NEWSLETTER
It took about 16 days (right through the Chinese New Year) for JLCPCB to process and deliver my design to me. And I am quite happy. However, looking at the boards, methinks there could be a possible version 3.0 Right now, this is version 2.0. There was no version 1.0 as the ULN2003 Darlington Pair could not deliver beyond 125mA per pin. After splitting the LEDs into segments, the highest theoretical current consumption is 400mA per LED ‘segment’.
I have divided the LEDs into their own segments. Oh, and they are enough to make for one engine so you’d have to multiply by two:
1. The Ring LEDs (24x 0802)
2. Main Thrusters_1 LEDs (4x 5730)
3. Main Thrusters_A LEDs (4x 5730)
4. Middle Thruster (1x 5mm)
THE WAITING GAME
Once again, I have to wait for other components to arrive. This is the norm for me although I try to design all my boards to use the same components if possible. For the Razor Crest, this has to be different as I want to design the system easy to use for the average Joe Modeller. i.e. ‘Plug & Play’ with minimal soldering.
SPRING TERMINALS
The bulky green terminals more or less proven themselves when I designed the lighting system for the 1/24 Fujimi Blade Runner Spinner. Yeah, I have yet to release it since my prototype model is not ready; the missing recreated backwall looked like crap. Anyway, these connectors allows the user to thread the 5 or 6 wires from the engines and into the main body without any soldering or re-soldering.
IN THE MEANTIME
While waiting for components to arrive, I am halfway programming the chip. The idea is to re-create the engine’s starting sequence as seen in the first season’s second episode, The Child. This sequence will begin the moment you switch the system on. And after that sequence, the lights will flicker as if it was caused by the exhaust gases.
Once the programming is more or less perfect, I will fine tune it to reduce the LED’s brightness. So, there will be a lot of ICSP action between the Chip and the programmer. And also, maybe some messy soldering and de-soldering of the board.
