Venting - One of those days...

[kaz911]

/Vent ON

Today is one of those dreaded days.

Getting ready for a trip - need a prototype ready - PCB did not arrive and wont until Monday...
- had to custom rig something up on a prototype board - forgot (again) that dual pin rows 2x10 & 2x10 do not align with dual row pins on main board
- had to desolder and resolder main chip about 8 times before I got it right (I think) (above issue....)
- had to desolder PIN's a few times for rows to them right
- had to fight with 0603 100nF decoupling caps to fit them since protoboard does not really have space for them..
- ran out of proto-wire - so had to use what ever was at hand. Found out some wire at hand insulation melts very quick upwards exposing to much wire. Redo...

All the above are of course my own stupid fault. apart from the PCB not arriving.

Now I hope board will run - just waiting for MCX connector to arrive tomorrow

But on the plus side my de-solder skills have improved! De-soldered chip with Weller hot air station with "vac" lifters - that worked ok Hot air part not great but usable..

/Vent over

So now I hope i did not fry the chip (backup chips packed)

thanks for listening. I will now do 3 Ave Electronics and light 5 led candles and hope my sins are forgiven.

[capt bullshot]

Those are the days that keep happening ...

I remember soldering many stranded wires coming out of a cable to one of these;
http://www.fischerconnectors.com/uk/en
fitting with heat shrink tubing etc., to discover I missed one of the fancy parts that had to be put on the cable before soldering the wires to connector ...
Of course, the other end was not available to pull the missing part onto the cable
So - remove tubing, desolder everything, clean solder pins and start over ...

.
.
.

Did I mention I forgot another part on the second try ...

OK, the procedure was now known to me

[Richard Crowley]

Those are the days that keep happening ...

I remember soldering many stranded wires coming out of a cable to one of these;
http://www.fischerconnectors.com/uk/en
fitting with heat shrink tubing etc., to discover I missed one of the fancy parts that had to be put on the cable before soldering the wires to connector ...
Of course, the other end was not available to pull the missing part onto the cable
So - remove tubing, desolder everything, clean solder pins and start over ...

Yeah, I did the same thing with a Norelco broadcast TV camera which used "TV81" cable and round mill-style connectors. I carefully terminated all 81 wires (including six coaxial) and then discovered that I forgot to slip the connector shell over the cable.   

[Ian.M]

Yes. when assembling a high pin count connector with a backshell, seal, gland or other parts that cant be fitted after the pins have been connected, you *REALLY* need to use a checklist to be certain the parts have been threaded onto the cable IN THE CORRECT ORDER. and secured with tape, or a twist tie or similar to be certain they cant drop off.  A printout of the assembly drawing, will do for a one-off if you number and tick each part as you thread it on.

[calexanian]

And why should your day be any different than anybody else?

[raspberrypi]

I have found drinking to be quite beneficial on these days. Pretty soon those days became every days. Then my liver said "I quit". Went from death in less then 30 days to 95% recovery. You gotta watch out for those days.

[alsetalokin4017]

Just make sure you do the drinking _after_ doing the job and not before.

I used to work on old VW beetles as a sideline. One rush job for a friend in her driveway, clutch repair. Jacked up the car, dropped the engine out, whipped off the pressure plate, discarded old clutch disk, replaced pressure plate, jacked engine up into compartment, bolted in (dusk approaching so was in a hurry), connected everything else, jacked car back down.... and then I noticed the new clutch disk sitting there in the grass next to the old one.....   

[Brumby]

I could ask how you missed the "align clutch plate" step... but I won't.

[raspberrypi]

Just make sure you do the drinking _after_ doing the job and not before.

I used to work on old VW beetles as a sideline. One rush job for a friend in her driveway, clutch repair. Jacked up the car, dropped the engine out, whipped off the pressure plate, discarded old clutch disk, replaced pressure plate, jacked engine up into compartment, bolted in (dusk approaching so was in a hurry), connected everything else, jacked car back down.... and then I noticed the new clutch disk sitting there in the grass next to the old one.....   

Thats how its described in the Hayes manual; reassembly is the opposite of disassembly; step one: reinstall engine.

[TerraHertz]

Getting ready for a trip - need a prototype ready - PCB did not arrive and wont until Monday...
- had to custom rig something up on a prototype board - forgot (again) that dual pin rows 2x10 & 2x10 do not align with dual row pins on main board
  ...
Now I hope board will run - just waiting for MCX connector to arrive tomorrow
 ...
So now I hope i did not fry the chip (backup chips packed)

thanks for listening. I will now do 3 Ave Electronics and light 5 led candles and hope my sins are forgiven.

So, you are going on a trip, with a hand wired prototype, that is not tested, and involved redoing some wiring mistakes (the ones you found.) And it must work?

You may as well just cancel/postpone the trip right now.

[SeanB]

He is optimistic it will work at the pre conference test, but I think it will fail at the demo stage, and work perfectly thereafter.

[kaz911]

well I never have a plan without a backup plan so i'm not worried.

[b_force]

All the above are of course my own stupid fault.

Stupid faults barely happen.
It's a sum of all things.

I even don't like/want to use the word fault, I think in solutions.
Shit happens, especially with electronics.
Every manager/boss that yells that it's unacceptable and blames people that stuff goes wrong (even in customer demo's) has to find another job or get real.
This is the real world, not the theoretical agenda on paper.