Max/232 Bootloader problems - Schematic attached...

[rossfree]

To Pic_User,

Thank you for your reply.

Did you etch it yourself? No... PCB123. I made two boards. No solder-mask or SS. And I found a problem earlier... my metal can crystal was intermittantly touching traces under it. Ha! Fixed.

Double sided? Yes.

Does it have plated through holes? Yes.

Are there any solder bridges? I've been over it carefully. Can't find any. Doesn't mean I didn't miss something. But it's not a huge board. I've checked voltages and ohm'd pins. Nothing stands out as blatantly wrong. Power supply is cool, no hot parts at all. 5 volts where expected. 12 volts where expected... etc.

Did you accidentally lay it out as a “mirror image”? Nope.

Are all the PCB parts installed with correct polarity? Silk screen was wrong on LEDs... put them all in backwards. Bother! :-) I corrected it earlier.

Are external wires attached to the correct places? No external connections as yet. Only power supply, Max232, 876, and T/C amp on board. Trying to get this going before pushing on. One thing at a time. :-)

Is the MCLR resistor really 4.7k not 4.7 Ohms (4k7 not 4R7)? Good question... I checked it earlier. It is correct. And the 100 ohm resistor on pin 9 is correct also.

If I had pics of the board I would post. I'm including a PDF of the artwork and traces. Blue traces on bottom of board... Red on top.

I have three operator push buttons and a POT on back side of board and an in-line connector strip for the LCD (also on back of board). The LCD is not connected. And I have not put the operator POT on the board yet either (R23).

I know it is unlikely that you can do much... but just maybe someone will catch something I missed.

HELP HELP HELP! :-)

Thank you!!!