Building Manual

How to build your EPPO/Led Bar Demo Board.

Although this site is as up-to-date as possible, we can not be held accountable for possible damages as a result of use of information and/or software obtained from this site.
Manuals Download EPPO Hardware Led Bar Demo Board Buy EPPO Scripts Pool Home

General.
This manual provides a step by step guide in building EPPO and its Led Bar Demo Board. Please read this manual carefully before you start using your soldering iron. You are first asked to check all components. Please do this carefully, using the next paragraphs as a guide. If one or more item is missing, please check again. All DIY kits have been checked and re-checked prior to shipment, so it is very unlikely that a component is missing.
Once you've checked all components, you are ready to start building the main PCB. We'll start with the lowest components first, followed by the slightly higher ones, and so on. Don't connect a power source to the PCB, until you are told to do so.

Soldering.
This part of the manual was moved to a separate manual.

Unpacking your kit.
When opening the box, you've already found this manual. Below the manual are a few plastic bags, and a tube. One bag contains the mechanical components: plugs, sockets, push-buttons, and power connector. The second bag contains all discrete electronic components: resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, etc. A third bag contains the displays and the micro controller. There is also a plastic tube, containing the ICs (Integrated Circuits). Do not unpack the ICs until you are told to do so. Please note that ICs are sensitive to static discharge. Always handle these devices with care and ensure to discharge yourself, e.g. by touching the metal of the central heating, prior to handling them. At the bottom of the box is the PCB. Be careful when handling it. Although it is a professional quality double sided board, you may easily damage the tracks on it. Finally, you'll find the certificate, containing your serial number, either below the PCB or at the back of this manual. Now take the components out of the plastic bags and place them on the table before you. Before we start building the main PCB, we would like you to identify each component first. This way you may avoid to mount the wrong component in the wrong place. As it's difficult to remove the components once they are
soldered, you must do it right first time. Your kit should contain the following:
  1. Manual (this document)
  2. PCB (printed circuit board)
  3. Circuit diagram
  4. Plastic bag containing mechanical parts
  5. Plastic bag containing electronic components
  6. Protective bag containing microprocessor, IC sockets and resistor pack
  7. A piece of wire
In the following section, each component is listed in a table. To the left of each box is an image that will help you to identify the component. The centre part of each box gives a description of the component and the identification number(s) used on the PCB. At the right hand side are three boxes. The topmost one (1) shows how many pieces of this component you should have received. The other two boxes are for your own use. Please tick the middle box (A) when the items have been located and counted. The lower box (B) should be ticked once these components have been fitted.

100k
100k
Resistor
 ( brown, black yellow )
 
R9
1
A
B

Component lists.
PCB
PCB
Printed circuit board
 ( The EPPO board with the DEMO board attached to it )
 
PCB
1

100E
100E
Resistor
 ( brown, black, brown ) or ( brown, black, black, black )
 
R14
1

100E
330E
Resistor
 ( orange, orange, brown ) or ( orange, orange, black, black )
 
R4, R7, R8, R9, R10, R16
6

100E
1k
Resistor
 ( brown, black, red ) or ( brown, black, black, brown )
 
R5, R12, R15, R17
4

100E
10k
Resistor
 ( brown, black, orange ) or ( brown, black, black, red )
 
R1, R2, R3, R6, R11, R13, R18, R19, R20
9

1n4148
1N5235B or BZX79C6V8
Zenerdiode
 
 
Z1
1

zener
1N4148
Diode
 
 
D2
1

1N4004
1N4004 or BYD33
Diode
 ( Alternative: 1N4007 )
 
D1, D3
2

100n
100n
Capacitor
 ( marked 104M )
 
C2, C3, C4, C5, C7, C8, C10, C11, C12, C13, C16, C17, C18, C19, C20, C21, C22, C23
18

ledg
3mm Green
Led
 ( Your kit may contain a yellow LED instead. )
 
LED13
1

ledr
3mm Red
Led
 
LED1, 
LED2, LED3, LED4, LED5, LED6, LED7, LED8, LED9, LED10, LED11, LED12, LED14
13

8p
8p
IC Socket
 
 
IC2
1

18p
18p
IC Socket
 
 
J3
1

28p
28p
IC Socket
 
 
J5
1

2n4403
2N4403
Transistor
 
 
T1, T2
2

lm317
LM317L
Voltage regulator
 
 
IC1, IC4, IC5
3

elco
100u 25V
Electrolytic capacitor radial
 
 
C1, C6, C9, C14, C15
5

pot
1k 
Potentiometer 15 mm
 
 
POT1
1

5ph
5p
Header
 
 
J2
1

psuc
Power
Socket
 
 
J1
1

db9
Db9
Connector
 
 
J4
1

c672
PIC12C672 (might be a different type)
Microcontroller
 ( EPPO firmware. Note: this chip is marked with a silver dot )
 
IC3
1

c672
PIC12F675
Microcontroller
 ( This is the blank controller for your DEMO board )
 
IC2
1

hin202
HIN202
RS232 Driver
 
 
IC6
1

Assembly of the PCB.
Basic instructions are listed here first:
 Resistors:
Unpack the bags with components. Sort them a bit so that you can find easy. First, start with the resistors. The best is to solder the 100E resistor first, coloured as 'brown-black-black-black-brown'. This is R14, located at the top of 5 resistors, under the thick line. Bend it gently and solder this resistor on the PCB.
Now get the 6 330E resistors, coloured as 'orange-orange-black-black-brown'. Bend then gently and place them in the locations of R7, R8, R9 and R10 right under the LED scale. R4 located near IC1 on the top right of the board and R16 is located near IC5 at the bottom left of the PCB. Finally, solder them to the PCB.
Find the 4 1K resistors, coloured as 'brown-black-red-gold'. Bend and solder them in R5 (at the top right of the board), to R12 (at the bottom middle of the board), R15 and R17 (at the bottom left of the board).
Finally, find the 9 open spots for the 10k resistors. These are R1, R2, R3 and R6 at the top left of the board, R20, R18, R11 and R19 under the thick line, just above the 2 capacitors C14 and C15 and finally R13 left of it.

