BOARD ORIENTATION
Soldering the board is not really that complicated. Except that I opted not to place the component values over the original Gerber text when I was placing my order with JLCPCB. I do not want the wordings of the component VALUES to clash with the original Gerber NAME wordings. The Gerber data is not exactly actual text but plot lines. Yes, I could have used other solutions but I though that it was too time consuming. Right after I have placed my order, I realised there is a much easier way to do this and I get to retain both NAMES and VALUES on the board. The solution was EaglePCB’s command: SMASH
THE SMASH COMMAND
In the EaglePCB software, the SMASH command is used to separate the text parameters from the component element. In other words, you can manipulate your text such as the name of the component and/or its value and their positions.
-Using the LEFT MOUSE button, click on the SMASH Command
-Use the LEFT MOUSE button to click on the component you need to, um, SMASH.
-Immediately, you can see its related text given a new set of crosshairs.
-If you need to SMASH every text, just click on the SMASH command first and then GROUP the whole board.
With that, you can (using other commands such as MOVE, INFO, and MIRROR :
-Move and reposition the text and in different angles
-Re-size the text
-Flip the text
-Relocate the text to another layer (OK, please, NO)
So, yeah, I leaned something new, with the EaglePCB software. Ha ha ha.
The original, ‘0V’ is stuck its solder pad and I can only rotate it in a circle along with the solder pad or well, just flip it to the bottom later (blue)
Located on the left of the Vertical Command bar, is the SMASH command.
COMPONENT SIDE
To me, this is the most important part for the TR-595E with its LCD display coming in second. The business side of the PCB has all the LEDs but because the resistors are to be soldered on the same side, it would create about a 3.5mm gap. This gap between the PCB board and the Tricorder’s decals. If you have a Mylar or a clear diffusing layer at the external side of the body, the lights from the LEDs will be beautifully diffused. Except the three sets of green LEDs which has clear parts.
If I were to do my own version, I would like to close that gap and have the LEDs just at the openings. With the Mylar or diffused material over the LEDs, it is possible the negligible gap of about 0.3mm would create soft hotspots instead.
Note that in the file PARTS_LIST.XLXS file, there is no D29 which is actually an 0805 Amber LED.
SOLDER SIDE
houses the actual working electronics for the LED sequencing. You can clearly see two different pairs of 555/4017 ICs for the two separate scanners LEDs (D1-D8 and D9-D16)
