Author Topic: [GB] Direct replacement PCB for EXENT and TGR 910 - round 2 (Read 19631 times)

quadcube · « **on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 01:35:31 »

Previous details: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=87213.msg2799758&fbclid=IwAR15NPcChxVj4khdz1CmQGRADt8yCRZBQRF9rH3ysQowpw5OIAZcgD6AOeY#msg2799758

1st GB completed 18 Dec 2019.

2nd round GB form is here: https://forms.gle/jjrLZ1ch8WMghhRd9

Price: $55 (not inclusive of PayPal and shipping fees)

Shipping: Shipping will either be from Malaysia/Japan using DHL/JP Post, etc. Shipping cost will depend on your location ( ~~approx. $35 for 1 PCB to US, $36 for 2 PCB to US from MY~~ ).

Deadline for order/payment: The GB will end as soon as the QTY is met, deadline for payment is 48 hours after invoice is sent.

Lead time: 2 months

Status:
16 Oct - Waiting for shipping quotations.
17 Oct - All invoices have been sent.
19 Oct - GB google form reopened to accept a couple more order as 48 hr deadline have passed.
19 Oct - PCB production have started.
23 Oct - PCB production completed.
31 Oct - PCB assembly on-going
13 Nov - PCB assembly complete, shipping to MY for QC
18 Nov - PCB received, QC on-going
19 Nov - some set back with the PCB, unable to program the MCU
21 Nov - flew back to MY, picked up the problematic PCB from codywanks, couldn't fully troubleshoot the PCB as I left my tools in JP
28 Nov - new tools arrived
30 Nov - turned out the manufacturer did not program/wrongly program both MCU. manually programming the MCU is fine but the sub-MCU is problematic as it is soldered without any programming pinout on the PCB. I would either have to solder wires to the sub-MCU for each board and program them, or maybe desolder them and program them on the SOIC programming jig that I had and re-solder them back later or build a very ugly programming jig to program soldered SOIC
1 Dec - dug through my stockpile of junk parts to build a programming jig to program the sub-MCU, it's easy to find 2.56mm thru-hole parts but 1.28mm is kinda rare. turned out an RJ45 ethernet jack has 1.28mm pitch, tested out various design to ensure that they work reliably.
11 Dec - PCB programming & QC completed. Awaiting pickup, tentatively on the 14th Dec.
12 Dec - Awaiting shipping related phone contacts from those who joined the GB.
16 Dec - Completed 2nd round QC before final packaging.
17 Dec - Shipped out half of the GB
18 Dec - Shipping completed. DHL tracking number have been updated into Paypal.

alexfry · « **Reply #1 on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 02:51:15 »

Fantastic!
I’m in x2.

So happy this is happening.

PremierMushroom · « **Reply #2 on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 03:21:56 »

I'm in as well

mdlt97 · « **Reply #3 on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 10:12:29 »

any pictures of the pcb? or is this just blind?

quadcube · « **Reply #4 on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 10:36:34 »

Quote from: mdlt97 on Sat, 12 October 2019, 10:12:29

any pictures of the pcb? or is this just blind?

just a plain EXENT PCB

Ahngel · « **Reply #5 on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 15:39:31 »

In for 2!

Ty for the headsup

dead_pixel_design · « **Reply #6 on:** Sat, 12 October 2019, 16:31:17 »

In for 1

Riba · « **Reply #7 on:** Mon, 14 October 2019, 11:29:52 »

Add me for 1!

quadcube · « **Reply #8 on:** Mon, 14 October 2019, 11:51:34 »

GB is closed. Invoices will be sent after I receive the shipping quotations.

Kalopsia · « **Reply #9 on:** Tue, 15 October 2019, 14:57:13 »

Any future plans for a new GB? Didnt have the funds to join this time around

PancakeMSTR · « **Reply #10 on:** Tue, 15 October 2019, 16:11:10 »

Was MOQ even reached? I haven't been invoiced yet.

quadcube · « **Reply #11 on:** Tue, 15 October 2019, 19:40:00 »

Quote from: Kalopsia on Tue, 15 October 2019, 14:57:13

Any future plans for a new GB? Didnt have the funds to join this time around

if the 1st GB goes smoothly, there maybe a second one

Quote from: PancakeMSTR on Tue, 15 October 2019, 16:11:10

Was MOQ even reached? I haven't been invoiced yet.

yeap. At the moment, I am still waiting for the shipping quotations.

quadcube · « **Reply #12 on:** Wed, 16 October 2019, 10:27:07 »

All invoices have been sent! All PCB will be sent using DHL, the transit time are stated in the invoices.

alexfry · « **Reply #13 on:** Wed, 16 October 2019, 19:38:22 »

Nice work man!
Resurrecting dead EXENTs across the globe!

quadcube · « **Reply #14 on:** Fri, 18 October 2019, 10:04:05 »

Payment deadline have passed and the google form is reopened. A couple of slots are up for grab.

yh0438 · « **Reply #15 on:** Wed, 23 October 2019, 01:10:08 »

I sent my form! pleaee check

quadcube · « **Reply #16 on:** Wed, 23 October 2019, 01:11:25 »

Quote from: yh0438 on Wed, 23 October 2019, 01:10:08

I sent my form! pleaee check

received, will send the invoice after receiving the shipping quotation

yh0438 · « **Reply #17 on:** Mon, 18 November 2019, 16:49:08 »

any update?

