Flashmasta Eye Candy

19 comments on “Flashmasta Eye Candy”

    • Flavor Reply

      “Bad” is the simple answer. It’s twice as thick as it should be. We need to prove that the board design works before we look at finding a way to fab a thinner PCB, though. It can fit in the NGPC with some help. It’s fine for a prototype, but it won’t be a good solution for a final design.

  2. Iceman Reply

    I had the same reaction as Reznor on the thickness. ^^
    Anyway, congratulations to all this work Flav, it’s nice to see new development on this NGPC. 😉

    • Flavor Reply

      Well, that was the reason I snapped the photo from the extreme side like that. If I hadn’t, you might think there was nothing left for me to do. 🙂

  3. Snow_Cat Reply

    That is some scary thickness, but it might be a good match for the original PCB+shell.

    Also, did you get a shot of the panel before the cartridges were seperated?

    • Flavor Reply

      The 3 PCBs came snapped apart already. Thanks a LOT for all the help so far, Snow Cat!

      • Snow_Cat Reply

        Has anyone measured the thickness of the original PCB, or would using a printed/fex cardedge connector be the next logical step?

        • Flavor Reply

          I’m not sure why, but I had it down as 1/32″ whereas most PCBs are 1/16″ (I believe). What do you mean by “printed/fex”?

          I think I can get 1/32, but it may be quite a bit more expensive since it’s not common.

  4. Snow_Cat Reply

    Typo, I meat flex, as in FPC.

    One of my suppliers offered me 0.2mm thick double sided for printing flexible circuits for cheap.

    If a cardedge were printed on this material and it loosly folded into a V shape, when inserted into the slot it fould flex out and meet the slot connector without risk of damage.

    The only down side (aside from labour costs) is the need for nickel+gold plating.

    • Flavor Reply

      Yeah, that would be an interesting option. I’ll need to keep it in mind, though I really don’t think it’ll be hard to get the thinner PCB. I’ll worry about that after the design is proven.

  5. Snow_Cat Reply

    In the mean time would inserting a piece of a bottle top or scrap PCB into the ‘finger’ of the PCB to keep it centred in the slot work?

    • Flavor Reply

      Yeah, that’s a good idea. For now I was just planning to put something behind it and then eyeball it to center. Your idea is good, though. Maybe one of the things to put behind it could be folded to have a sort of shark-fin. That could go through the key and keep it centered.

      I’ll have to make sure Gerry reads this. He has all the PCBs at the moment (or at least they’re in the mail to him).

      • Gerry_MAN Reply

        Gentlemen,

        I’ve just completed my College Semester, and so in turn, I’ll be able to devote some time to this great project! Finally.

        Ed,
        Once the boards arrive I’ll solder up the Spansion S29AL016J70 Memory chips along with a Temporary PLCC Socket just to test the PCB’s with the Official Bung CPLD. As you said, this will verify your board layout design along with the New Memory chips. I’m sure I’ll be able to get the board to fit and lined up correctly at least to test it. That’s too bad that they shipped you the wrong Board thickness.
        Ohh well, we’ll be able to manage, at least for these Prototypes.

        Snow_Cat what’s up Buddy!!

        Glad to see your in on the project! Once again, you blew our minds with your Eagle design skills. When Ed showed me your initial board layout design, I just about coughed up a Lung!! I wasn’t expecting it to look that good.
        Very Awesome work my good man.

        We’ve got a great team here and I know that it’s just a matter of time before we get this to work.

        I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty psyched. 🙂

        -Gerry

        • Flavor Reply

          It wasn’t a mistake that I got the thicker PCBs. I knew that when I ordered them. It was just that it would be way too expensive to get thin PCBs, especially for proto work. Once we have a finalized layout, then I can get the thin PCBs. Thickness shouldn’t be an issue for design/testing, so we can keep the costs down.

          And yeah, Snow Cat is amazing with his ability to draw stuff up in Eagle (and I’m sure other CAD tools). He’s even got VHDL experience. 😉

          • Gerry_MAN

            VHDL experience!! Fantastic.

            Ok, Well I checked the post office again this morning and the boards still have not arrived.

            So hopefully Tomorrow morning I’ll be pre-heating the Soldering Iron for an afternoon in the Lab working on the new boards.

            I’ll keep you posted,
            -Gerry

  6. billcosbymon Reply

    Wow, these are awesome. I just found out about this project today. Keep up the good work 🙂

    • Flavor Reply

      Thanks for the praise. Spread the word. I’m sure there are plenty of others that also don’t know about it.

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