck on the paper strips, then it’s shotky
diodes, 5.1v zener diode has bended leg, so you can easy identify it too,
another zener diode should have both legs straight.
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As 78L05 regulator and transistors have the same TO-92 cases, to easily
identify 78L05 regulator we usually slightly bend one its leg. But do not forget
to double check its marking too.
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Firstly I solder all SMD components I have to. As IC SMD chips are already pre-
soldered on your kit board, you only need to solder 2SD1804 smd transistor on the
board. Is it is reasonably big (compare to other SMD components),so it should not
be difficult to solder it on the board yourself.
Just put it in the marked position on the board, align it so all its legs step on solder
pads, hold it and sold one contact. Have a look if its position on the board is OK,
then solder opposite contact. Again , just check if all its legs are remains on its
solder pads, then solder the rest contacts.
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Perform visual inspection of your soldering quality work on SMD components. Use
bright torch to illuminate board from beneath, so you can clearly see if all contacts
does not have shortcuts between.
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Next step is to solder all low height components, like resistors, diodes, fuse, small
capacitors, crystal. Please refer to the components layout picture to see were to
mount these components.
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Then solder all high height components like electrolytic capacitors, buttons,
connectors and buzzer. Please note that buzzer should be installed with correct
polarity.