Traveler · « **Reply #18 on:** Mon, 18 November 2019, 17:03:03 »

Quote from: yh0438 on Mon, 18 November 2019, 16:49:08

any update?

Quadcube is updating the top post as info becomes available. As of Nov. 18th quality control has started/is on-going.

crappyfella · « **Reply #19 on:** Tue, 26 November 2019, 02:13:00 »

Does anyone have an extra and would like to sell pls hit me up!

codywanks · « **Reply #20 on:** Fri, 29 November 2019, 15:45:05 »

Happy Thanksgiving everybody

I've been helping Quadcube out with QC as I have previous experience + some free time.

There are definitely extras, just PM him with your address and you'll be added to the queue.

As a side note: there are still no plans for replacement polycarb bottoms yet. sorry

quadcube · « **Reply #21 on:** Wed, 04 December 2019, 00:59:40 »

An update regarding the PCB QC.

TLDR:
There has been some hiccups with the QC process as the manufacturer did not program/programmed wrongly both MCU on the manufactured EXENT PCB.
Was back in MY for 2 weeks, managed to troubleshoot and sort out the PCB issue before I flew back to JP.

Since both MCUs were not programmed during production, had to manually program both MCUs which was not too much of a problem for the main MCU (ATMEGA32) but the sub-MCU (ATTINY, RGB controller) was a problem as it is soldered without any programming pinout on the PCB.

Had 3 options,
1) soldering wire to individual pin of the sub-MCU before programming them

which works but it was too tedious

2) desolder them and program them on the SOIC programming socket that I had and re-solder them back later. Also too tedious and I left the SOIC programming socket in JP
look something like this,

3) build a very ugly programming jig to program the soldered SOIC.
It's easy to find 2.56mm thru-hole parts but 1.28mm is kinda rare. turned out an RJ45 ethernet jack has 1.28mm pitch, which barely provide the 1.28mm pitch but requires many layers of superglue to keep the gold pins fixed at the same height and angle for reliability. Wished I had pogo pins at this point but hey, it works reliably as I tested it multiple times to ensure it survive programming the entire batch of PCB.

As of now I'm back in JP, my friend will help out with the rest of the MCU programming and QC. Will update again if I have any good/bad news.

Cheers!

Traveler · « **Reply #22 on:** Wed, 04 December 2019, 15:22:12 »

Thanks for the update! Those issues are a bit of a bummer, but thanks for performing quality checks and catching them. I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed finding that info out the hard way lol.

quadcube · « **Reply #23 on:** Wed, 11 December 2019, 01:44:19 »

QC have been completed. It's basically a record so far, no dead pixel/RGB LED in the whole batch. no dead MCUs, etc.
The PCB will be picked up from my friend's place on Sunday and should be delivered out by the following week if nothing goes south.

Cheers!

quadcube · « **Reply #24 on:** Thu, 12 December 2019, 03:46:20 »

Hey all,

I sent PM on GH, Reddit or email to everyone in this GB with regards to the phone contact for shipping.

Do reply asap, thanks!

quovadis123 · « **Reply #25 on:** Tue, 17 December 2019, 22:38:42 »

All gb parcels shipped.

gaustin · « **Reply #26 on:** Mon, 24 May 2021, 19:56:04 »

I’m in for a round 2, which looks like it is still open in the OP. Maybe more people might be interested since Exent extras were just sold?

quadcube · « **Reply #27 on:** Wed, 26 May 2021, 09:16:34 »

Quote from: gaustin on Mon, 24 May 2021, 19:56:04

I’m in for a round 2, which looks like it is still open in the OP. Maybe more people might be interested since Exent extras were just sold?

yea, it's still open at the moment. currently there's only a total of 11 units for the PCB.
I might go ahead and run the production, hand assembling all the orders to keep the same pricing..
TBH, it's a bit difficult to do it in the current period as semicon parts are now in shortage and crazily priced (e.g.: atmega32u4 went up at least 150%, and a lot of distributors are running out of stock)

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Author Topic: [GB] Direct replacement PCB for EXENT and TGR 910 - round 2 (Read 19631 times)