"hello world" with 18f6680

[Darrel Taylor]

Probably another wrong one, but I can't tell from the picture.

Looking at some of the holes, they don't seem to be plated thru.
It could be reflections from the other side or something.

<img src="http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2304&stc=1&d=120158257 0" />

Where it would matter the most (if true) is on the +5V pin on that connector I should have been looking at the first time.
It doesn't have a good solder joint on the top layer, which is the side the trace connects to.

<img src="http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2305&stc=1&d=120158283 4" />

If the thru-hole plating is intact, it probably won't matter.
<br>

[skimask]

Looking at some of the holes, they don't seem to be plated thru.
It could be reflections from the other side or something.

If I remember right, from the other Treadbot thread, these are homemade PCB's correct? Probably not plated thru holes unless he's got some fancy-shmancy equipment.
But that's easy enough to work around.
I'm rooting for that to be the fix..........Big bucks....no whammy's......STOP!

[dragons_fire]

the treadbot board was homemade... this ones not... i can get these made at Alberta Printed Circuits for less than it costs me to make them.. and these ones have thru-plating and better traces..

[skimask]

the treadbot board was homemade... this ones not... i can get these made at Alberta Printed Circuits for less than it costs me to make them.. and these ones have thru-plating and better traces..

I lost again...
I forget...aren't you 'just up the street' from me? Calgary or something?

[Darrel Taylor]

I lost again...

Me too.
<br>

[dragons_fire]

yeah... . i just dont know about this board...

im in Calgary, and its -42C with the windchill and im workin outside...

Alberta Printed Circuits has a prototyping service that is two boards, double sided with thru-plating... these two boards (the top and bottom were joined together and then i cut it after) were about 3.2" X 2.5", and cost around $36 total... so each board was $13 and there made next day.... its almost not worth it for me to make them....

so i have another board the same as this one, so i might pick up another PIC and try it all again just in case i shorted something or the PIC is bad...

I have no affiliation with apcircuits, but they do good work and they have helped me through design problems so if youre looking for somewhere to make some boards, take a look at them...

eagle cad takes the schematic (which is easy to make and troubleshoot) and makes it into a board, then i email that to apc and then solder it together... there isnt a lot i can do wrong if the design is right, and the soldering is right...

[skimask]

yeah...i just dont know about this board...

Desoldering a TQFP without a desoldering tool...heat the pins up, bend them up with something. If it's not the chip, you can probably resurrect the chip by laying it flat on a suitable spacer and flattening the pins back down with a toothpick...works for me anyways.

im in Calgary, and its -42C with the windchill and im workin outside...

Yep, in Minot. You guys sent us this Alberta Clipper! And it rocks!!! Radio is saying -15F with -52F windchill (whipping up out there about 25-45MPH).

Alberta Printed Circuits has a prototyping service that is two boards....

Personally, I use www.pcbexpress.com, but that's only because I've got an older version of Protel 2.7.5 and they support it. If I only had Gerber files to work with, I'd probably go with APCircuits.

so i might pick up another PIC and try it all again just in case i shorted something or the PIC is bad...

Get one with an internal OSC option, like the 18F6723 or something...unless you need the CAN option. Incidentally, it's really easy to overlay an 80pin TQFP over the top of a 64pin TQFP and give you both options. When I made those 80pin TQFP -> dual 40 pin/IDC adapters awhile back, I did exactly that...made the center of the PCB able to take either an 18F6720 (64 pin) or an 18F8720 (80 pin)...same layout, just added 2 pins at each end on each side, spacing still the same, etc.etc.etc.