We needed to make a test jig to enable us to confirm the correct operation of this PCB after assembly. It's great to have a machine to plug it into to see it work BUT there are several outputs that are not used in all machines so that is not a full check of every output.
Due to the sheer number of lamp outputs and the small number of these boards that we envisage selling we opted to only check the operation of the lamp driver circuits in the machine.
In the true spirit of the "backyarder" (and because I run a tight ship) our budget for this project was one days labour BUT no parts cost.
It started by finding some scungy lamp sockets in the junk parts bin:
Yes, they look pretty disgusting but at $2 a pop for new ones I wasn't having that!!! After 15 minutes in Ranex and a good wash then a spray with WD40 - VOILA!
So now to mount them - chopped a couple of offcut bits of timber and screwed them together then attached the cleaned up lamp holders:
Off to the electronic workshop now to wire it all up - first I found a scrap board leftover from a large job - it was ideal as it had a position for a 12V to 5V regulator and a PIC controller chip so I wired up the parts that we would need and wrote a quick bit of software for the PIC:
Time to wire all the sockets:
After a few slight tweaks to the software and a couple of solder repairs to a few lamp sockets all was good (used lamps of course....)
Now to actually make a few for sale and recoup some of the outlay on this project....
