Good Morning All,
There has been good response to doing a version 5.0 SoftRock so I
started the board layout this morning.
The board size of 1 inch by 1.5 inches for the top and bottom boards
looks like a good fit for what needs to go on each board. The bottom
board will have the four corner mounting holes with the holes sized
for #4 hardware. A 10-pin connector will be located along one of
the 1.5 inch sides of the bottom board to mate to a corresponding
row of pins on the top board. Pins on the top board will be double
ended to pass power/ground and various signals up to a possible
third board for future use. (Future use could include a transmit
function.)
A receiver mute connection will be provided on the bottom board and
require a logic low signal to mute the receiver.
Schematic and board layout will be done in the ExpressPCB software.
The ExpressPCB software is free to download from the internet and as
I get the design entered I will post the files for others to exam.
I hope to have the design files in pretty good shape by the end of
this week.
If the design looks like it will fly, I want to get boards and other
parts on order the week of October 17 so that kits can go out to
alpha testers the first week of November. Fifty kits in the alpha
run looks possible with kit price in the mid-twenty dollar range.
Your inputs would be appreciated.
73,
Tony KB9YIG
