Jump to content

Help! Confusion about Socket/PIC Direction


grnsky
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi. This has been asked before but not since 2006 so the forum software suggested that I start a new topic.

I am a newbie well into the soldering of my CORE module that I got from smashTV. All I have left is the two sockets in the middle that hold the PIC and Octocoupler.

Now, does the direction of the sockets matter? I assume the direction of both the PIC and Octocoupler matter greatly. I'm assuming that this is determined by the groove, which must be oriented to look the way the map on smashTV's website looks. But does it matter which direction the socket is placed? Should the grooves line-up same side? Just out of curiousity, why does it actually matter - it seems like the controller can slip in either way...

One side question too if I may... does it matter which direction the 10mhz 49S Crystal goes in?

looks like this -> http://picasaweb.google.com/etbsky/Midibox#5297528984160053954

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi! well i soldered my first core these days too & wondered about whether the crytal has a polarity or not. but there was nothing to find on uCapps so i put it in like a resistor. all other parts with polarity are mentioned several times as such on mbhp so i hope it was right. but one could surely look in google...

but all ICs are polarized. there's a groove at one end. to the left of this groove is pin1 usually. i think the IC will fit the socket in every direction. but it surely is better to put the socket in the right direction in any case. could be someone's changing the chip in the future who doesn't know about.

good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hiya.

** The Answer **

The sockets are not polarised.

The crystal is not polarised.

That said:

** A little More **

ICs are polarised, and I always mount the socket in the same orientation as the chip should be placed, so that I can practically place chips in my sleep (handy for me, I'm very vague).

Crystal Oscillators (as used in the MBFM, MBPOKEY, etc. -4 pin devices) are polarised. These are basically a crystal with a couple of buffer/inverters attached. the buffer inverters are powered by +5v, hence orientation on these is important.

** Potentially confusing for newbies section **

The crystal on the CORE board can be placed in either orientation, but I usually place non-polarised components in the easiest-to-read orientation (ie, I place them so that, as far as possible, they can all be read without flipping the board around) - usually I line up resistors etc so that the bands read left-to-right in the same orientation as the PCB's silkscreen . This is called component dress AFAIK, and I do it because I want to, not because I have to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually place non-polarised components in the easiest-to-read orientation (ie, I place them so that, as far as possible, they can all be read without flipping the board around) - usually I line up resistors etc so that the bands read left-to-right in the same orientation as the PCB's silkscreen . This is called component dress AFAIK, and I do it because I want to, not because I have to.

OMG it has a name? I always thought the most approximate term would have been "stryd has aspergers+OCD" :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...