Build an ArduinoBoy

Step 5 Solder it Up

So, your ArduinoBoy works. Good, it is time to solder it to the printed circuit prototype board.

"Wait! Wait!" you are yelling to yourself. "It works just fine now and I know I will be careful with it. Why potentially mess it up? Why bother soldering?"

Okay then. But think about this for a moment: you and your ArduinoBoy make great music. So great, in fact, that you end up turning chiptune into a legitimate form of music. You bring chiptune into the mainstream. You become famous. So famous, in fact, that you are invited to play at Wrigley Field just before the Cubs take the field. You are still using your breadboarded ArduinoBoy. You and the crew are getting everything set up just so, until one of you notice the most important of your musical instruments, the ArduinoBoy, has gone missing. You finally find it in the hands of a young boy who managed to sneak past security. In his curiosity, he has removed all the components from the breadboard, and unfortunately, you do not have a schematic handy. With only 5 minutes to go before the show starts, you have to cancel your performance. The crowd goes nuts, and in their fury destroy a good chunk of the stadium, causing the game to be canceled as well. The Cubs loose their make-up game and their shot at the World Series yet again, and they have you to blame.

Don't let this highly convoluted scenario happen to you: always make your projects permanent.

First, after removing all the parts from the solderless breadboard, place them on the PC board and figure out how you are going to fit them all on. There are a couple things that you should keep in mind:

• Try to get all your ICs to face the same way. That way, you can tell at a glance whether they are all mounted properly.
• Screw terminals, IC sockets, and wire connectors are your friends. If anything breaks, you want to be able to remove and replace the parts easily. Also, you may have to cannibalize your ArduinoBoy at a later time to build something else. Adding sockets and other connectors can allow you to do this easily.
• Be mindful of the space you have to work with. Keep parts well away from mounting holes so that you can get mounting hardware and tools to those locations easily. Also, if you are fitting the board in a very small space, like an Altoids tin, you need to keep in mind the space parts like buttons take up. You may have to keep parts of your board clear so that the button has clearance inside the case.

Once you have it all soldered together, it is a simple matter of drilling and cutting the appropriate holes in your case of choice and mounting the circuit board inside it. If you are using a metal case like I did, be sure to use a piece of paper or something to line the bottom of the case so that it does not short out any part of the circuit. Rubber washers would be a good idea, too.