PIC-EL Kit Assembly / Test Manual - amqrp.org · "burn" new programs into the PIC. (Instructions on downloading and setting up the FPP program on your PC are provided in a separate

PIC-EL Assembly & Test Manual, ver 1.0 Page 1

PIC-EL Kit

Assembly / Test Manual Version 1.0

AmQRP PIC-EL Team: Craig Johnson AA0ZZ - designer

George Heron N2APB - project manager John McDonough WB8RCR - technical review

Joe Everhart N2CX - technical review Tom W8KOX & Nancy NJ8B Feeny - Kitters

CONTENTS

Section 1: Introduction -- What the PIC-EL Kit is. Section 2: Parts List -- A photo and description of everything supplied in the kit. Section 3: Test Points - Describes how to make the test points for easy checkout. Section 4: Capacitors - All capacitors are added first. Section 5: Resistors - All resistors are next added to the board. Section 6: Diodes - All the diodes are added at this stage.. Section 7: LEDs - The four red LEDs are added in this section. Section 8: Transistors - Three types of transistors are used. Section 9: Connectors - I/O, I/O, it's off to work we go. Section 10: Controls - These components allow you to interface to the board. Section 11: Checkout with Test Program - This neat program is great feedback for successful kit assembly! Section 12: Installing FPP - Install the programming software called "FPP" onto your PC Section 13: Programming a PIC - How to use FPP to burn a software program into a PIC. Section 14: In Case of Trouble - When all else fails ... "whatcha gonna do?"


Section 1: INTRODUCTION

The AmQRP "PIC-EL Kit" is a multi-function PIC16F84A-based project board designed by Craig Johnson, AA0ZZ and the American QRP Club for experiments being conducted by John McDonough, WB8RCR in his online PIC Elmer 160 course. The course material is geared around use of common I/O components — pushbuttons, LEDs, LCD display, rotary encoder and speaker — and experiments are designed to take the student through a step-by-step creation of software programs that beep, display and otherwise interact with the user.

The PIC-EL board optionally uses the popular NJQRP DDS Daughtercard to generate RF frequencies up to 30 MHz. Several course lessons will be structured to guide the student through the process of controlling the DDS chip with the PIC microcontroller.

The "Pickle" board also has a built-in serial programmer that allows you to download new programs directly from the PC and "burn" them into the PIC microcontroller ... without requiring any other specialized programming hardware!

The PIC16F84A included in the kit is pre-programmed with a special test program that exercises the circuit components (LCD, LEDs, encoder, pushbuttons, etc.) so you can see the Pickle board work right away.

A software program called FPP allows you to program the onboard PIC from your PC is available from the project web page. Just connect the PC to your Pickle board using a standard 9-pin serial cable and you can "burn" new programs into the PIC. (Instructions on downloading and setting up the FPP program on your PC are provided in a separate lesson document EL160L10.PDF, also available on the project web page.)

The PIC-EL Kit is easy to assemble. You can use the schematic, parts list and photos included on this Quick Assembly Guide to assemble the board.

Once you have built the PIC-EL project board and followed along in the Elmer 160 course, the fun doesn’t stop! You will be able to use your Pickle board for many projects on the bench and in the workshop for years to come. It can serve as a multi-function standalone VFO, a memory keyer and other projects as contributed by the many PIC-EL owners.

If you have any questions about the PIC-EL project feel free to contact the AmQRP (George, [email protected] ), the project designer (Craig, [email protected]) or the Elmer 160 instructor (John, [email protected]).


Section 2: PARTS LIST

This section describes the contents of the PIC-EL Kit. Experience has shown that it's best to check all parts supplied in the kit bag against the list shown here. Photos of each part are provided to assist in identification. Many parts look alike, especially resistors and capacitors, so please ensure that you have the correct part when going to insert it to the pc board. A trick that's used by many at this stage of building a kit is to group the parts according to their type -- all resistors together, all caps together, etc. The parts groups can be contained in little trays, plastic cups, metal tins or even paper envelopes. Some builders even arrange the parts in order, stuck in the edge of corrugated cardboard box! These techniques make it easier for the builder to easily find a part when needed.

The kitting teams at the AmQRP Club have done their best to provide all parts without error, but sometimes shortages do occur. If you find that you are missing a component after carefully going through the parts bag and identifying the components against this Parts List, please contact the AmQRP. It may be easier and quicker to grab a replacement from your own parts supply, but if you do not have the item we'll be happy to send it for you.

Component Photo QTY Designator Description

3 R1, R4, R5 22K (red, red, orange)

3 R2, R3, R9 4.7K (yellow,violet, red)

4 R6, R16, R17, R18 2.2K (red, red, red)

3 R7, R8, R13 3.3K (orange, orange, red)

2 R10, R15 330 (orange, orange, brown)

2 R11, R12 1K (brown, black, red)


1 R14 4.3K (yellow, orange, red)

10

R19, R20, R21, R22, R23, R24, R25, R26, R30, R34

10K (brown, black, orange)

4 R27, R28, R31, R35

100 ohms, 1/8 W, (brown, black, brown)

1 R29 560 ohms, 1/8 W (green, blue, brown)

1 R32 100K ohms, 1/8W (brown, black, yellow)

1 R33 51 ohms, 1/8W (green, brown, black)

2 C1, C2 22 pF, ceramic disc ("22")

2 C3, C4 0.01 uF, ceramic disc ("103M")

2 C5, C8 4.7 uF, electrolytic (blue)

4 C6, C7, C9, C10

0.1 uF, monolithic, (small yellow, "104")


