Saturday, December 6, 2008

Finishing Assembly of the MOTM-820




Picking up where we left off: Here's the remaining parts, waiting to be installed:





Most MOTM 2U-width modules have the right-side pots mounted on the PC board, and they are used to help support the board's attachment to the panel.  Here are the pots, waiting to be soldered:



One nice thing about the MOTM kits is that they provide pre-stripped and tinned coax for the audio I/O jacks:



And the rest of the I/O is done with twisted pairs.  At this point, all soldering on the board is done.



The panel, as it comes out of the bubble wrap:



Mounting the jacks:



The right way to tighten the jack nuts, without scratching the panel.  The piece of red tape on the socket helps me find it quickly in the toolbox, since I use this size often.



The mounted jacks.  I've left them a bit loose because sometimes it helps during soldering if you can rotate them, to make it easier to get the iron in.  I'll straighten and tighten them after soldering.



The PC board is supported by a metal bracket.  This shows how the bracket will mount onto the panel.  It fastens to two studs that are welded to the back of the panel.  The board mounts on the right side of the bracket, on standoffs.  The pot stems will go through the large holes and be clamped to the panel by mounting nuts front and back.  



Adjusting the mounting nuts on the pot stems on the back side of the panel, so that they are snug to the panel:



The completed mounting, with the board mounted to the bracket, and the bracket mounted to the panel:



This is what the panel looks like from the front at this point.  The two remaining holes are for a toggle switch and an LED that will both mount directly to the panel.



And now we pause for a cat photo.  This is DJ:



Soldering the coax and twisted pairs to the jacks.  I'm using the screwdriver to keep some tension on the coax while I solder it.  Note that at this point the switch and LED have been mounted and soldered, at the upper right of the panel.  



If you find that you have accidentally soldered something to the wrong jack, don't unsolder it; just swap the jacks around.  Of course, I never do that, ahem...



Last step: attaching the knobs.  



I admit it; I'm obsessive about knob registration.  



The completed module, ready to mount and test:



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