Put me down for one kit too if it's not too late... I'll call it a birthday present for the Mk2 :-)

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will take five...

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May I ask what you need with 5 more sets? I thought you 'only' had 4 players, and they are all lit already.

Stu

Add me to the list please. I'll want one (and some help fitting - see other thread)

Actually, only three players. But it never hurts to have extra, just in case.

I would like just the one set, inc LEDs etc...

Cheers

Cris.

Would like to go on the List for 1 Kit,
if you don't mind posting to Australia,
Thanks!! Gazz.
Alice Springs.

The board house order status indicates that they are 65% complete as they are in the copper plating stage. Although the scheduled delivery is May 23rd, they may come sooner than that.

International orders will be welcome of course!

Stu

Stu,

Which board house?

I have a project that requires some custom hardware.
And I'm not looking forward to etching pc boards.

Thanks,

Stu,

I would be interested in 2 - 3 boards, and i'm sure i have a few friends that would be as well. I would love to get the complete kit! I've been on Brian's waiting list for well over a year! I'll also pre-pay if you want! Can you start a mailing list to let us know when we willl be ready to start ordering? i'm sure 100 will go fast since the count on the baord is already past 50 now.

I don't know which boardhouse Stu is using, but for 1-2 layer boards suitable for hand soldering, www.olimex.com is by far the cheapest that I've found. They also accept EagleCAD files directly, and for non-profit hobbyist use a limited version of EagleCAD (pcb <= 4"x3", including auto-routing) is available gratis. The only gotchas with olimex that I can see are that they tin the boards before soldermasking them, which means that they aren't really suitable for reflow/wave soldering, and that they are based in Bulgaria, which may not be optimal for credit card ordering. (Note that I haven't heard/seen any evidence that suggests that this will be a problem, but I'm generally wary of sending my CC number to a formerly eastern block country). On the positive side they will do free panelisation/de-panelisation, which means that if you had a 1"x2" board then you can pay for an 8"x11" panel, and they will fit as many of your pcbs onto it as possible, and then cut them free afterwards. For small boards this is a bonus - most houses have a panelisation set up fee and a per-board depanelisation charge.

IIRC, the next cheapest that I've found is www.custompcb.com. Full SMOBC (suitable for wave/reflow soldering), and still fairly cheap. Although based in Malaysia, they use a US-based CC payment agency, so your CC number supposedly never leaves the US. They appear to be a professional setup from what I've read on their web-site. But you have to pay extra for silkscreening and soldermasking. They also accept EagleCAD directly.

If anyone has any other cheap EagleCAD-accepting contenders, please post!

The board house is Advanced Circuits in Colarado. They are very helpful and will examine your design for possible manufacturing problems for free. Their prices seem reasonable, at least for small production orders. Plus, they have instant online quoting. I have never placed an order with them, so this is a bit of an experiment. Hopefully I didn't screw anything up and the boards turn out as intended. I don't usually handle the PCBs, but decided to start, so we'll see what happens.

I was not impressed by Olimex's capabilities and at least in this case, could not use them.

I have never tried Custom PCB, but still I think Advanced Circuits is a bit easier to work with.

Stu

Thank you.

Thanks for the info.

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Can you start a mailing list to let us know when we willl be ready to start ordering?

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I can try to set something up on the website. No promises though.

The boards are now at the "screening" stage, indicating 80% completion. At this rate, they will be done by tomorrow, but they are still saying expected ship date is May 23. Perhaps they will just be sitting in their facility until the 23rd, so as not to give me too much for my money. Their one week service was substanially more than the 4 week one I chose to go with.

Stu

Their one week service was substanially more than the 4 week one I chose to go with

Yeh, sounds like the postal service. Sending a letter second class just gives them "THE RIGHT" to slow it down, but it generally goes the same way as first class.

What's the latest info on the boards? How much are they going to be? And are you taking preorders or orders when they arrive.

No preorders. First come first served. The board house website says "Shipping" 100% complete, but there is still another stage before it leaves their facility, even though they are already calling it 100%. Bare PCBs are going to be $15(plus shipping). I have not priced the other components in "large" quantities, but perhaps $55 (plus shipping) for the complete unassembled kit which includes all wire, resistors, transistors, and LEDs. Don't hold me to the kit price just yet.

We will be setting up a mailing list by the week's end, so be looking for that. As soon as we are ready to ship the kits and boards you will be notified. Obviously those on the mailiing list will find out about availability first.

Stu

Great, all i need is a board. I orderd everything else from digikey lastnight and it arrived today. That's what I call fast service.

We have received a tracking number for the PCBs, so they should be arriving here next week, probably on Wednesday. After we receive them, we will need to verify that they fit and turned out as expected. Finally we will have to order more parts to put one together and install it to verify that it works.

Stu

The PCBs are in and they LOOK good. I haven't yet been able to test them but will order a few more LEDs and try one out.

Here is a picture of one of them.

Stu

Here is one of the bag of 105 PCBs.

Stu

Sorry, a little lost here...

1. This kit is available in 4-LED only? with knob? with translucent buttons?
2. Complete kit is pre-soldered/assembled? Or do I need to solder the parts?
3. What kind of experience will I need to complete this project?
4. What tools are required?
5. What is the estimated time to final completion?

I can do basic soldering and following assembly instructions. If the complete kit can be done by someone like me I like to order 1 set. Thanks for your efforts. I too, have been waiting over a year from Brian.

Sweet. When can I order a pcb?

I was wondering about some of thoes questions too.

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1. This kit is available in 4-LED only? with knob? with translucent buttons?

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Yes, 4-LED only. No knob or buttons at this time, although we may be offering them in the future.

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2. Complete kit is pre-soldered/assembled? Or do I need to solder the parts?

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Both.

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3. What kind of experience will I need to complete this project?

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You need to be able to solder small surface mount components.

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4. What tools are required?

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You will need an appropriately sized screwdriver to open the player, a low power soldering iron with a fine tip, flux, and electronic solder. (I'm sure I left some things out)

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5. What is the estimated time to final completion?

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If you mean until everything is available to purchase, I would say the PCBs themselves will be available within the next week or 2. The full kits without buttons or knobs will be longer. I am still trying to locate a source for the LEDs that's not backordered and sells at a reasonable price. No definite time frame on them.

Stu

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Sweet. When can I order a pcb?

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I need to test a board first to verify proper fit and functionality. I have ordered 4 more LEDs to install on one and will install it in my player at that point.

I promise to get the mailing list subsciption functionality up and running on our site in the next few days. We ran into some network problems last week and couldn't set up the cgi stuff to run it. The mailing list will allow interested parties to be notified as soon we we are accepting orders for various items. First up will be the raw PCBs, followed by the full kits, and hopefully knobs and buttons after that.

Stu

I've installed the first PCB from the first run. Overall good fit and function, although a very small amount needs to be trimmed off the top edge to fit under the I/R module. We will have to run each of them through the sander to trim them. Once finished, we will begin offering the PCBs. Those on the mailing list will be notified a few days before it is anounced here .

Stu

Cool. Hope you haven't made too many in the first batch that have the mistake! Otherwise sanding all of those tiny PCBs is going to be a hassle

- Trevor

Well there are 104 remaining that need to be trimmed . We have a bench mount disc sander that should simplify things. The design file has been corrected should there be a need for another run.

Stu

104 LED PCBs on the wall...
Take one down, sand it off...
103 LED PCBs on the wall...
....



- Trevor