4 D1, D2, D3, D4 Diode, glass, 1N4148

1 D5 Diode, zener, 12V, 1N4742

4 LED1, LED2, LED3, LED4 LED, T1-3/4 (red)

5 Q1, Q2, Q3, Q5, Q7 Transistor, NPN, 2N2222A,

1 Q4 Transistor, PNP, 2N2907

1 Q6 Transistor, NPN, 2N4401,

1 U1 Microcontroller, Microchip PIC16F84A

1 U2 Voltage Regulator, 5V, 1A, TO220, LM7805,


1 LCD Liquid Crystal Display, 1x8 char

1 XTAL Crystal, 4 MHz

1 J1 Coaxial Power Jack, 2.1mm

1 J2 Serial Connector, DB9F

2 J3, J8 Jack, 1/8", stereo

1 J4 SIP jack, 14-pos'n

1 P4 SIP plug, 14-pos'n

1 J5 IC socket, 18-position

1 J6 SIP jack, 8-pos'n, 90-deg


1 J7 BNC jack, pcb mount

1 HDR-1 pin header, 0.1", 2x6 pos'n

1 SKT-1 Boardmount SKT, 72p strip header, 0.1"



2 shunt-1 shunt, 0.1", 2 pos'n

4 PB1, PB2, PB3, PB4 SPST pushbutton, momentary

1 S1 slide switch, DPDT, pcb lunt

1 ENC rotary encoder, with pushbutton


1 SPKR speaker/piezo

1 PCB 5.25" x 4.5", double-sided, masked, silkscreen top


Section 3: TEST POINTS

In general you will be using the component diagrams silkscreened onto the top side of the board as your guide for assembling the board.

A unique feature of this kit is that we designated eleven "test points" that will be very useful for accessing key signals during initial test - supply voltages, encoder signals, I/O line, and more. Additionally, WB8RCR will be be referencing various signals during his Elmer 160 course, asking the student to look at specific signals using a DVM or an oscilloscope. These "built-in test points" thus are valuable in several ways.

The ten test points are:

• TP-A = Vpgm (programming voltage), 12V when MODE switch is DOWN in the PGM position • TP-B = +V (supply voltage), whatever your main supply voltage is plugged into the board. • TP-C = Vdd (logic voltage), +5V for the PIC and associated logic • TP-D = GND, ground • TP-F = RF, signal going out (from DDS) or coming in (to be counted), depending on shunt position in

HDR2 • TP-Ga = ENC-A, encoder A signal, moves in quadrature with the B signal below when encoder is turned • TP-Gb = ENC-B, encoder B signal, moves in quadrature with the A signal above when encoder is

turned • TP-H = TONES, normally low signal but has audio freq square wave from 0-to-5V when speaker is

sounding • TP-Ia = DIT, normally 5V, goes to zero when dit paddle pressed • TP-Ib = DAH, normally 5V, goes to zero when dah paddle pressed

Test Point general locations ... Looking at the board with "AA0ZZ" in the upper right ... TP's B,C,D,F are in the upper right region; TP's A, Ib, Ga, Gb are in the center of the board; TP-Ia is lower left region; and TP-H is lower center region

Test points are created by bending short (approx 1/2") lengths of clipped component leads into a "U" shape and inserting them into the pc board at each designated position. If you have the typical homebrewers' workbench, you probably have lots of these clipped leads laying around from previous projects. If not, or if you are excessively neat you should see a doctor and immediately get a good dose of HOMEBREWER Magazine.

If you don't have scrap wire available you can get the wire for these test points by clipping off 1/2" lengths of the leads from components you will soon be installing. You won't be needing all the lead lengths on the components anyway. Leave the U-shaped wires slightly elevated as shown in the photo below, then solder them in position. Because these are the first "components" assembled onto the pcb, you may find it easier to solder them from the top side of the board. Installing them as shown will allow easy access to the signal later on with your scope/DVM probe or clip lead.

Be sure to clip off excess lead length from the bottom of the board before continuing on to the next step.



Section 4: CAPACITORS

You should add the capacitors all at once. The leads may need to be bent slightly to fit the holes, depending on the exact type of capacitor supplied in the kit.

First add all the small yellow 0.1 uF capacitors (C6, C7, C9, C10 labeled as "104"). Solder the connections and clip off excess lead length.

Next add the larger orange 0.01 uF capacitors (C3, C4 labeled as "103M"). Solder the connections and clip off excess lead length.

Next add the smaller orange 22 pF capacitors (C1, C2 labeled as "22"). Solder the connections and clip off excess lead length.

Lastly, add the two 4.7 uF blue electrolytic capacitors (C5, C8). Be careful to orient the parts as shown in the photo below, with the negative side of the body closest to the board edge.. Solder the connections and clip off excess lead length.


Section 5: RESISTORS

All resistors will be added in this section.

The color code painted on the resistor body denotes its value. The parts list states the color code of the specific resistor value for those not familiar with the industry-standard color coding scheme. The codes are read from left to right on the resistor body when held horizontally, as illustrated in the Parts List.

The resistors leads will be bent at 90-degrees to match the holes indicated on the pc board. A few of the resistors are "tight", meaning that the leads are bent fairly close to the resistor body, but most are bent a few millimeters out from the edge of the body. To be sure how to bend the leads, check each resistor position before bending its leads.

A technique employed by experienced homebrewers is to insert and orient the resistors on the board in a common way. For example, by orienting all resistors with the color bands on the left side (for horizontal layout) or on the top side (for vertical layout) it will be easier for you to read the color codes once the board is assembled.

Although you could insert all resistors before soldering them all, but it may be easier to insert them in groups of five, then soldering them in and clipping their leads before proceeding on to the next group of five. This will prevent the mess of long leads protruding on the bottom of the board from interfering with the soldering of the individual leads.


Section 6: DIODES

Diode orientation is very important and polarity is indicated by the dark band on the body denoting the cathode. This end with dark band must be inserted in the pcb hole with the band indicated closest to it.

