DC Boarduino (Arduino Clone) Kit

At the top of this guide, you will find a list of the supplied parts to build this kit.

Make sure you have all of the required parts. If you are missing any parts, check under your chair!

Place the 2.1mm DC jack on the side of the circuit board with the white text and images.

Make the jack snug with the circuit board by firmly pressing it down.

Turn the circuit board over and solder the leads to the board.

On the circuit board at D1, you will notice one end of the image has a white strip.

Insert the diode into D1 with the gray/white strip matched up with the white strip on the circuit board.

Turn the board over, and solder the diode in.

Insert the longer lead of the blue capacitor into the C3 hole marked with the (+) sign, and the shorter lead (-) goes into the other hole on the PCB.

In positions C1, C5, C2, and C6, insert the small yellow capacitors.

These ceramic capacitors are not polarized, so you can insert them either way.

Secure these in the circuit board, turn the board over, and solder them in.

The 5V Regulator is an integral component of the kit. It takes the source voltage, and regulates it down to a healthy 5V.

Insert the regulator as shown in the photo. The heat sink tab should be facing outward.

Secure the component, turn the board over, and solder it in.

The black 100uF, 6.3V, black capacitor should be inserted into the C4 spot.

This capacitor is polarized, so orientation is important. Be sure that the lead near the white strip (-) on the capacitor is placed into the hole marked with the negative symbol (-), and the other (longer) lead is inserted into the hole marked with a plus (+).

Whoops! I accidentally placed the red LED in place of the green LED. It’s not that big of a deal!

The green LED should be inserted at D2, while the red LED should be inserted at D3.

The LEDs are polarized. Make sure to insert the longer lead (+) into the hole marked with the (+) sign, and the shorter lead (-) goes into the other available hole in the PCB.

One of the 1K Resistors (Brown-Black-Red) should be placed into the hole marked R2.

To save some space the resistor is soldered on in a “standing” position. Insert the resistor in a “standing” position as pictured. The body of the resistor will be by the area marked “R2”.

Secure the resistor, turn the circuit board over, and solder it in place. Next, clip the leads flush.

Find a power source, such as a 9V DC wall adapter or a 9V battery, with a 2.1mm barrel jack.

Plug the jack into the wall, and you should see your green LED light up.

I have a red LED in place of a green LED, but if the LED lights up, then you are in good shape!

The headers are the long strips of plastic with all the pins sticking out. These are used to insert the Boarduino in the breadboard.

Take some clippers, and cut off a section of 3 pins.

Insert this 3-pin header into the PWR-SEL holes, with the longer ends sticking up.

These are tricky to solder. You might want to use some tape to hold it in place while soldering it.

Next, place the included jumper so it’s on the ‘EXT’ pair of pins.

The ceramic oscillator should be placed in the holes marked X1.

This component is not polarized, so it does not matter which direction you place it in on your circuit board.

Turn the board over, and solder it in.

The two other resistors should be inserted into spots R1 and R3. The resistor for R1 is the 10K resistor, colored brown-black-orange-gold. In R3 insert the remaining 1K resistor, which is the resistor colored brown-black-red-gold.

Just as with the first resistor, place it in with the body of the resistor facing down toward the circles.

Secure the resistors, turn the board over, and solder them in.

The IC holder should be placed on the board with the notched end facing the notched end of the silkscreened image on the circuit board.

Turn the circuit board over, and carefully solder each joint. Be sure not to bridge any of the solder joints.

If a bridge does occur, you can use some solder wick or a solder sucker to remove the solder from the circuit board.

Cut a 6-Pin header section, and insert the shorter pins into the PCB from the front of the board.

Turn the board over and solder the shorter pins from the back of the PCB.

The push-button switch can be inserted either way into the spot S1.

The switch should fit pretty securely, so just turn the switch over and solder it in.

This is the header in the shape of a rectangle, with six pins.

Insert it with the longer pins facing up, into the six holes next to the push-button switch.

Turn the board over, and solder it in!

Snip 4 pieces of header pins; one 10-pin, one 8-pin, one 6-pin, and one 4-pin.

Insert them into a solderless breadboard as shown in image 2.

The longer leads should be placed in the breadboard! (Short leads up.)

Now place the Boarduino on top of the headers, so that they all fit securely.

Now you just need to solder each of the headers into place on the circuit board.

You will be soldering from the top of the circuit board.

Be careful not bridge any solder joints.

It can be difficult to insert the IC. You will want to make sure the leads on the IC are straight, and not “flared” out.

You can place the IC on a flat surface and gently bend the leads until they are straight, coming out of the IC at a 90-degree angle.

All done! Try powering it up and upload some code.