x0xb0x SS#01:Sequencer Part 3

The LEDs.

If there's any advice I could give to anyone out there who's about to embark on this step it is the following:

- Install your standoffs, washers, etc., first.
- Set up and just drop in your LEDs onto the board. Do not solder them in yet.
- Set up your top panel so that the height has been correctly set.
- Place easy to remove tape on top of the overlay panel LED holes.
- Set up each LED into their respective holes. Lightly stick them to the tape.
- Solder away!
- Remove the tape.

I suppose if you have the kit's LEDs or your own rounded LEDs this step may be relatively easy. Using flat LEDs is a whole other matter though. It just takes some patience and in my case, a few mistakes to get this right.

Regarding the standoffs:
It seems obvious now but no one wrote it down before so I'll do it now. The two standoff heights you're likely buying are 10mm and 15mm. The 10mm standoffs are used on the four outer corners. The 15mm standoffs are used in the center holes of the board. This prevents the pcb from bowing and keeps the height consistent! Obvious, I know!

Once I had the LEDs locked in I fired it up and .... NOTHING.

x0xb0x SS#01:Sequencer Part 1

Ah, the sequencer. This is where things start to get more creative (in some respects) as opposed to functional. Aside from going through a soldering frenzy - heaps of parts, all pretty much the same - this is the stage where we get to introduce blinky lights. I haven't decided on a final configuration, but I have three flat LEDs on hand: blue, purple UV, and white. I'm considering a combination of all three but it hinges on the enclosure style I implement. In any case, this first phase is simply to get the stock parts out of the way. That means soldering sockets for all the ICs, diodes, caps, and a good handful of resistors.

> Note: I discovered that I didn't order a full set of 16 pin dip sockets. I'm missing six. That's a pain. They were a bargain at $0.07 a pop from Futurlec. Now I have to pick them up locally at probably around $0.25 plus my time and fuel, an inconvenience more than anything. Ebay's certainly an option but with a lengthy delivery time. Either way this is a minor, albeit annoying, setback. It would be nice to see all the ICs in place.

A working x0x is on the horizon! Fingers crossed that the sequencer works! I would love to hear some real sound come out of this.