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PCBs on the Way

A project log for CircuitPython Badge

A handheld running CircuitPython and cheap enough for a badge.

dehipudeʃhipu 04/23/2018 at 09:420 Comments

It's the first time I'm ordering the PCBs at jlcpcb.com, so I'm not entirely sure how this will go. Looking at the order status page, they have already shipped them, so I hope to have them here in a couple of days.

In the mean time, I found a mistake — of course! The SDB pin on the IS31FL3733 should be pulled up, while I am pulling it down. This is a third time I'm making this mistake, because on the schematic on the datasheet that pin is pulled down and connected to a microcontroller pin, so that the chip is disabled by default and can be enabled on demand. But in this case I want the chip to be always on, and I don't want to waste a pin for this. Fortunately, I can simply solder the resistor only by one of its pads, and use bodge wire to connect it to a nearby via.

I am also considering upping the display resolution to luxurious 16×16 by using an IS31FL3741 and four 8x8 matrices. That would of course require a redesign, and I don't have any IS31FL3741 at hand, so we will see. The 14×11 I have right now should be good enough, and four matrices instead of two would push the price a bit.

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