Sixty Four Pixels PCLONE2 User manual
PCLONE2 –Analog Percussion Synthesizer
Welcome to the PCLONE2 build instructions!
I’ll assume you’ve done some soldering before and skip the basics,
however if you do need some tips or reminders on soldering technique,
please check out my page here. As kits go, this is moderate in complexity.
You should give yourself at least 3-4 hours to make the kit and go slowly
and carefully –it is much easier to avoid a mistake than fix it afterwards…
Here is an image of the main PCB layout which can be useful to refer to as
you work, especially if you accidentally put a component in the wrong
place, covering up the designator (Click here for a bigger version)
OK, Let’s begin by soldering the resistors. The different resistors can be
identified by their coloured stripes, which are listed in the table below (when
reading the resistor codes you can ignore the silver or gold “tolerance
band”)
The body of the resistor may be a tan or blue colour depending on the type
(carbon or metal film). The body colour doesn’t matter, so don’t worry if the
colour does not match the photo.
Designators on PCB
Value
Colour Code
R37
330
ORANGE-ORANGE-BROWN
R6, R7, R17, R21
1k
BROWN-BLACK-RED
R14, R20, R22, R44
4k7
YELLOW-VIOLET-RED
R15
10k
BROWN-BLACK-ORANGE
R13, R26, R27, R39,
R43
22k
RED-RED-ORANGE
R8, R19
33k
ORANGE-ORANGE-ORANGE
R1, R2, R4, R5, R23,
R28, R29, R33, R34,
R38, R41, R42
47k
YELLOW-VIOLET-ORANGE
R18
56k
GREEN-BLUE-ORANGE
R9, R11, R12, R24, R25,
R30, R31, R35, R36,
R40
100k
BROWN-BLACK-YELLOW
R32
220k
RED-RED-YELLOW
R10
1M
BROWN-BLACK-GREEN
R16
4M7
YELLOW-VIOLET-GREEN
Note: The space for R3 is not populated. The kit does contain spare
resistors and some extras of certain useful values for mods, so don’t be
confused if there seem to be too many of a particular value, and don’t throw
away the leftovers!
The board should look like this:
Now let’s fit the diodes, remembering that they need to be soldered the
correct way around (and don’t heat them for too long when soldering)
•D2, D3 and D4 are small signal diodes with a small orange glass
body with a black stripe. Make sure the black stripe lines up with
the stripe marked on the circuit board symbol.
•D1 is a larger rectifier diode with a black body and silver stripe.
Make sure the stripe matches up with the one printed on the
board.
Your board should now look something like this
Now let’s solder the four, 8-pin IC sockets and the 9-pin header strip.
Take care to align the notch on the end of the 8 pin sockets with the
marking on the board. In this layout the notch is towards the bottom of the
board for each socket.
With all the sockets in place the board should be looking like this
The next step is to insert the nine polyester box capacitors.
Designators on PCB
Value
Markings
C1, C2, C6
47nF
“47n”
C13
22nF
“22n”
C16
3.3nF
“3n3”
C4, C5, C7, C15
1nF
“1n”
The markings will contain other codes (e.g. “47nK100”), but check they
start with the indicated value (e.g. “47n”)
With these caps fitted, the board now looks like this
Now insert the trimmer potentiometer, R45. This is pretty tight to insert into
the PCB and may need a bit of waggling –be careful not to damage the
legs.
Solder the LED. It is important that this goes the right way around; you’ll
see that the marking on the board shows a “flat” side next to one of the legs
(beside the “PWR” label). The LED has a matching “flat” (marking the
negative terminal, which also has a shorter leg). Line the flats up when
inserting the LED and don’t heat for too long when soldering.
Now for transistors. There are three types of transistor in the kit
Designators on PCB
Type
Notes
Q1, Q2
2SC945P
NPN (Marked “945P” or
“C945”)
Q3, Q4
2N3906
PNP
Q5, Q6
2N3904
NPN
It is very important not to mix them up (or you might let the magic smoke
out of them as soon as you apply power!). There is an extra 2N3904 in the
kit –hang on to it to use for mods…
When you solder them, make sure the “D” shape of the case lines up with
the D shaped marking on the board –you need to bend or splay the legs a
little to get them into the holes on the board. When soldered, the transistors
should sit above the board by a few millimetres.
Now add the electrolytic capacitors. These need to go in the right way
around. The symbols on the circuit board show a tiny little (+) sign next to
one hole. Put the longer leg of the capacitor through the hole. The
capacitor body will also have a white stripe to mark the negative terminal
(aligned with the shorter leg)
As with the box capacitors they are easy to mix up, so pay special attention
to the markings
C3, C11, C12
1uF/50V
C8
2.2uF/50V
C9
10uF/16V
C10, C14
100uF/16V
Make sure you trim back the excess component legs on the underside of
the board, since the back of the board will be mounted close to the metal
bodies of the potentiometers.
The rear of the board should look a bit like this
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