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In the Air Design Challenge
Blog In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing - Post 7 (WE Direkt PCB)
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  • Author Author: tomaja
  • Date Created: 30 Jan 2015 6:27 PM Date Created
  • Views 1856 views
  • Likes 3 likes
  • Comments 11 comments
  • iot_pollen
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In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing - Post 7 (WE Direkt PCB)

tomaja
tomaja
30 Jan 2015

Previous posts:

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing – Post 1 (Pollen Sensor)

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing – Post 2

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing – Post 3 (AirVantage Intro)

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing – Post 4 (Preparing the InTheAir Power Board)

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing – Post 5 (InTheAir Power Board)

In the Air Design Challenge - Pollen & Allergen Sensing – Post 6 (HDC1000 Sensor)


I was very busy at work the last couple of weeks so I couldn’t work that much but now I can concentrate on my build.

 

Power supply PCB + sensor connectors

Last week I received my prototype PCB from WE Direkt. I’m very happy with what they did. I’m not an expert since this is my second outsourced  PCB but it looks really great. SeeedStudio board that I ordered a couple of years ago was fine too, but this one is looking much more professional. Pads are gold plated (not really required but still).

Even though the price shown on WEDirekt site during checkout was a bit higher it was reduced after they did the “data check”. They take into account the board size and reduce the price if possible. So, I had to pay ~25€ after all and got the board in 7 days.

The only issue with the board (that I'm aware of) is my fault - I submitted BRD file and left some layer that wasn't supposed to be there. That's why there are overlapping silkscreen labels all over it.

I took these pictures using my phone so they’re not top quality. I will use a proper camera when I finish the board completely.

Image 1 - PCB from WE Direktimage

 

Thanks to WE and especially sleuz I got the capacitor kit so I had all the necessary capacitors for my build.

Image 2 - Würth capacitor kit (0805)image

 

However, I still didn’t receive inductor kits that everyone else got as part of challenge kit. As a workaround, Simon sent me just the required inductors until I (hopefully) receive those kits. Interesting thing about those inductors is that I had to pay duty + tax for 5 inductors from Simon that cost 1.15€! That’s really silly, but what can you do image It was just around 0.35€ of duty and tax but it takes time to handle it so I’m still waiting for them too.

So, many thanks to Simon and WE!

Some resistors are still missing from the board but I will get those locally so they should be acquired quickly.

 

Current board state

This is my first ever SMD board/soldering but I think it might end up looking nice anyway. I was using hot air station (for SMD) and soldering iron (for through-hole parts).

Please disregard the HDC1000, I was just playing with it and forgot to take it out.

image

Image 3 - Semi-populated board

 

 

Those inductors should be here in a day or two so I will give an update post as soon as I finish populating the board.

 

I got my hot air station last year but didn’t get the chance to use it too much until now. It was really fun! image

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Top Comments

  • michaelwylie
    michaelwylie over 10 years ago +2
    Isn't it always awesome when something you designed gets put in your hands?
  • DAB
    DAB over 10 years ago +1
    Other than the lettering, the boards look pretty good. DAB
  • xever
    xever over 10 years ago +1
    Very nice boards. Well done.
  • tomaja
    tomaja over 10 years ago in reply to sleuz

    Thank you!

    Positive feedback is well deserved image

     

    Dragan

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  • sleuz
    sleuz over 10 years ago

    Hi Dragan

     

    Thanks a lot for the positive feedback!

     

    Great to hear you're happy with the board. It looks really good.

     

    Don't know why you had to pay taxes. We arranged all shipments to be free of charge for the contestants! Sorry if we caused any inconveniences Herr!

     

    Let me double check in regards to the kits.

     

     

    Solder ahoy

    Simon

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  • tomaja
    tomaja over 10 years ago in reply to shabaz

    Yes, I guess the key thing is being patient with hot air gun. I set the air speed to the lowest value so that components stay in place.

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  • shabaz
    shabaz over 10 years ago in reply to tomaja

    Hi Dragan,

     

    I'm so sorry, I was reading posts from both of you, and mis-typed, indeed I meant you : )

    I still feel uncomfortable with a hot air gun, it's very cool to see that a well-soldered multi-QFN/SON board is possible as you have shown.

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  • tomaja
    tomaja over 10 years ago in reply to shabaz

    Inderpreet or me (Dragan)? image

    Thanks, I'm also happy with soldering so far.

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