Diodes:
In general: Diodes have rings. It is alter important that you solder them in as they should be positioned. On the board you will find 2 kinds of holes for diodes: Round and square holes. The square hole always is for the 'cathode' of the diode, or in other words: The diode 'ring leg' goes into the 'square hole'.
Find the Zener Diode Z1. It has the following text on it (very small!) : 1N5235B or BZX79C6V8. This is depending on the type we had on stock at that perticular moment. Z1 sits under T1. Ensure that the ring on Z1 is on the right direction. Bend Z1 gently and solder it on the board. Don't make it too warm for too long: Zener diodes can fail because of getting too hot legs ;-)
Now find D2. This is a skinny diode, reddish with a black ring. It has '1N4148' painted on it, or just '4148', depending on the brand. Solder D2 on the board, but ensure that the black ring points upwards. D2 is located near the huge potentiometer POT1.
Finally, D1 and D3 are the big black diodes with a white/silver ring. Solder these 1N400x (x may be 1,2,3,4 or whatever). Solder them to their locations.

Ceramic capacitors:
There is only one type of ceramic capacitor on the board: 100nF. While unpacking you found them sitting on a paper strip. Cut them and place them on the board, starting from the top, they are:
C4, C2, C7, C3, C5. Then, C18, C19, C23. Then, C12, C10, C13 and C11. Then, C22 and C8. Finally, C20, C16, C17, C21.

LED's:
Depending on the status of our stock, for the LedBar we put yellow or red LED's in your package. Assume if they are yellow, there should be 12 of them. Mount LED1 to LED12 in the bar. Be certain that the long leg of the LEDs goes into the square pads. (That is the anode, it's the longest leg on the LED)
Then, finally solder LED13 (green) and LED14 (red) on the board, again, the longest leg in the square pad.

IC Sockets:
There are 3 IC sockets only. Use them for IC2, J3 and J5. Ensure that the notch is at the right position. IC3 and IC6 are soldered on the board directly: They do not need a socket.

Transistors:
There are only 2 of them: T1 and T2. It is a 2N4403 type. Find these and solder them on the board. Please don't mix them with other similar looking parts! Be careful with soldering: The legs are easely short circuited together.

Voltage regulators:
Similar looking as the transistors, there are 3 voltage regulators in your package. These are IC1, IC4 and IC5. Place them as shown on the board and solder them. Ensure not to create short circuits: The legs are near each other, so it is easy to create a short circuit.

Elco's:
There are 5 Elco's with the value 100u/25V. Place them on the board, the long legs again go in the square pads. They are C1, C6, C9, C14, C15.

Potentiometer:
Place POT1 in it's obvious place ;-) Also, there is a 'tuning knob' provided in your package. Click it in the potmeter once you've soldered the potmeter on the PCB.

Header:
J2 serves as the 'on board programming header'. Place the header on the board and solder it.

Power Socket:
J1 is the adapter power socket. Place and solder it.

Serial port connector:
J4 is the serial port connector. Place it carefully: Ensure that all the 9 legs are coming through the board properly.

Basic testing:
Now the best you can do is test the voltages. Take a multi-meter and connect the black wire to one of the mounting holes. Then, plug in the adapter into the socket J1. As all is okay, the green LED should light up. Please measure DC voltage on the following points:
 If this looked well and the voltages were okay, then, yo're completely fine. If not, check out for assembly errors and/or bad solder joints. Fortunately for you, nothing has been damaged yet, since we did not solder in a micro controller.

IC's:
At first, always ensure that you solder the IC's in with the notches to the right side.
First take the 8 pin PIC12C627. This PIC is pre-programmed and contains the programm for to let the EPPO programmer work. Ensure not to mix it with the other PIC!
Then, take the HIN202 IC. This is the interface chip for the PC serial port. Solder it in IC6.

Make the patches:
This last point is only applicable for PCB LEDBAR revision X1. We already cutted some traces for you, so meaning you have to put the wires only. Solder one short wire between LED10 bottom leg and LED11 top leg. Solder another wire between LED8 bottom leg and LED11 bottom leg. That's all.

Seperating the boards:
Now it is time to break the boards from each other. Do this gently. Further, it is wise to solder 2 pieces of wire between the 2 boards, so that the LEDBAR board also has power. Solder a black wire between TP9 and TP7 and a red wire between TP8 and TP6. Now you can try to program the PIC12F675 with the EPPO software, place it into the socket IC2 and see if the LEDs do some interesting things.
WARNING! This site is constantly under construction.
Any information presented via this site can be updated any time. If you experience problems or inconsistancies due to the integrity of this information, please visit regularly to check for updates.