Building the first controller

One controller -- in 299 separate pieces...
On Saturday I began building the LOR CTB16PC kit. The day started with a trip to Radio Shack. I already had a 25 watt soldering iron, but in addition to this, I needed a 40 watt soldering iron as well. I found what I needed with no problem and also found a "helping hands" project holder with magnifier, iron holder & sponge. Having this item was a tremendous help! However, before I had 40 components soldered into the board, its weight became too much for the "helping hands". Once this stage was reached, I used a roll of painter's tape to support the opposite end of the board.

Step 1 of assembly was soldering resistors, diodes and ceramic capacitors to the bare circuit board. At this point, I was beginning to get comfortable and into a routine of insert component, solder the connection and nip off the long leads on the backside.

The second step added the resistor networks and IC sockets. These items just barely poked through to the backside of the board. As it turned out, these items weren't any more difficult.

Getting serious now, the third step was soldering various ICs directly to the circuit board. Again, these barely poked through on the backside and by this time I began to feel comfortable with these.

Finally some proof that I truly was becoming more comfortable with the project: I forgot to take a picture after step 4. Step 4 added the status LED, pin headers and the fuse holders. Step 5 added all of the spade lugs. Beginning with the fuse holder and continuing through the spade lugs, it was time to switch to the 40 watt iron. For the spade lugs, the instructions stated that either a 40 watt iron or a 100 watt soldering gun could be used. I suppose the lugs would have gone quicker with a 100 watt soldering gun, but the 40 watt got the job done.

Back to the 25 watt iron for step 6. Voltage regulators, network jacks, a resonator and electrolytic capacitors are added. It truly is beginning to actually look like something!

Another example of feeling comfortable with the project - I again skipped a photo opportunity following step 7. Step 7 added the triacs with the 40 watt iron. Step 8 completes the soldering portion of the build by adding the transformer. Heat sinks are added to the voltage regulators. An 8-pin IC and the main processor are pressed into their sockets. After jumpers and fuses are installed, it was time to test!

I only ran into one snag. The USB485B adaptor configured itself on my laptop as Comm port 18. However it turns out the LOR software expects a Comm port number of 10 or lower. I had to manually change the port number of the device for it to even consider "talking" to the LOR network. It turns out, for what ever reason, my bluetooth adaptor was hogging 5 of my Comm port numbers. WHY? Who knows?! I didn't have the bluetooth adaptor plugged in, so I "stole-back" Comm port 8 for LOR.

I attached the electrical supply and pigtail outlets to the controller along with a CAT5 cable. Plugged 16 strings of lights into the controller pigtail outlets. Upon applying power to the controller, the status LED starting blinking right on cue as it awaited communication from the laptop. The status LED went steady-on after assigning a unit number to the controller. Everything was communicating properly. It was time to turn on the lights, make them dim, chase, etc. etc. It was a beautiful thing! But wait... we're not done... this was only a test - and fortunately, a successful one!

It was time to install the regular heavy duty heat sinks, prepare the cable strain relief bracket and rubber grommets, then mount everything in the plastic box and route and attach all of the wires properly.

Finally, the build is finished! Controller #1 is done! Doesn't it look pretty?