Today we're going to learn how to build the SpikerBox. Let's get started!
We're going to need a few items first. We're going to need a soldering iron, some solder,
and we're also going to need a few tools: a pair of scissors,
some wire clippers,
some wire strippers,
a nine volt battery, and finally some silly putty to hold our boards down
while we're soldering.
Let's have a look to what's in the kit.
We have a printed circuit board -your color may vary-
a piece of tubing, two pieces of wood, four screws and bolts
three ICs and chip holders, a speaker with connector, three stickers, seven resistors
and eight capacitors,
two needles, some speaker wire and an RCA connector, and finally six various
connectors we'll place on the PCB.
The first step we're going to do is to solder the components onto the PCB.
We're going to begin with the top row connectors and then we'll work our way
back down.
The first component we're going to place will be the eighth-inch audio jack.
This allows you to connect your SpikerBox to an extra device like an iPad.
we're going to take some silly putty and make sure that it presses down directly
into it.
This will hold it in place while we do our soldering.
Next, we're going to place the power switch that will allow us to turn on and off our SpikerBox.
Next, we're going to put the LED in place which will allow us to know when the SpikerBox is powered on.
The last connector is the RCA plug that goes into J1??
You'll have to apply some force as it is a tight fit.
So now we're going to install the resistors. Each unique value of a resistor
has a unique color band.
For example,
a 33 KOhm resistor will have orange-orange-orange as its color bands.
The instruction sheet will tell you the resistor number, the color band and the
value for each resistor used in the SpikerBox.
You can find the position of each resistor by looking for the resistor
number on the PCB board.
Bend the leads the resistors,
and insert them into the proper location.
Resistors don't have a polarity, so it doesn't matter which way they go in.
Also note that there may be some empty spaces for we're not going to populate??
all the resistors on the board.
You'll find that the resistors will stay in place better if you bend the leads
on the bottom side of the board.
Okay, let's quickly finish up the rest of these resistors...
aaand good!
Now let's work on the capacitors. We're going to start with the small ones on
the left first.
If you take a magnifying glass, you'll be able to read small numbers printed on
the capacitors. For example, capacitor C7
is a 0.47 microfarad and it will have a 474 printed on it.
Now, let's install capacitors just like we did for the resistors.
Note that these seven capacitors do not have a polarity so they can be installed in
either direction.
I find it to be a lot easier to put all the capacitors in first and then solder.
Okay!
Let's go ahead and install the rest of the capacitors.
We're going to turn the board over, we're going to solder and then clip the leads as well.
That is looking very good!
And we're almost done
Our last capacitor is the large 220 microfarad capacitor,
and its the only one that has a polarity.
You'll notice that one of the sides of the capacitor will have a stripe on it.
That indicates the cathode, or negative side of the capacitor. It's important to position
this capacitor so that the stripe faces the edge with the connectors on it.
Excellent! Just a few more steps and we'll be finished.
Now it's time for the chip holders.
A chip holder has a notch on one end.
When you install the chip holders,
make sure that you align the notch so that it matches the PCB board.
And now comes the fun part: we get to install the battery.
I like to solder the battery posts with the battery connected,
this helps ensure that the posts are straight in a line for the battery.
You'll need to figure out the orientation of the battery so you can put
the posts in the right position.
Once the battery is installed, we can actually do our first test to see if the LED comes on.
Good, looks like it's working!
It's time to solder our last piece. We need to install the two posts for
the speaker connector.
Make sure you place the male end on the PCB with the long lead facing up.
Our PCB is now complete, but we still need to install three chips.
We're going to need to read the numbers off of the chips. If you have very good eyes
you can read the chips directly, but if you're like me, I use a magnifying glass.
Also note the dot in the corner.
This indicates pin one. We need to align this pin so it faces the
half-moon side of the chip holder.
The first chip we're going to install is the 8E623???
This is our bioamp??, and we're going to place it in the chip holder closest to the RCA plug.
Next is the TI2272 which is our amplifier and filter,
and finally the LM386??, our speaker amplifier.
Congratulations! You are now done with the PCB assembly.