Christmas Star project

[MrDEB]

Well I finally have NETS and DRC all correct/
from now on going to lock each connection so stuff will not move.
Had numerous unconnected grounds
now to check LEDs to outline as needed.
I wish when an error comes up it defines the location beter.

 

[Mickster]

I wish when an error comes up it defines the location beter.

Have you moved the ‘PCB tools’ box to a different location on the workspace yet?
If you had, you would probably not be making that statement....

 

[Visitor]

If you're talking about the location of a broken net, highlight the broken net, and in the bottom pane it shows you what should be connected together.

Look for ratlines between those pins to show what's not connected. If you click on some part of the net and press H, it will highlight the net, showing all the points that should be connected together.

If you still can't spot the missing connection, make layers invisible, until only the ratline layer is visible, then look across the entire board to find the missing connection.

 

[MrDEB]

that's exactly what Idid to locate all the missed connections.
yes I moved the tools box etc.

 

[gophert]

It's kind of incredible that you are still futzing with this after a month on the easiest-to-layout board ever.

After a time investment like this, I'm guessing he's going to call the recipients of these stars each night
- did you remembered to plug it in?
- did it turn on ok when it got dark?
- yes? But it was just the right amount of dark, right?
- ...and it turned off ok this morning, right?
- does it look nice,
- I'm glad you like it.

 

[Visitor]

LOL. I think the light sensor has been forgotten about

 

[Mickster]

Gotta admire Visitor's perseverance, because without it, these projects would likely not be completed.
I imagine Visitor in a hard-hat, surrounded by severely-damaged walls...

 

[Visitor]

No hard hat and plenty of floors. Very hard concrete floors. You'd think I'd knock some sense in eventually.

 

[gophert]

Gotta admire Visitor's perseverance, because without it, these projects would likely not be completed.
I imagine Visitor in a hard-hat, surrounded by severely-damaged walls...

I was wondering what terrible project he is trying to put off by focusing on this terrible one.

 

[Mickster]

I was wondering what terrible project he is trying to put off by focusing on this terrible one.

I guess we all have that one, which we don't want to bug the forum members with....

 

[gophert]

I guess we all have that one, which we don't want to bug the forum members with....

I was thinking it was a Honey Do list item -like repainting the family room or cleaning the garage.

 

[Visitor]

I will admit, I never expected this to go past a few posts about using EasyEDA and JLC's assembly service. EasyEDA is in fact easy to use, with a very shallow learning curve. As MrDEB struggled along having so many issues, I felt the need to do what I could do to clarify the situation so that potential users didn't decide it was total crap. While there is little indication my posts helped MrDEB at all, I hope others will benefit from them.

Similarly with JLC's assembly service. Anyone who has had boards assembled will recognize the incredible value of the service and will recognize the importance of the BOM and parts selection. People with experience will also understand where the responsibility lies when the results aren't what was expected.

I saw my suggestion headed towards disaster, so I've tried to amplify key points I made that didn't seem to take the first time, like selecting parts that are in stock and putting all the components on the same side of the board to take advantage of the assembly service.


Some of my projects are kind of on the back burner while I'm at my partner's 95 year old grandmother's helping him care for her. Recently, I've been spending 2+ weeks there, with a week at home to recover (some) sanity periodically. I can do some software dev here, but finding windows to work uninterrupted are tough. Hardware has to wait until I'm at home. So posts here that don't take too much effort help fill the time.

 

[gophert]

You're a good person.
I was wondering where all of your patience was coming from - it turns out you were trying to fight boredom. Ironic.

 

[Visitor]

Way more to it than that.

 

[MrDEB]

Visitor and I go way back.
Presently doing some board cleanup and found my board is to tall so had to shorten the tail and in the process "moved" a bunch of traces etc. Found that shutting off the top and bottom layers and getting rid of the grid, I can work more efficiently.. Thanks to Jon for the tip to turn off layers.

 

[Visitor]

How big is your board?!?

 

[MrDEB]

It was 300 x 640 or there abouts. Need to recheck size again

 

[MrDEB]

back to the drawing board but I see that JLCPBC are upgrading their stencil and larger plant. Maybe wait?
my board now measures 559x410. the 300 was wrong.

 

[Visitor]

As I posted above, the max board size for assembly is 480mm × 320mm.

You do know that 559mm is 22"?

 

[Visitor]

Maybe you want to check:

¤ What size board is possible

¤ What the cost is

before you start a design? You're worried about literally 5 cents worth of resistors per board on boards that will cost $17 each just for the pcb?

I don't know if a board at the max size incurs extra charges for assembly.