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A project log for Central Scrutinizer: a serial adapter for M1/M2/M3

Open source serial adapter / reboot controller for Apple Silicon Macs

mazmaz 11/01/2023 at 18:060 Comments

A couple of  weeks ago, I ran out of Central Scrutinizer boards. Between those that went on Tindie and the ones that I handed to fellow developers, that's about 50 boards that I distributed. Not bad for a pretty niche project!

I hesitated making another run, as I'd prefer to see people building their own. But since I kept getting requests, I ended up producing another small run of v3.2 boards. This time using the ENIG process instead of the standard HASL that I used so far. So instead of the silvery and slightly bumpy finish, I get these gold-colored and super-flat pads.
It doesn't seem much, but it makes quite a difference at assembly time. Soldering them becomes almost an enjoyable experience!

Other than that, they are still the same! I took this opportunity to retire my last v0 and v1 boards, and treat myself to some quality gold stuff! I'll still maintain the firmware for these early revisions though.

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