radiotron

HOLY SHIT IT'S ALIVE!! the problem was so stupid :pinch: :blush: i had a 74HC165 in either IC3/4 depending on how i put them back in without looking!!! (i think the non soldered S 12 was the first problem then not looking when i put the IC's back in f**ked me up!) anyway it's working and sounds AWESOME! thanks wilba and nils for answering my dumb Q's!

ok that makes a bit more sense! so how are the LEDs supposed to light up (in rows i assume?) i'm getting one LED to light up at a time and i can move the one LED around XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX these LEDs won't light up hopefully you can help me narrow this down some more sorry i'm so crap at following circuits!

ok that makes a bit more sense! so how are the LEDs supposed to light up (in rows i assume?) i'm getting one LED to light up at a time and i can move the one LED around XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX these LEDs won't light up hopefully you can help me narrow this down some more sorry i'm so crap at following circuits!

so i've soldered resistor legs to the ends of two cables to make test jumpers to go between the points am i doing this right? thanks for the pic Nils that was how i was counting

ok to check i'm doing the testing right how are the pins numbered on IC3/4 ?

ok wilba doing the first test i can't get the LED's lit i can't find the problem with the LED's (how do i test this to find the culprit) all the voltages are fine on the CS pin 13 on both IC sockets is grounded the resistors are resisting! GF is getting tired of my shit on the kitchen table :wink:

noticed that i hadn't even soldered in S12!!! got excited fixed it put it together and now i only have one row of LED's lighting up at all (top right)..... :getlost: with the 74HC595 by adjacent do you mean side by side or opposite each other? (IC's in or out?) also what would be the best way to test the LEDs for shorts? thanks

ok where to now? thanks

ok so after leaving this in the too hard basket for aaaaggees i'm trying to get this up and running so this is where i'm at: i've checked the soldering on pin 15 and 16 on the PIC socket legs and they are fine what else can i check to get RC /15 and SC /16 connected? cheers simon

i'm doing all these tests in continuity mode i think the base is fine cause i get a connection between SO to pin 19 of the pic and SI to pin 20 to test the SO and SI on the CS pcb i was probing those two points at J1 assuming they were meant to be connected not so much now that you've told me the IC's need to be removed... i'm learning tonnes about trouble shooting (which i've been lucky to avoid in the past!)

ok so it's short on the CS and base! which pin on the PIC socket should i be testing? had a look under J1 quite a bit of solder coming through from the top but nothing touching

ok so i've been checking and rechecking J1 for two hours! but i definitely have a short between SO and S1 on top of J1 does that mean the problem is somewhere else on the CS pcb or should i keep working on the J1?

ok mine isn't doing that! is it ok to trim the J1 headers on the top board? or are they long for strength? it's pretty hard to get the iron in there as is

ok so i loaded this test hex i get this pattern flashing: the two outer vertical rows light up together then top right LED, top left LED, middle rightmost LED, middle leftmost LED, bottom right LED, bottom left LED is this a good thing??

ok i'm not sure how to use this app properly i get a screen AIN DIN DOUT 57: 0 128o 1o not sure how to navigate to DIN but the buttons still do nothing (tho the LEDs don't turn on and off now!) if i push MENU the AIN value goes apeshit for a bit then settles on a random number edit so i can kinda stop and start the AIN crazy by apply a bit of pressure beside the header next to the LCD or by touching the standoffs hmmmm...