First impressions of Stepper Tester and Stepper Board

On the stepper tester 1.0 boards:

It would be good if the header/link on the RepRapOneDarwin page was labelled "Stepper Tester v1.0 - Optional" to obviously signify that you really need this except for allowing good debugging.

The instructions don't have a linked BOM as do the rest of the instructions.

The pictures should be updated to show the stepper tester board rather than the stripboard version.

Simple list of instructions would help eg:

"1. Connect green LEDs - make sure of polarity
2. Connect red LEDs - make sure of polarity
3. Connect resistors - polarity doesn't matter.
4. Connect 4 pin female header - polarity doesn't matter."

Or at least I assume the polarity for the header doesn't matter. If it does, how do you tell?

Using the UCB 1.21 version boards:

I got my parts from mouser so my component C4 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor is labeled as 100nF. It would be helpful if the BOM linked to from the UCB instructions said 0.1 uF / 100nF ceramic capacitor.

On the UCB instructions under step 8 it says "GR and TG 2-pin connectors. TG: tab facing inside. GR: tab facing outside". To me this is still a little confusing and would be better as "GR and TG 2-pin connectors with the tabs facing inside for 1.2.1 board. (for 1.2 TG: tab facing inside. GR: tab facing outside as above)" Also haven't they been renamed to Tx and Rx on the silkscreen?

The holes for the Rx, Tx, min, max connecters are round but the pins for the connectors are actually squarish which is why they are so tight.

"R7 and R8 allow the use of non-standard opto-switches and are usually not needed; replace them with wire jumpers. These can be conveniently obtained when trimming R2 or R4." Are these actually needed anymore? Can they just be written out of 1.3?

Thats enough for today I think.

reece.arnott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On the stepper tester 1.0 boards:
>
> It would be good if the header/link on the
> RepRapOneDarwin page was labelled "Stepper Tester
> v1.0 - Optional" to obviously signify that you
> really need this except for allowing good
> debugging.

done.

> The instructions don't have a linked BOM as do the
> rest of the instructions.

its linked in the big table on the main page... all the embedded BOM's will soon be replaced with the part lister website i've been developing.

>
> The pictures should be updated to show the stepper
> tester board rather than the stripboard version.

i updated the wiki page a bit, but i need to take better pictures. i'll try and get to that this week.

> Or at least I assume the polarity for the header
> doesn't matter. If it does, how do you tell?

nope, it doesnt matter.

> Using the UCB 1.21 version boards:
>
> I got my parts from mouser so my component C4 0.1
> uF ceramic capacitor is labeled as 100nF. It would
> be helpful if the BOM linked to from the UCB
> instructions said 0.1 uF / 100nF ceramic
> capacitor.

yeah, this could be a bit tricky. i'll see what i can do.

>
> On the UCB instructions under step 8 it says "GR
> and TG 2-pin connectors. TG: tab facing inside.
> GR: tab facing outside". To me this is still a
> little confusing and would be better as "GR and TG
> 2-pin connectors with the tabs facing inside for
> 1.2.1 board. (for 1.2 TG: tab facing inside. GR:
> tab facing outside as above)" Also haven't they
> been renamed to Tx and Rx on the silkscreen?

yes, i updated the instructions with version specific text. thanks.

> The holes for the Rx, Tx, min, max connecters are
> round but the pins for the connectors are actually
> squarish which is why they are so tight.

i'm making all the holes slightly bigger for v1.3

> "R7 and R8 allow the use of non-standard
> opto-switches and are usually not needed; replace
> them with wire jumpers. These can be conveniently
> obtained when trimming R2 or R4." Are these
> actually needed anymore? Can they just be written
> out of 1.3?

yup, we're eliminating them for v1.3. yay for simplification.

> Thats enough for today I think.

thanks for your suggestions. keep them coming.