First insert the larger diode D5 (12V zener 1N4742) at the proper position in the board. This component's leads are slightly heavier/thicker than those of the other diodes, so you should easily pick it out. Note that the pcb holes for D5 are correspondingly larger than those for the other diodes. Bend the leads at 90-degrees, being careful not to stress the glass body of the diode, insert it onto the pcb, solder and clip the excess lead lengths.

Next insert the remaining four smaller diodes D1-D4 (1N4148) at their positions on the pcb. Bend the leads at 90-degrees, being careful not to stress the glass body of the diode, insert it onto the pcb, solder and clip the excess lead lengths.

Make a last check for proper orientation of the diodes on the board. Ensure that the bands on the component are aligned over the bands on the corresponding silkscreened layout. If any of these diodes are inserted backwards, your PIC-EL board will not fully work.


Section 7: LEDs

You should next insert all four LEDs into the lower left portion of the pc board.

Similar to diodes (which an LED is by nature), polarity and component orientation in the board is crucially important. The cathode of these LEDs are denoted by the shorter lead as shown below. The cathode side of the LED is also denoted by a small flat side of the plastic body near the base of the part. This is sometimes hard to see, so you should use the shorter lead as the indicator for the cathode.

Insert the LEDs with the shorter lead going into the pcb hole closest to the flat side of the silkscreened designator, as shown below.

Solder all LEDs flush to the pcb and clip off excess lead length from the bottom.


Section 8: TRANSISTORS

The transistors used in this kit are "bipolar" and thus are not overly sensitive to static, as contrasted to FET or MOSFET devices you may have used with other kits. Therefore you shouldn't excessively worry about handling the transistors in the PIC-EL Kit, but you should still practice the good habit of not shuffling along the carpet while holding the parts in your hand. Another good practice is to often touch a grounded connector on your workbench to discharge any static buildup in your body.

You should pre-bend the middle lead of the black plastic TO-92 packaged transistors (2N2222A and 2N4401) for easiest insertion to the pcb. This is Shown in the two photos below. Using small needle nose pliers, grab the middle lead and pull/bend it backward toward the rounded side of the transistor body.

The first transistor to install should be Q6 (2N4401). Make sure you have the 2N4401 device, as marked on the flat side of the transistor body. Most homebrewers have a lighted magnifying glass to check the designators of small parts. Orient the transistor with the flat side of the body positiined as shown on the board's silkscreened diagram, and the previously-bent leads should align just right with the simi-circular arrangement of three holes. Solder the transistor leads to the pads and snip off excess lead length.


The next devices to install should be the five 2N2222A transistors (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q5 and Q7). These plastic bodied devices should also have their middle lead pre-bent before insertion. Carefully align the three leads as above, the insert, solder and clip off the excess lead lengths.

The final transistor to insert is the metal-canned 2N2907 device, Q4. The correct orientation of this device is such that the little tab on the edge of the can is aligned with the tab in the silkscreened diagram on the board. Make sure the metal body remains just a few few millimeters above the board so it doesn't short out against the pads below, then solder and clip excess lead length.

Although not a semiconductor, per se, you should install the crystal (XTAL) at this point. Similar to the way you left the metal canned transistor slightly above the board, before soldering the crystal in place you should make sure the metal canned body does not touch the board.



Section 9: CONNECTORS

There are many connectors with this kit, so this section will take a little longer to accomplish.

The first connector to install is that for the DDS Daughtercard, J6. This connector is the 8-pin SIP (single-inline pin) socket, as pictured in the Parts List. It's most convenient and attractive to mount this connector so the optional DDS Daughtercard is parallel to, and slightly elevated from the main pc board. However suitable 90-degree connectors are very hard to come by ... so we'll improvise!

One way to mount J6 is a parallel/elevated position is to use an 8-position pinheader, as shown below. The pinheader from your junk box could be soldered at the J6 position and the J6 socket would be carefully soldered at a right angle to the top of the pins. When the DDS Daughtercard is plugged into the socket, standoffs would hold the board firmly in position.

If you don't have a scap pinheader in your junkbox, you probably could find some stiff wire, like 22 gauge solid conductor wire, to use in its place. Just carefully solder eight pieces of 1" this wire to the terminals of J6, gently to a 90-degree bend in the wires and insert to the pc board at the J6 position. Ensure that your makeshift connector is up about 1/2" and that it's even (parallel to the plane of the board) and solder in place.

An alternative way of mounting J6 would be as shown below. Here the connector is only partially inserted to the board and tipped at a 45-degree angle and soldered in place. Mounting J6 in this manner will put the DDS Daughtercard at the same 45-degree angle, giving appropriate clearance to the rotary encoder closely located to J6. This will give your fingers enough room to turn the shaft of the encoder without the DDS Daughtercard getting in the way.


The next connector you should install is the DB9F serial port connector J2. Some of the connectors come with the little "jaws" in the mounting holes, as shown below, while others merely have a 1/8" hole. If yours is the jawed version, you should insert the connector into the designated position on the pc board and solder the jaws in place before soldering the nine signal pins. This will lend mechanical strength to the connector when complete. If yours is the holed version, you should use some 4-40 screws/nuts to hold the connector in place before soldering the nine signal pins in place.

The next connectors to add to the pc board are the 1/8" stereo jacks, J3 and J8. Be careful not to overheat the pins when soldering, as excessive heat may melt the plastic body of the connector.


Make sure J3 and J8 are mounted flush to the board as shown below.

You should next mount the BNC connector J7. This connector slips comfortably into place with its two smaller signal leads and the two larger mounting posts fitting snuggly on the board. Use the "high" setting of your soldering iron to solder the mounting posts to the pads, as the posts are large and will require some extra heat to ensure that they are solidly attached to the board. These mounting posts importantly give the connector mechanical strength because of the often-heavy RF cables attached to the connector. As shown in the second photo below, make sure that the BNC connector is sitting flat on the pcb. Besides making for a nice-looking project, it will more easily allow you to cut holes in the panel of an enclosure that you might later consider using with the PIC-El project.


