Make it!

This is a relatively easy make. The steps are:

1. Solder the chip and associated parts. Test.
2. Solder the radio front end. Test.
3. Add sensors.

Make sure that you are in a well ventilated location, and have all your safety equipment. Note that the order you do the steps in matters. Please add the components in the order below.

Image	Description
	Insert the PCB into your electronics vice.
	To add a resistor, bend the pins 90 degrees, and insert it into the two holes. Which way around you insert it does not matter. Once you have inserted it, bend the leads to prevent it falling out when you turn the board upside down. Do this with the 10K Ohm (brown black orange) resistor RR.
	Turn the board upside down, and solder one leg at a time. After soldering the first leg, check the resistor is nice and snug against the board. If it isn’t, you can reheat the solder and tug at the lead with pliers to snug it up. Don’t use your fingers – it gets hot fast.
	Solder the other leg, and clip the leads with your cutters. Try to have a nice pyramid of solder – you don’t want to clip right against the board.
	Now add the 470 Ohm (yellow purple brown) resistor R1 using the same method. This is a current limiting resistor for the LED, preventing it from getting too much currrent.
	Next, insert the two blue (or brown) 22pF crystal stabilizing capacitors C1 and C2 (they likely have 22 printed on them). Like the resistors, these can be inserted in either way around. Bend the leads so they don’t fall out.
	Turn the board over, solder them and clip the leads.
	Now for the crystal. It can be inserted in either way around. Turn the board over and solder the leads, then clip them. The crystal makes sure that the microcontroller can keep accurate time.
	Next, add the reset switch. It should click in nicely. It looks square, but is not quite. It will fit in nicely one way around. Solder the leads as usual.
	Now for the 5v regulator. Before you solder it, you will need to bend the middle lead out slightly. This is best done with pliers, gently.
	Once you have bent the middle lead, insert it and solder.
	The 100uF capacitor C6 is next. This is an electrolytic capacitor, so the direction you insert it does matter. the longer lead goes nearest the regulator, as shown.
	Insert it, bend the leads, turn the board over and solder usual. Clip the leads when done.
	Insert the LED. The two leads are different lengths. The longer lead is + (positive) and goes closest to the little ‘+’ on the PCB.
	Now for the chip. It does matter which way around you insert it. The little notch and triangle mark pin 1, which matches the notch in the outline on the PCB. I recommend you use some masking tape to hold it down, or you can use a finger of the hand holding the solder if you have nothing else.
	Solder one pin. Take the board out and make absolutely sure you have it in the right way around. It is very difficult to remove when all the pins are soldered.
	You sure? Great! Solder the other pins.
	Time for the battery snap. Black goes to – and red goes to +.
	Solder the leads.

OK – this is a good place to take a breather, and while we are at it, do some testing. We won’t be able to receive any radio signals yet, but the chip should be able to initialize and blink a startup sequence.

Connect the 9v battery.

You should see the startup sequence, with the LED flashing 2 times, then 10 times, then 3 times, then once (with a slight pause between each group). See the Use It! page for details.

If you do, great, let’s move on to adding the radio front end. If not, look carefully to see if you have made a mistake. This might be inserting the chip, LED or 100uF capacitor the wrong way around, using too much solder, or something else. Go back to see if you have done all the steps in the correct order. If you are completely stuck, don’t stew – either head over to the forums or email support.

Remove the battery. A good way is to insert a screwdriver between the terminals and flick the terminals off the battery. Take care not to short the terminals together.

Image	Description
	The last section is the radio front end. Insert the two 8.2pF capacitors in C3 and C4. Bend-turn over-solder-clip as usual.
	Insert the 100pF C5 capacitor and solder it.
	Solder in the two 10 Ohm (brown black black) resistors R2 and R3, and the 150 Ohm (brown green brown) resistor R4. It does not matter which way around you put them in.Optional: You may want to solder a 2×3 female header between the switch and transistor. This makes it easier to change modes, which is done by shorting two of the 2×3 header pins on startup.
	Now insert the radio as shown, and solder it in. It should be upright, or leaning slightly over the chip, to make space for the antenna.
	Finally the antenna. Before inserting the antenna, you will need to bend the one end so that it can stick out vertically from the board. Two pairs or pliers is a good way to do this. The wReceiver build video shows you how to do this (2:12 in). That’s it you are all done. Congratulations!