Greetings to all who have been following Sardar's project over the last few months. I'd like to extend a special welcome to all the future builders who are already on my email list for the PCB group buy. Thank you for your patience while waiting for our first ABS for QMX+ "release." I will be sending an email to everyone on the list in the next few days with updated information and I'll post here too.
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In the meantime, here is my current Digikey BOM. There are other places where you can satisfy the BOM but this is where Sardar and I have sourced most of the required parts. Between the items listed in this Digikey BOM and the SMD components that will come pre-installed on the ATU board, almost all the parts are covered. The other two boards (ATU Mount Board and Companion Board) do not feature any SMD parts--other than the battery management system (BMS) sub-board, which has large solder pads on it. I used the biggest tip available for my 60W Weller soldering station AND a somewhat more powerful butane powered soldering pencil at the same time on each of those solder joints, so please anticipate the need for soldering tools that can make some heat for this step. Installing the BMS board to the Companion Board is not delicate SMD work, but an SMD hot air blower soldering tool might work too. I have never used one for this task. Also, a few more parts must be obtained from Amazon (or elsewhere) and some of the Amazon parts can, alternatively, be obtained from Digikey, but they are not in the following Digikey BOM:
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I'll provide more information about the Amazon portion of the BOM later, or you can visit the excruciatingly long thread where I discussed it hundreds of posts ago (I think it was hundreds--it sure feels like it) :
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The thread linked above will soon become inactive, now that Version1.1 is nearing formal release (perhaps little more than a week away, when I expect to receive the latest Companion Board PCB). Then I'll total up how many people wish to get in on Sardar's fun and very useful QMX+ add-on that will fill up all the voluminous space in your QMX+ that Hans so cleverly designed into it for these sorts of experimenter projects!
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The PIC and ATmega MPU chips are not in any of the BOMs for this PCB group buy, because I will provide those two chips to group buy builders, pre-programmed and tested, in shipment with the three PCBs needed for the project. Builders will need to obtain the other items in the BOMs I post here on their own, or they can organize together for group purchases. I'm sorry but, with all my validation and manufacturing-related activities related to this project, I don't have time to manage any additional elements and "moving parts" in another group buy of parts.
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If you are not on my builder email list and would like to be added to it, please contact me at my ARRL email forwarding address and I'll reply back to you. The ARRL forwarding address is in the usual format (<my_callsign> AT arrl.net).
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73,
Cal (AD8Q)
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