The next components to get added are the voltage regulator (U2) and power connector (J1). You should bend the three leads of U2 at 90-degree angles at the point indicated in the photo below. Then insert U2 in the pcb with the flat side against the board such that the hole in the tab of the device lines up with the hole in the board. (There's really not a need to use a heatsink or even screw the device down ... it just looks nicer this way!)

You will find that the holes for J1 terminals are a bit large. That's okay - just make sure the connector is "squared up" to the edge of the board and tack-solder one of the leads first to make sure it stays aligned. Once it's position is set correctly, go ahead and solder the three terminals well. As you'll see in the second photo below, it's not necessary to fill the hole with solder - just make sure that the terminal has a good solid connection to the pad, as illustrated. Just as with the BNC connector, a good connection on J1 is useful because off the stress it will receive when the power plug is repeatedly inserted/removed.


Next insert the IC socket J5. ensure that the socket is oriented as shown, with the notch at the top of the device located at the end noted as "pin 1".


The board-mounted LCD connector J4 is mounted next. Just be careful to have it perpendicular to the board, as shown in the second photo. Also, be careful not to apply too much heat to these plastic connectors, as it could distort during that soldering process.

(By the way, you can see in the photo below that I didn't have a 1/8-watt resistor for R15 during the prototype build and photo session, and therefore had to use a 1/4-watt resistor instead. This is a safety valve that you can also follow should the supplied component fly out of your hands and become eaten by the rug ... just use the next-best thing you have in your workbench!)


The LCD-mounted LCD connector P4 is shown below. It's best to mount the connector as illustrated with the flat plastic piece on the inward side of the LCD. Mounting it this way will allow it to serve as some support for the LCD when inserted into the mating J4 connector on the board.


A properly mounted LCD will not need any support other than what is offered by the J4/P4 combination; however you might want to use some standoffs at the edge of the LCD to hold it up and solid. Holes are provided for this, if desired.

The 2x6 position pinheader HDR1 should be added next. Insert the side of the connector with longer leads into the pcb, solder them from the bottom and then snip off the excess length. Leaving the shorter side of the connector "above board" makes for a more elegant-looking arrangement.


In the same manner, mount the 2x2 position HDR2 and the 1x2 position HDR3 as shown below. Solder in place and snip off excees lead lengths.


Now is the time to add the proper jumpers, or shunts to the HDR2 and HDR3 connectors. Mount one shunt on HDR2 such that pins 2-3 are shorted. Mount the second shunt on HDR3, but we need to leave the signal path open for now so just slip it on one of the pins and leave it hanging off, as illustrated below.

You next need to prepare the 2x6 position SKT-1 for use on the board. You will ultimately place this socket onto HDR1 in order to connect each off the 6 pairs of adjacent signals. (This is an important step ... if omitted or if not done properly, your PIC-EL board will not fully operate.)


You should create these "adjacent pin connections" by soldering a wire (e.g., a clipped lead from the resistors) across the two pins as show in the two views below.

Once one side of each of the six wires has been soldered on, providing a convenient way to hold the in-process work, arrange each wire so it is touching the adjacent pin and then solder it to the pin. Snip off excess lead length and you end up with the result shown in the second photo below.


The two photos below shows the completed preparation of SKT-1. Note how I soldered the wires close to the top of the pins. This will allow me downstream to snip one or more of them and patch in other signals when I want to use my PIC-EL board for other purposes. (This will be explained later on.)

The last step for installing SKT-1 is to insert it onto HDR-1. Again, if this step isn't done, you'll be scratching your head for possible reasons for the board not working!


Section 10: CONTROLS

This section deals with adding the switches, pushbuttons and rotary encoder.

Slide switch S1 is added as shown in the photo below. Make sure the switch sits flush against the board before soldering. Be sure to solder the mounting tabs as well, as some mechanical strength will be important.

The four pushbuttons PB1-PB4 are added next. You'll note that the pushbuttons can be inserted in either of two orientations - it doesn't matter which way is chosen. You'll also note that the legs of each pushbutton are formed to hold the component n place after insertion. These bends in the leads can cause some problems if you're not careful. A way around this is to straighten the bends out as shown on the right, using your needle nose pliars.

Just make sure the pushbuttons sit flat against the pc board before soldering them fully into place.


The leads for the miniature speaker SPKR are first straightened out (the come pre-bent at 90-degrees) and then inserted to the pcb at the designated position at the bottom of the board. Note the polarity of the speaker by the small plus sign ("+") on top the device, as shown below. The speaker should be oriented with this indication at the top.

The speaker will naturally sit several millimeters above the board - don't try to push it down closer that it will reasonably be forced. When soldering the speaker leads in place, take extra care not to use excessive heat, as the plastic of the speaker body will easily melt and can result in a non-functional speaker.

The rotary encoder slips neatly into its location on the board. Be sure it sits flush to the board and then first solder the two mounting tabs. Then solder the three leads for the encoder.


Section 11: CHECKOUT & TEST

Alright! If you've reached this section by completing all previous ones, you now have a fully assembled PIC-EL board ... congratulations! What you have should look like the photo below (except your PIC and LCD are not yet inserted).

But you are actually only partway there, as you'll need to check everything out and ensure that everything is working right, which is the purpose of this section.

Although you've done some power checks already, let's do it one more time before getting down to business.

Checking for correct voltages is again a simple thing to do.

1) Apply a 12-14V power source to J1, center lead positive, and check to see that no smoke is escaping from any of the components and that nothing is getting warm.

2) Using your DVM check to see that +5V is present at TP-C (Vdd), and at J5 pin 14 (i.e., the IC socket). You can use a scrap lead to probe for the voltage inside the small socket connector for J5.

