DIY: norns shield

Ste_v · 2020-01-27T17:09:28.520Z

@Lemmy sounds like a technique I completely wasn’t aware of, thank you!
@dianus this diagram is perfect: now I clearly see I made a mess by trying to reinforce everything. I’m gonna clean everything up and restart almost fresh. Thanks a lot for your help!

mattymattmatt · 2020-01-27T17:24:58.267Z

When I was teaching myself to solder, I ordered 3-4 cheap test projects on Amazon (an LED Christmas tree, a radio, etc) so that I could get a lot of reps on without worrying too much about ruining anything. I would highly recommend it, as I’ve found that making a good joint is one of those “muscle memory” things.

infovore · 2020-01-27T18:04:12.226Z

to begin with, don’t worry too much about ‘starting again’ - many of those joints have about the right amount on, but it’s not flowed at all. work with @lemmy’s technique - iron into the pin/pad joint, and watch as the solder you have heats up. if it doesn’t “flash” around eventually, add a tiny bit more solder (because really, you’re wanting the flux out of the core of the solder). You’re looking for the “little volcano” shapes, exactly as in the diagram @dianus shared.

(PSU isn’t the issue here, but once you’ve got the board functioning right, you might want a meatier one than a phone adaptor - the Raspberry Pi likes current, and the official Pi power adaptors are 2-3A, rather than the ~1A of most phone psus).

forrest · 2020-01-27T18:06:32.588Z

Does anyone else have an issue with their input volumes being super low? Taking Modular levels directly, turned all the way to 0db are still below 50% bar height on mine.

tehn · 2020-01-27T18:50:24.470Z

inputs are line level— sending full 10V modular signals doesn’t seem like the best idea. have you tested with other sources? mine tests fine with an OP-1 as input.

forrest · 2020-01-27T19:13:37.776Z

Yeah I’ve tried line level and have to run it through gain on my mixer or MI ears before getting to a decent level (which is still very low). Tried line via op-1, and RIP. Wonder if maybe I burnt out the input amp or something via a static shock or something. It’s very dry in Colorado

Everything else works as expected.

I’ll take a closer look at the board near the input and beep out everything with a multimeter tonight.

tehn · 2020-01-27T19:16:50.836Z

that’s unusual. have you inspected the board for anything suspicious around the caps/resistors for the input stage? cracks or bad solders?

forrest · 2020-01-28T00:40:05.454Z

I inspected the board and found two resistors that look like didn’t get soldered on one half, reflowed those and think i might have noticed a slight change, but hard to tell. Still with my OP-1 at 98 vol master L/R, 99 for the channel, with 25 gain going through my mixer with +6db and the Norns @ full volume output with a slight db gain on the reverb just about gets the volume right for my ears… Didn’t notice any other soldering issues on the board, maybe having those resistors not soldered could have damaged the DAC? Eh, maybe i’ll pick up another one and compare.

toneburst · 2020-01-28T09:58:40.829Z

Hi Guys,

first post, so better introduced myself.

I’m Alex, from London. Long-time synth DIY builder and Eurorack modular obsessive.

Never used any Monome products before, but just bought myself a Norns shield PCB, and looking forward to entering the Monome universe!

To cut to the chase, does anyone have a source for the Norns display (in any colour). All the usual suspects seem to be out of stock, with the same 18-week lead-time.

I’m in the UK, but prepared to pay international shipping if necessary.

Cheers guys,

a|x

Ste_v · 2020-01-28T13:16:06.194Z

It’s working!

IMG_12253024×4032 1.94 MB

Quick thought about my issue with the soldering process: turned out I had the wrong type of iron and it didn’t really flow at all. It took me a couple of researches and tutorial on the web to acknowledge it, but after realizing it I went to buy the right one and it really took me about 40 mins to desolder everything a doing it again properly

edit: Apologize: I’ve been using the term “iron” wrong, here I’m actually talking about the thread, not the torch, my bad (I wasn’t thinking about technical terms, italian language misled my english). The steel thread wasn’t the right one for this kind of components, I had to get one with flux. I used an iron with fixed-temperature (I found it fitting my experience and needs the best) with the slimmest model of tip (don’t really know if there’s a specific term to define it, it is meant to be used for this kind of components). Leaving this here just in case someone encounters the same difficulties.

IMG_12243024×4032 2.85 MB

IMG_12233024×4032 2.6 MB

@dianus @tehn @infovore I want to thank you once again for your precious advices, they really led me to a proper understanding of the PTH soldering methods and tools.

edit: @infovore in the end I got a proper Raspberry Pi power supply and it works like a charm!

toneburst · 2020-01-28T14:30:04.236Z

@Ste_v looking good!

If you’re planning on doing more soldering work in the future, I’d recommend investing in a temperature-controlled soldering station, rather than a standalone iron.

I’ve also found that some irons come with quite a chunky tip as standard, and a finer one can help a lot, especially with surface-mount components.

Even with through-hole parts, some commonly-used component footprints specify very small pads around holes. These parts are easier to solder with a fine iron tip and smaller-gauge solder.

koerby · 2020-01-28T15:24:32.010Z

You can order it directly from Newhaven
https://www.newhavendisplay.com/nhd2712864wdw3-p-9547.html

I’ve no idea about the shipping costs

Ste_v · 2020-01-28T15:38:12.667Z

I have to apologize, I’ve been wrongly referring to the torch by using “iron” but I was actually talking about the steel thread, my bad. I’m gonna edit my post and put the note down there. That was actually the issue flawing my process: the thread I used previously wasn’t really flowing down the proper way.

I actually have both fixed and adjustable-temperature soldering stations, I used the smallest and slimmest tip throughout the build. Although, I encountered a bit more difficulties with the latter (I couldn’t really find the right temperature to keep the process clean and agile) so I switched to the fixed one in order to keep the proper amount of heat (I bought it in an electronics store, after consulting with the owner who reccomended it for this kind of works). It did work as expected, but I understand the advantages of using a variable one for different kinds of components and plan to practice more with it. Thank you for your suggestion anyway

toneburst · 2020-01-28T15:43:09.168Z

Mouser and DigiKey are both supposed to have new stock of the displays in February.

DigiKey:
White display (NHD-2.7-12864WDW3) due 16th Feb.
Yellow (NHD-2.7-12864WDY3) due in October!

Mouser:
White estimated dispatch 17th Feb.
Yellow no restock estimate

infovore · 2020-01-28T15:52:02.458Z

No worries - glad you got there in the end. The joints in the final image look good.

tehn · 2020-01-28T17:01:44.376Z

everyone please remember to check https://octopart.com for sources. it’s a stock aggregator.

AlessandroBonino · 2020-01-28T17:21:36.922Z

I have settled on 354°C and it works a treat!

skeletons · 2020-01-29T06:08:12.639Z

just got the knobs/buttons/etc soldered together and it works like a charm! super amazed by how straight forward the kit is. thanks for all the hard work getting this together brian!

skeletons · 2020-01-29T06:19:15.484Z

does anyone know what the power draw of the kit? i’m curious if it’d be safe to plug in to my intellijel usb power 1u

okyeron · 2020-01-29T07:01:26.726Z

RasPi wants 2.5amps.

Intellijel thing is 1A

this jack provides 1A of power from an Intellijel power supply to an attached USB device.

Probably inadequate.