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SX48 Proto Board Upgrade Kit

[Click on any picture below to enlarge]



One of the first boards I made of this kind, mounted on a
Parallax Bot, running Jon Williams interrupt code to
drive the servos.



An SX48 "Tech Board", made wth $9.00 worth of parts
and a Parallax SX 48 Proto Board



The only 'tricky' part to this is wiring the signal pins for servos 0
through 3 to pins RA0 through RA3. The wire ends must be trimmed as
close to the board as possible. The breadboard will go over top of them.



Wiring Servo 0 to RA0 through Servo 3 to RA3 requires the wires be
twisted over like this. If you wire inversly, RA0 to Servo3 back to RA3 to
Servo 0 you may lay the wires flat. But then you must remember the
inverse ordering when connecting and programming.



Closer view of the prototyping area

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This web page was last updated on Sat, 08 Sep 07 at 1526 hours

The Parallax SX48 Prototyping Board is just about the best bargain around. It has a chip, programming interface, power supply and a high quality prototyping area. However it comes up short in the fact that you are forced to be soldering your test circuits togther and need to unsolder or even move on to another board to make large changes, and even small changes take more time.

The SX-Tech Board has everything you would want for protyping board; all of the things that the SX48 board has, it even has the breadboard, but unfortunately it is dedicated to the SX-28.

However, a little inspection of the SX48 Proto board, and one sees that it could be quite easy to add what is needed to have a ready prototyping platform.

Here is a parts list to turn a SX48 Proto Board into an "SX Tech Board" for the SX-48.

Description Specification Qty Mouser Part Number
3M 929 series .100 Shunt Red 1 517-951-00
3M .100” Pin Strip Header 40 pin 2 Row Gold 1 517-6121TG
3M .100” Pin Strip Header 40 Pin 1 Row Gold 1 517-6111TG
3M .100 socket header 36 Pin Solder Tail Tin 2 517-974-01-36
Solderless Breadboard Parallax p/n ---> 1 700-00012

Specifically the parts need to be cut up and implemented as follows;

  1. one(1) .100 socket header 1x18 - for RD, RE, RTCC, and MCLR
  2. one(1) .100 socket header 1x16 - for RC and RB
  3. one(1) .100 socket headers 1x8 - for RA (could be left out altogther, The SX48 has only RA0-RA3, and they are already attached to Servo0 to Servo3
  4. one(1) .100 socket headers 1x8 - for Vss (could be any size up to 1x18)
  5. one(1) .100 socket header 1x6 - for Vdd
  6. one(1) .100 socket header 1x3 - for Vin
  7. one(1) .100 pin header 1x3 - for Vdd vs Vin servo power jumper
  8. two(2) .100 pin headers 2x3 - for servos 0 through 3
  9. one shunt for use on the 1x3 pin header for servo power selection

Now, there can be some variations. For example, the 1x8 for Vss could be shorter or longer there is pleny of room. You could leave out some of the connections.

WIRING and ASSEMBLY there is one bit of tricky wiring. The two pictures to the right depict the segments. It is simply wiring the servo connector signal lines directly to RA0 through RA3. The wires need to be beneathe the pc board because you will place the breadboard on top. That is also the reason the four solder joints at the base of the servo connectors must be trimmed fairly flat. the double sided tape on the bottom of the breadboard will absorbe a little bit of crud from the solder joint.

The rest of the connectors are simply inserted and soldered. Placement should be obvious from the descriptions above and the pictures to the right.

The order of assembly is almost immaterial, but I would suggest that you solder in the two(2) 2x3 pin headers for the servo connectors, then do the hand wiring of the servo to RA connections, then the rest of the connectors in any order you wish

KIT of PARTS I can make available a kit parts. You need only supply a few inches of hookup wire. It's worth the trouble unless you already have reason to make orders to Parallax and Mouser/Digikey. The minimum shipping fees for small order from the two would more than double the price. My kit would include a Parallax breadboard and all parts pre-cut on a bandsaw with a fine blade. If you are interested, see below.



ORDERING INFORMATION - Your PayPal receipt is your order receipt confirmation. Please consult the Shipping Status List (last updated on Sat, 05 Jul 08 at 1119 hours) your order status as pending, packed and/or has been shipped. All shipping is by US Postal Service (First Class Mail - domestic, Air Mail - foreign)