3) Again using your DVM check to see that +V (i.e., whatever voltage you are supplying as input to the board) is present on TP-B and J6 pin 8 (the DDS Daughtercard connector). Again use a scrap lead to probe inside J6.

4) If the MODE slide switch S1 was not already in the "down" position, move it there and note that the "PGM" LED next to the switch turns on quite brightly. Sliding the MODE switch "up" should turn off the PGM LED. Leave the MODE switch in the up position with the PGM LED off.


5) Disconnect the power supply input to the board.

If you did not experience everything as described so far, you must go to Section 15 - In Case of Trouble where you will determine what's wrong. Do not pass Go, do not collect $100.

Otherwise ... so far so good!

Okay, did you remove the power plug?? Good, now you will insert the PIC and the LCD into their sockets J5 and J4, respectively.

6) Insert the PIC integrated circuit U1 to its socket J5, carefully orienting pin 1 of the IC to mate up with the "Pin 1" indication on the board.

7) Insert the LCD into its connector J4, being careful to properly mesh pin1 of P5 with pin 1 of J5, pin 2 with pin 2, etc. That is, you don't want to mistakenly offset the LCD in its socket. Not only will the LCD not work, you might even destroy it. This is not goodness.

8) Insert the power plug again to apply 12-14V to the board.

PIC-EL TEST PROGRAM

Upon powering up the board you should immediately see the Test Program sign-on message scroll across the LCD. It should display "PIC-EL test suite Version 1.0" This is a very cool program written by John McDonough, WB8RCR (the course instructor) and we'll use it verify proper operation of all components on your PIC-EL board. The test program proceeds on its own without any interaction from the user. You get some opportunities to "do certain things" that we'll describe, but the program will loop forever blinking, beeping and otherwise "talking" to you.

Test 1 - LEDs

This test checks for proper orientation of the LEDs and good signal path connections to the PIC. The test program illuminates each of the LEDs (LED1 through LED3) in succession for several seconds. It'll actually do this operation twice before automatically moving on to the next test.

Test 2 - Pushbuttons

This test tests for proper connection and operation of the pushbuttons. When the "pushbuttons" message is displayed on the LCD, you should press each of the pushbuttons in turn while watching for the corresponding LED to illuminate.

Test 3 - Paddles

This test checks for proper connection and functionality of the Paddles jack to the PIC. You should plug your favorite paddles into the Paddles jack J3. When the "Paddles" message is displayed on the LCD, you can alternately tap the paddle(s) in the dit and dah direction and see two of the LEDs come on, respectively.

Test 4 - Speaker

This test checks for good operation of the miniature speaker. The LCD displays Speaker" and the test programs sends several loops of the familiar "do re me fa so la te do" tonal scale. The speaker output is moderate - certainly noticeable in a quiet room and even quite useful in a noisy room if you are close to the board. Some of us old timers who need hearing aids may have to lean close to hear the tones. later on we'll describe ways to amplify the tones so they are more easily heard.


Test 5 - Encoder

This test checks for a properly operating encoder and it's connections to the PIC. The LCD displays "Encoder" and you then need to turn the shaft of the rotary encoder clockwise and counterclockwise while watching numbers on the LCD increment and decrement, respectively. It might be more convenient if you could install a small knob on the shaft of the encoder, thus making it easier to turn. Another fun thing to do is to watch the encoder A & B signals (on TP-Ga and TP-Gb) to see their quadrature nature. one off the Elmer 160 course lessons will get into this in more depth.

Test 6 - Transmitter

This test sends Morse characters out the J8 connector, thus testing for proper operation of transistor Q7. If you were to connect a 1/8" mono patch cord from J8 to the keyline input of a solid state transceiver you would enable the PIC-EL board to key the transmitter. Of course, you should not have the VOX enabled and just be able to listen to the side tone generated by your transceiver. Two LEDs will also blink in dit-dah concert with the outgoing test message.

Test 7 - DDS

This test is fun and checks out the operation of the DDS Daughtercard when plugged into its connector J6. (Note, the DDS Daughtercard is available separately from the PIC-EL Kit.) The test program commands the DDS to generate three successive frequencies: 7.040 MHz, 7.041 MHz and 7.042 MHz. So if you had your receiver on and tuned to approximately 7.040 MHz, you should hear tones from the three increasing signals, depending on how wide your IF is set on the receiver. This triplet of frequencies is programmed twice before the test concludes.

THAT'S IT!!

If you successfully got through all the tests described above, you have a functionally operational PIC-EL board. We don't know yet about the programmer aspects of the board, but we'll get into that in the next section.


Section 12: INSTALLING FPP

This section deals with installing a software program onto your PC that will allow it to communicate with the PIC-EL board and serve as a tool to allow you to burn your new programs into the PIC chip.

This section actually is detailed out in Lesson 10 of the Elmer 160 course. Please download lesson 10 and follow the instructions provided by course instructor John McDonough to install "FPP".

When you come back to this manual in Section 13, we'll show you how to program your first PIC using the PIC-EL board.


Section 13: Programming a PIC

This section is really straightforward ... when things are working right. But first, let's start with the things that are expected to be done before attempting to program a PIC.

1) Starting Conditions Hopefully you've installed FPP as described in Lesson 10, posted on the project website. Having gone through this you will have successfully installed the program, activated the driver and seen some lines wiggle on the board. If you haven't done this yet, you should focus right here first before proceeding.

The cable needed for connection between the PC and PIC-EL board is actually required in this first step. It is a standard straight thru 9-pin DB9M (male) to 9-pin DB9F (female) connector. You can pick this cable up at many computer supply places like Staples, Best Buy,Mouser or even from Radio Shack (p/n 26-117B). The cable plugs into the RS-232C serial port on your PC and the other end plugs into the PIC-EL board. If you only have a USB port, as some more modern computers come these days, you'll need to get a USB-to- RS232 adapter, as explained elsewhere on the project page.

