RF1 5V 0.4 and earlier Assembly Instructions

RF1 v0.2 - v0.4 Assembly Instructions.

Before we begin, inspect your BOM and make sure you have all the needed parts. Note that there are four ceramic capacitors and they may look exactly alike except for the markings; don't mix them up.

Step 1: Install the 10K Resistor.

Step 2: Install the 16mhz Crystal

Step 3: install the 2 22pF capacitors on either side of the crystal

Step 4: install the two .1uF capacitors

Step 5: install the 28 pin header

Step 6: install the voltage regulator

Step 7 (Optional) Install the 15 pin header (multiple pin options available, Female shown installed vertically). If you choose to not install the full 15 pin, You may want to install part of it to make serial programming easier.

Note: The reset breakout will need its 5 pin header to have the opposite (M/F) to correspond with this 15 pin header.

Step 8: (Optional) Install the 4 pin header next to the voltage regulator

Step 9: install the 2x4 pin female header for the radio

Step 10: install both of the 10uF capacitors next to the voltage regulator Note: These are polarized caps, The + is indicated on the PCB and the Capacitors have markings which show their polarity. When putting in the capacitors make sure you solder the long lead from the resistor to the positive terminal.

Step 11: install the 2.1mm DC power jack

Note: The DC Power Jack is optional, You can choose to install it, or solder wires directly to the PCB. It also is possible to put a terminal block in the slots for the DC jack and have a 2 pin terminal. The Jack is centerpositive so the pin at the end of the Jack is the (+) terminal, the other two are both GND.

Step 12: Plug in the DC power to a 5v power supply. A good choice for indoor and testing use would be to use one of these 5 volt 3 amp Power Adapter The voltage regulator will handle up to a 6v power supply on this board. The a 5.5v may be chosen if you need to run a long wire to your pixels and account for the drop in voltage.

Step 13: With a multimeter verify pin 2 on the radio header that it is receiving 3.3v power

Step 14: verify pin 7 on the atmega header that it has 3.3v power

Step 15: install the atmega

Step 16: install the nrf24L01 radio, it will be positioned over the board, not hanging off the back.

Step 17:

• Your microprocessor should have come preloaded with the arduino bootloader.
• You will need to program it with the code now.
• You will need an arduino, a FTDI breakout or some TTL serial device to program your new board.

Find more instructions here: Programming an RF1 Receiver