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Please read these tips thoroughly before you start assembling Space Baby

Space Baby Build Tips

Space Baby Top View

  1. Look at this picture on my flickr site which gives a good picture of where everything goes.
  2. Solder 5% carbon resistors. These have a beige background with 4 stripes:
    • 220 ohm (red, red, brown, gold) - quantity 4
  3. Solder 1% metal-film resistors. These have a blue background with 5 stripes. Note that some of the resistors are very similar in color (especially 4K7/47K and 100/10K/100K). If you are unsure, measure them with a ohm-meter/multimeter. Colors decoded below:
    • 100 ohm (brown,black, black, black, brown) - quantity 1. Note that the 100 ohm is used where it is marked 330.
    • 499 ohm (yellow, white, white, black, brown) - quantity 1
    • 1K (brown, black, black, brown, brown) - quantity 1
    • 2K7 (red, violet, black, brown, brown) - quantity 1
    • 4K7 (yellow, violet, black, brown, brown) - quantity 2
    • 10K (brown, black,black, red, brown) - quantity 3
    • 15K (brown, green, black, red, brown) - quantity 3. Note that one 15K is used where it is marked 12K.
    • 20K (red, black, black, red, brown) - quantity 1
    • 47K (yellow, violet, black, red, brown) - quantity 2
    • 100K (brown, black, black, orange, brown) -quantity 2
    • 150K (brown, green, black, orange, brown) - quantity 1
  4. Solder 28 pin IC socket where it is marked DSPIC33FJ64GP802. Solder 14 pin IC socket where it is marked MCP6294. The notch should match the silkscreen, and point up (toward the audio jacks).
  5. Solder 100n ceramic capacitors (quantity 4). These look like little opaque orange beads. Do not confuse with translucent red LED's. Bend one lead over so that the capacitor is upright.
  6. Solder polyester capacitors (quantity 5). These look like little blue boxes. The 4n7 capacitor is used where it is marked 470p. No capacitor is used where it is marked 47p - leave that space empty.
  7. Solder 4u7 ceramic capacitor. This is a little blue one, and it will go where it is marked 10u. You may have to bend the leads with tweezers to get it to fit.
  8. Solder diode. This is a black tube with a grey stripe and it goes on the lower-right. Match the stripe with what is printed on the board.
  9. Solder inductors. These are the two dark-greyish tubes with no markings. They go on the spots marked L1 and L2.
  10. Solder LED's (quantity 4). The four red LED's go around the encoder on the lower-left. The clear LED (really green) goes near the on/off switch on the mid-right. The short leg of the LED goes next to the white stripe and the square pad.
  11. Solder the two 2N3904 transistors and single LP2950 voltage regulator. These look VERY similar - don't get them mixed up!
  12. Solder white 6-pin programming header.
  13. Solder 23K256 IC directly to board. The notch should be pointing up (toward the audio jacks), matching the silkscreen.
  14. Solder power switch.
  15. Solder 100uF electrolytic capacitors (quantity 3). These look like tall black cylinders. Make sure the white stripe lines up with the hole marked negative.
  16. Solder potentiometers (quantity 3 - green base with black knob). Just pop them in until the legs click in place. You may have to bend the legs a little.
  17. Solder encoder (black base with silver knob). Also pop in place.

The rest of the components are mounted on the back of the board!

  1. Solder the boxy clear infrared LED on the right side of the board (on the bottom). The lens bump should point out.
  2. Solder the purplish black photo detector on the left side of the board (on the bottom). Match the shape with what is printed on top of the board, and make sure the short lead goes where there is the stripe and square pad. Bend the leads at a 90 degree angle so that it faces away from the board to the side. Put a small piece of black shrink tube over the detector.
  3. Solder the two audio jacks on the bottom of the board.

Wait, don't solder the battery holder yet!

  1. Double check all of the solder joints on the bottom of the board under where the battery holder will go. Look for any shorts or irregularly shaped solder joints.
  2. Double check all of the parts on top of the board over where the battery holder will go. Make sure nothing is missing.
  3. Screw in the battery holder, and make sure that its connector leads are sticking through the pair of holes on the left. Solder it.
  4. Screw in the two standoffs on the opposite side from the battery.
  5. Put the chips (DSPIC33FJ64GP802, MCP6294) in the sockets. The notch should point up, towards the audio jacks.

Dont put the battery in yet!

  1. Double check everything on the board!

Now put the battery in!

  1. If the 2nd red led (M.DPTH) lights up after turning the power switch to ON, then the digital section is working!
  2. Plug an audio source into the input jack and the output jack into an amp, and fiddle with the controls
  3. Refer to the control reference for more information about using the controls.
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