Another thing that's important to remember doing when a PC application such as FPP is attempting to use the serial port is to "disable" other programs also using that same swerial port. For example, on my own system I need to "exit" my HotSync program that talks to my Palm PDA in the docking cradle. Another thing that often commands the serial port, effectively blocking its use by other programs, is an IDE development program (perhaps like MPLab, and certainly like the Motorola ICS08 IDE that I use for the HC908 Daughtercard development).

Lastly, be sure that you have a sufficiently high voltage power supply connected to you PIC-EL board. Although the board can run off a 9V battery, as I've done at our club meetings, you'll need to have at least 12V present on the connector in order to geneerate the minimum "programming voltage", called Vpgm.

Okay, now that the cable is connected, you've got FPP loaded and turned on, your PIC-EL board is powered by at least 12V, and you've manually wiggled the lines as described in Lesson 10, it should be a piece of cake to program a PIC on the PIC-EL board.

2) Obtain the .HEX program The HEX file is the new software you will be burning into the PIC. You can download the TestSoftware.ZIP program from the web page, which will create a bunch of files on your computer when unzipped. The T- PICEL.HEX file contains the Test Program in "hex ascii" format, which is just a specific data format expected by the FPP program. I normally place all the software files into a folder called PICsoftware.

3) Load the T-PICEL.HEX file into FPP. Click on the LOAD button and navigate to wherever you unzipped the TestSoftware.ZIP files on your local computer (like the folder called PICsoftware). You will see the t-picel.hex file listed there - just double-clik it and the hex ascii code will load into the FPP buffer. You will see that code in the FPP window.

4) Slide mode switch S1 DOWN to PGM MODE. You need to move the slide switch S1 to the DOWN position in order to put the PIC-EL board into the PGM Mode. The LED next to the switch will turn on when you do this.

5) Erase the PIC currently plugged into the PIC-EL board. You first need to "erase", or clear out the software program currently in the PIC's flash memory before you are able to burn a new program into the PIC. Click the ERASE button to do this, and if successful you will see a simple message pop up saying "PIC is erased".

6) Burn the new code into the PIC. Now that the PIC memory is empty and you have the new program (t-picel.hex) in the FPP buffer window, you are all set to burn the program into the PIC. Click PROGRAM on the FPP application window and confirm your desire again in the pop-up window. It will take a few moments for this short program to be burned into the PIC,


but when complete FPP will display "Device programmed!". If it says "Programming failure", you obviously have a problem like the PIC was not first erased, power supply wasn't connected or sufficiently high, cable was not plugged in, etc.

7) Slide the mode switch UP to go into RUN MODE. Now that the programming is complete, you next need to put the PIC-EL board back into RUN Mode. Do this by sliding Mode Switch S1 UP, and the PGM LED will turn off once again.

8) RESET the board to start up the new program. Although not always necessary, just press the RESET pushbutton on the PIC-EL board to start up the new program just programmed into the PIC.


Section 14: TROUBLESHOOTING

Perhaps the best way for us to handle this subject is to list the various problems experienced by the initial round of PIC-EL builders, along with the corresponding guidance provided by the design team. Look over the Topics listed below to see if your specific problem is close to any of the described situations. If none of the guidance is applicable, or if you tried the solution and it didn't work, please feel free to contact us and we'll do our best to help you out.

PIC-EL Support Team: George Heron N2APB - project manager - [email protected] Craig Johnson AA0ZZ - designer - [email protected]

TOPIC 1: PB1 Pushbutton Test Fails and LED1 is ON all the time.

"The PB1 push button test failed because the light was on continuously. The pull up for the input was not high enough with the counter amp load on it. But when I removed the jumper, it was OK."

Yes, it does that. This is one of those interactions that we ran into when we tried to multiple functions on the small number of pins that are available. That's why we had to put the header in the Counter line - to keep the counter driver disconnected in most cases. The Assembly manual notes to keep the shunt off the two pins of HDR3, but some guys have it fully installed when starting the Test Program, which will cause the problem you note.

TOPIC 2: Paddle test operates LED1 and LED3, not 1 & 2.

"During the paddle test the dits and dahs operated LED1 and LED3 whereas I was expecting LED1 and LED2. LED2 was on continuously during the paddle test phase. Is this OK?" Yes, that's correct. It just happens to be the way John programmed the test program to work. By the way, the paddles are also connected to the same pins as PB1 and PB2, so you could actually send CW with those two pushbuttons instead of paddles. Don't try this when you are the FOX ! It may be tiresome.

TOPIC 3: Speaker Problems

Here's an important caution to PIC-EL builders ... be very careful not to overheat the leads for speaker SPKR when attaching it to the pc board. The plastic body of this part is really thin and has a low melting point, so if the pads are heated for an extended amount of time there's a good chance the speaker body will "sink onto" the leads on the inside, thus losing electrical connection with the internal speaker element. This would be especially true if you are pushing the device down while soldering the leads to the pad. It would be *really* true if you are trying to remove the speaker for some reason by pulling the device while heating the pads. We only have a handful of extra speakers and cannot replace or even sell them to those who request it. Sorry. We only had 500 of these nifty little speakers, which was thought to be enough when we started the project. We had no idea the PIC-EL response and excitement would be as great as it is. We're going to another part (Digi-Key 433-1020-ND) for the next round and we can make extras available from this next batch within a couple of weeks if yours goes south. A makeshift speaker to use during the interim can be most any mini "real" speaker, such as from an old modem card, telephone or even a 2" speaker from a kid's walkie talkie. A "piezo" device than many of us are familiar


with won't have the frequency response that a speaker has, so you'd only be able to hear beeps made at about 4 kHz.

