QL-VGA v2

[mk79]

An update on the state of QL-VGA in case anybody is wondering: https://www.kilgus.net/2020/10/05/the-l ... ql-vga-v2/

[Chr$]

Wow, looks very compact compared to the first one. Annoying problems though. How many boards did they make with the chip round the wrong way?

[mk79]

This was only a very limited run of 5 boards. And as I only have one chip at the moment anyway only one board works Still hope one of my two other FPGA orders will eventually ship me something...

[NormanDunbar]

Fortunately this is just an SPI EEPROM with lowly 8 pins, so easily fixed. And then… it works! It f*cking works! First time! My most complex board ever just works! This is a kind of happiness most people probably cannot comprehend but I was literally jumping through the house, fighting the air with my fists.

I fully comprehend this feeling Marcel. I get it frequently when something I'm doing works first time. I'm deep in the bowels of microcontroller interrupts at the moment. I've had a few moments like the above, but only a few.

Mind you, get the feeling when I've got some time to do "stuff" these days.

Cheers,
Norm.

[mk79]

I fully comprehend this feeling Marcel. I get it frequently when something I'm doing works first time. I'm deep in the bowels of microcontroller interrupts at the moment. I've had a few moments like the above, but only a few.

I'm sure you do, Norman. But we are not normal people

Cheers, Marcel

[NormanDunbar]

I'm sure you do, Norman. But we are not normal people

True, very true. I have been called Normal a couple of times, also Norma!

But I'm definitely not normal.


Cheers,
Norm.

[bwinkel67]

Congrats on getting it to work...on the first go!

[NormanDunbar]

I think the "rotation" problem at JLPCB is a known problem. It's on this You Tube video: https://youtu.be/C7-8nUU6e3E (excellect Kicad tutorial).

The board was marked with all +ve, Pin 1 etc for components, but JLPCB have some rotation foibles, so you must check if having assembly done. The board in the video had to have quite a few rotations corrections done to get correct alignment. Changes are required in the pick and place, or component centre point file. (Can't remember its proper name)-- the one which tells the p&p machine where the centre of the components are to be located.


Just checked, footprint position file. On the video, drop the description down, there's a table of contents. You need to be near the end at 2 hours 40 minutes roughly.

Might be useful information for future assemblies at JLPCB?


HTH.

Cheers,
Norm.

[mk79]

He's going very inefficiently about this. There is a script which does all the necessary translations and rotations between KiCAD and JLCPCB, no need to edit stuff by hand (https://github.com/matthewlai/JLCKicadTools). In the end, as in the video, you get a preview of where JLCPCB thinks pin 1 of every component is supposed to be, and that was of course all correct on my boards.

[NormanDunbar]

Thanks Marcel, I thought you would know all about it, but it was the thought that counted!

I have left a comment on the video with your recommendation. Maybe he will find it useful.


Cheers,
Norm.