AxMate-18 Assembly Instructions
Use the following photos as a reference as you assemble the AxMate-18 board.
(Click on either photo to see a larger image.)
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| Bare AxMate-18 Board | Completed AxMate-18 |
Parts List (All parts are available at JRHackett.net)
| Label | Description |
| 10k | Resistor, 10k, 1/6 Watt |
| 22k | Resistor, 22k, 1/6 Watt |
| None | Header, Male, Right Angle, 6 pins |
| (Icons) | Capacitor, .01µF Ceramic |
| H1 | Header, Male, Snap, 2 pins |
| IC1 | IC socket, 18 Machined-Pins |
| (Icon) | LED, 3mm, Resistorized, Red or Green |
| Sw | Small Power Switch |
| H2 | Header, Male, Snap, 2 pins |
| H3, H4 | Headers, Male, Snap, 8 pins each |
| IC1 | PICAXE-18M Processor |
(H1-H4 are inserted from the bottom of the PC board and soldered on the top.)
Assembling the AxMate-18 Board
To assemble the AxMate-18, it's best to install the parts in the order in which they are listed in the parts list. Make sure you have properly installed R1, R2, C1, and H1 before soldering the IC socket in place (observing its correct orientation). If the socket doesn't seat fully on top of the other parts, use a sharp hobby knife to shave a little plastic from it where necessary.
Before soldering H2, H3 and H4 in place, make sure you have snipped the excess leads from the bottom of the board. At this point you may want to rub the bottom of the board a few times on a piece of emery-type sandpaper to remove any sharp edges, working around H1 as necessary. You can use flux remover to clean the bottom of the board, but I have found that ordinary paint thinner and a tooth brush works just as well for this purpose, and it's easier on your hands.
Now you are ready to insert headers H2, H3, and H4 on the bottom of the board and solder them on the top. The easiest way to do this is to first snap all the required lengths of headers and insert the longer ends of each header into a breadboard, appropriately spaced, as shown in the photo below. Make sure that you space the headers so that H1 also properly fits into the power rails. Then, mount the AxMate-18 board on the short ends of the headers and solder all the header pins on the top of the AxMate-18.
Finally, if you haven't already done so, you will need to reconfigure the FTDI 5V USB cable for Connection to the AxMate-18 so that the polarity of the serial input and output lines is inverted, which is necessary to interface with all PICAXE processors. In order to do so, you will need the free "FT_PROG" utility software available from FTDI. You can use the FTDI documentation, or read the June 2010 installment of the Nuts & Volts PICAXE Primer for details.
Testing the Completed AxMate-18 Board
To test the completed AxMate-18, just assemble a "Hello Word" circuit similar to the one shown in the photo below, and write a simple program to blink the LED.
If you have any problems getting your AxMate-SF to function properly, email me at Ron@JRHackett.net and I will do what I can to help.