TOPIC 4: Assembly Guidance - Resistors

For those that haven't scratch built something before, TAKE YOUR TIME. Those 1/8 watt resistors are hard to read if your eyes are getting old like mine. Even with a magnifying glass, I got the digital meter out and measured the resistors to double check my eyes. Paid off too, I caught myself thinking I had a 3.3K resistor when in fact I had a 330 ohm one.

TOPIC 5: Assembly Guidance - Mounting the DDS Card and connector

"The only thing I didn't like was the means for connecting the DDS Daughtercard to the board. You have to either sit it at an angle, or solder stiff wire between the socket pins and the main board. If you have the 3/8" tall 2-56 standoffs I happened to have only 2 of in the junque box, you can mount the board solid and make it much easier. Otherwise, it may be a problem. This board really should be mounted solid if at all possible."

Yes, without a all-pin, right angle socket connector for J6, there's no real elegant way to mount the DDS Daughtercard in its optimal position parallel to the main board and elevated about 3/8". Connectors couldn't be found ... until right now. The AmQRP is obtaining a bunch of the ideally-sized right angle connectors and will soon have them available for new kits going out the door. We'll also provide them at cost to those PIC-EL owners wishing to have a prettier connector on their DDS daughtercard.

TOPIC 6: Use Standoffs for Secure Mounting of LCD and DDS Cards

The earlier kits contain a white reinforced pinheader (P4) for the LCD, and the card is held well in place with just this arrangement. Later kits do not have this reinforced pinheader and the LCD may benefit from being held rigidly in place by using standoffs in the holes provided. If you happen to have some 4-40 threaded standoffs of the right height, you can use them to firmly fasten the LCD to the board. You can also mechanically improve your PIC-EL board by making your own standoffs for the DDS Daughtercard by using a couple of 2-56 by 3/4" screws and six 2-56 nuts. Use 2 of the nuts to mount the screws to the board, leaving them stick up. Use 2 more nuts to set the desired height above the chassis (about 3/8 to 1/2") and lock the board down with 2 more nuts. Adjust them so that the DDS board looks level. Then put the socket on the DDS Card pins and now you can solder the wires between the pins and the main board. Use the stiffest wire you can find - some old 1 watt resistors in values that you'll never use come in handy for this. Cut the leads from the resistors to use for the wires. Nice and stiff, and they don't look to bad in the finished version either.

Lowe's had some nice nylon spacers that, in conjunction with some appropriate 4-40 screws, made for a nice way of mechanically holding down the LCD. These are probably a little more available than the threaded standoffs, although not nearly as nice. The same could be done for the LCD, but with 14 pins holding up the little display card, not much improvement is needed.

TOPIC 7: Go Through Lesson 10 Before Installing Serial Connector J2


It may be helpful if you delay mounting the RS-232 connector until you get halfway through Lesson 10. The reason for this is that in the beginning of Lesson 10, you want to hang your voltmeter on the RS-232 pins. These things are a bear to grab, but if you plug the connector in, it's no problem. Once you have the connector soldered into the PIC-EL, you can no longer reach the pins with your probe. If you have a spare RS-232 connector laying around then you can use that just as well.

TOPIC 8: Using a ZIF Socket for the PIC

If all goes well in building the PIC-EL, the Elmer 160 students should never need to remove the PIC. I've had mine in place on my prototype PIC-EL board since early December, and it's been through maybe 200 re-programming cycles. But if you use the PIC-EL as a programmer board for a PIC destined for use in another project application, you'll frequently be removing and inserting PICs to the socket. In this case, you might want to find yourself a ZIF (zero insertion force) socket to save wear & tear on the board and socket supplied as stock with the kit. To fit a 20-pin ZIF in the 18-hole slot left by the "removed" IC socket, first relocate C9 and R30 to the bottom of the board. You may need to re-form (bend) the lever on the ZIF to clear other parts on the board. Jim Sheldon, W0EB tells us: "I saw a post by someone looking for an inexpensive ZIF socket (18 pin) that would fit the PIC-EL board. I did a google search on "zif socket" and after checking several sites, I ordered myself one from a company called Futurlec. They have an 18 pin standard ZIF socket available that should fit the board for $4.00 each in quantities of 1 and their shipping/handling is only $3.00 for ground. Not bad and no minimum order. I placed an order with them and got immediate email confirmation of receipt of order. Now we'll see how they shape up. Usual disclaimer applies, I had never even heard of them before doing this search, so I'm going to be the guinea pig. Anyone interested can check 'em out at http://www.futurlec.com/Sockets/ZIFS18.shtml ".

TOPIC 9: Problems after Programming my first PIC

"Here's my starting point: PIC-EL built and passes all tests in Lesson 10. Downloaded T-Pickel.ZIP. Loaded T-PICEL.hex. Can read and verify PIC. No DDS daughter PCB. After power-up, no display on LCD, LED1 never turns on, LED2 and LED3 go on and off, SPKR burps and then eventually plays a scale, I observe no response from pressing PBs, and observe no response from encoder. Help!" I would look hard at that LED1 line. If you notice, it's shared with LCD data, and if you can't get the LCD initialized then the encoder test will be a flop, too. However, I would expect buttons 2 and 3 to work. Here's the deal, though. It's tough without the LCD. When you power up, the LCD displays a banner that takes a few seconds. Then there's a little chirp, and it should blink the LEDs for about 15 seconds. Then another chirp, and it's about 15 seconds of the button test. It's only in this second 15 second slot that the buttons should be responsive. During this time, if you press PB1, LED1 should light, PB2, LED2 etc. At this point, it's possible that RB3 (LED1/LCD DB7/DDS DATA) is your only problem. Besides checking for shorts/solder bridges (don't forget that the trace goes all the way over to the DDS socket) check to be sure you didn't fold the PIC pin under in the socket. I would also check for continuity from PIC pin 9 to LCD pin 14. Another worthwhile test would be to remove the PIC and power up the board. Then ground pin 9 of the PIC socket. That should cause LED1 to illuminate. Hopefully this will give you some clues.


