College Board Assembly Instructions
Use the following photo as a reference as you assemble the College Board.
Parts List (All parts are available at JRHackett.net.)
| Label | Description |
| D2 | Diode, BAT85 | R1 | Resister, 330 ohm, 1/4 Watt |
| R2 | Resister, 4.7k, 1/4 Watt |
| R3 | Resister, 10k, 1/4 Watt |
| R4 | Resister, 22k, 1/4 Watt |
| R5 | Resister, 180 ohm, 1/4 Watt |
| C1-C3, C6 | Capacitor, .01 uF Ceramic |
| D1 | Diode, 1N4001 |
| Resonator | Header, female, 3-pin |
| IC1 | IC Socket, 28-pin |
| VR1 | Voltage Regulator, LM7805 |
| Sw2 | Switch, Reset |
| None | Header, Male, 2x5 |
| Vcc Out | Header, Male, Snap, 3-pin |
| LED | LED, Red (Non-Resistorized) |
| Power | Power Connector |
| C4 | Capacitor, 47 uF Electrolytic |
| C5 | Capacitor, 100 uF Electrolytic |
| Sw1 | Switch, Slide |
| None | Header, Male, Snap (38 pins total) |
| None | Shorting Jumper, 2-pin |
Assembly Instructions
Note: On the College Board, all of the male header pins along the top and bottom edges of the board are inserted from the bottom of the board and soldered on the top of the board. In other words, the black plastic piece that connects the pins is below the board. Do not solder these headers until all other parts have been soldered in place.
To assemble the College Board, it is best to proceed from the smallest to the largest parts. The order of the parts in the parts list is arranged this way, so just work your way from the top of the parts list to the bottom. The two diodes and the two electrolytic capacitors are polarized: make sure they are each inserted in the proper orientation before soldering.
When you have soldered all the parts that mount on the top of the board and are soldered on the bottom, make sure all the excess leads have been clipped 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. 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. The following photo shows the results of sanding and cleaning the bottom of the board.
Now you are ready to insert and solder the male headers along the top and bottom edges of the board. As mentioned above, each of these headers is inserted from the bottom of the board and soldered on the top of the board. In order to simplify this step, it's helpful to first snap all the required lengths of headers and insert the longer ends of each header into one breadboard, appropriately spaced, as shown in the photo below.
In order to connect the College Board (or any of our PICAXE-related boards) to your PC, you will need to construct a suitable programming cable - just follow the detailed instructions presented here.
To test the completed College Board, just add an LED and current-limiting resistor to one of the outputs and write a simple "Hello World" program to blink it. If you have any problems getting your College Board to function properly, email me at Ron@JRHackett.net and I will do what I can to help.