TOPIC 10: Using Linux with the PIC-EL board

From Rich Mulvey ([email protected]) ... "For those of us who prefer to use Linux, instead of Windows, there are a variety of tools you can use for learning to use the PIC in the Elmer 160 course. http://www.gnupic.org/ has links to many of these tools. I've been using gpsim to simulate the exercises, and gpasm to assemble them. (gpasm is compatable with the Microchip assembler, and I haven't had to make any changes, so far. ;-) ) Now that I have the PIC-EL completed, I'm going to look around for a compatible programmer. Also, for additional resourced, I picked up a copy of "Programming and customizing PICMicro microcontrollers", by Myke Predko, and it seems like a very good into about how to interface to all sorts of different devices like keyboards, LCD's, etc, do serial port handling, etc. The book however, is $15.00 more than the PIC-EL. ;-)

TOPIC 11: Display jumps multiple numbers in Encoder Test

"For Test 5 (Encoder) the display does show incrementing and decrementing, but by twos if the control is turned from one detent to the next. To inc/decrement by ones I have to get "in between" the detents. It will also occasionally jump multiple values, or not respond at all to rapid rotations. Am I correct in suspecting that this test program doesn't do much debouncing?"

The "erratic" changing of the displayed values when the encoder shaft is turned is a normal situation in our test program. The intention of the Test Program is to ensure that the various components on the board are working, and here it ensures that turning the encoder results in its two signals moving and being read by the PIC. The test program uses only the bare minimum of code and logic to do this, whereas in a full-blown software program that actually uses the encoder to control something (like in the VFO program PEgen, also supplied on the website), other techniques are used to obtain debounce the switch closures, resulting in a nice smooth-incrementing encoder-display combination. For an example of this extra logic and smooth encoder operation, see the PEgen VFO software provided by Craig AA0ZZ for the PIC-EL board.

Cla KA0GKC says to try this mod to remove the encoder detent ... "As must of you are aware the pickle encoder seems to count 4 for every detent. The solution is to remove the detent. Warning: This may destroy your encoder. You are on your own. The hardest part of this mod is removing the encoder if you've already soldered it in. :-( With the shaft of the encoder facing down, make sure that both mounting tabs are bent slightly to the outside. With a very small flat blade screwdriver carefully pry up the four metal tabs on the bottom of the encoder. Lift the black plastic housing off and set aside. (A quick look on the inside of the housing and the end of the shaft will reveal how simple this encoder is.) Lift the shaft up and out of the metal housing. See the copper colored square piece? This is the detent spring. Remove and discard it. Reassemble the encoder and use a small needle nose the press the four metals tabs back down. Re-straighten the mounting tabs and install it back in the Pic-El board. Put a nice sized knob on the encoder shaft and you should be able to see nice smooth single counts. YMMV!"

TOPIC 12: Q5 and Speaker getting pretty warm

Just a reminder to PIC-EL builders that transistor Q5 and the speaker will get warm when using the initial version of software that came pre-programmed the PIC supplied in the kit. Although not an ideal condition, it won't hurt anything. In the Test software downloadable from the website now for some time, we changed the "at-rest" condition of the PIC I/O bit from being a logic HI (which would turn on Q5 and have current going through the speaker), to a logic LO which keeps Q5 turned off. One of the first things we expected guys to do in


testing out the programmer portion of the board was to download the updated Test program and burn the new software into the PIC, thus correcting this condition. So do indeed download and use the latest T-PICEL test program located on the project page at http://www.amqrp.org/elmer160/board/manual/manual.html

TOPIC 13: Why use the "klugey" 2x6 jumper SKT1?

Someone recently asked "Why not just use six little wire jumpers in place of the 2x6 HDR1 + klugey SKT1 described in the manual?" We probably didn't explain it well enough yet, but there are several great reasons for using the HDR1 concept. And again, klugeyness is in the eye of the beholder. You'll notice that the voltage and programming signals are separated from the PIC circuitry by the 2x6 pinheader called HDR1. The purpose of SKT1 and the side-to-side jumpers that are soldered across it is to connect those programming and voltage paths during typical operation of the PICEL board. However, there might be a case where you want to use your other super-duper parallel port PIC programmer to burn programs into the PIC on the PICEL board. For example, if you don't have a serial port on your PC, the built-in PICEL programmer circuit isn't of much help to you. But assuming you have a parallel port programmer (or whatever), you could remove the shorting jumpers from the SKT1 socket on HDR1, and solder some new wires from your outboard PIC programmer to the *right* side of the socket (i.e., on the PIC circuitry side), thus providing a nice programming cable for your parallel programmer over to the PICEL board. This is "Flexibility". Alternatively, you might wish to use the programmer circuit on the PICEL board to burn a program into a PIC located on a *different* target board. So once again, you'd wire a 6-wire cable from the *left* side of the separated SKT1 socket, over to the target project board containing the PIC you wish to program. Again, Flexibility. As to "klugeyness", we could've provided 6 extra shunts for users to place on HDR1, like we did for HDR2 and HDR3. But in the event that the user wanted to use an external programmer, or to program an external PIC, he'd need to find such a connector as SKT1. Anticipating this possible use, we provided SKT1 to allow reuse of a part that you already have with the kit. Flexibility!

Check back often, as we regularly update this page with hints, kinks and ideas that homebrewers might like to try with their PIC-EL.

Documents

PIC-EL Kit Assembly / Test Manual - amqrp.org · "burn" new programs into the PIC. (Instructions on downloading and setting up the FPP program on your PC are provided in a separate