Newbie and FEZ Cobra Prototype kit

NETMF & Gadgeteer
1

First, let me say I am new to FEZ, have been a programmer in .Net since it was in beta years ago and VB programmer years prior to that. Though I never had a lot of interest in the Micro Framework before, I have a few projects I am thinking about for which it, along with the FEZ boards, seem to be a good solution. So, while I am a somewhat senior .net developer, this is an entirely new venue for me and I find myself in the position of being the absolute newbie on the block. So, with that, even I know that some of my questions will seem simplistic to the many accomplished developers on this board, Ill just thank you ahead of time for your patience. :slight_smile: Ive run astronomy boards on Yahoo Groups for many years, so, now it is my turn to be the new guy with all the questions.

I have been a pilot all my life (ex Naval Aviator as well) and also am heavily into Astronomy. A couple of projects that come to mind immediately involve both of those hobbies. I have long dreamt of building a full flight simulator (cockpit, full motion, etc) to work with programs like Microsoft Flight Sim, IL2, etc. I would also like to add some further automation to my observatory which has a good bit already but there are other things I would like to add. You can see my astronomy site here and the observatory as it is todayhttp://www.HamiltonAstronomy.com. So, big plans, but, I have to start with the small stuff first, meaning, crawl before I walk.

Last week I purchased the FEZ Cobra along with a couple of add-ons including the FEZ Cobra Prototype kit. So, for my first question. In using this kit, I can see how it attaches to the Cobra, but was wondering first, if you need to solder each of the connecting pins. Secondly, when attaching other components to the prototype board, do the rows already carry the signal from their corresponding connector or do you need to wire between the various holes back to the connecting point? Sorry for the possibly obvious question, just trying to figure it all out right now. First thing I plan to put on there, by the way, is a 3.3 volt battery and battery holder for the RTC. Thanks in advance. Steve

2

Really nice observatory!!

If you need to attach some other devices to the Cobra, yes. There are quite different ways to do it. You can either solder some pin connectors to the location, or solder jumper wires directly.

It’s already wired in the PCB so you don’t have to do it yourself!

3

If soldering is not your best friend then alway come here for questions. We love helping and a lot of the community members already do a great job in helping others.

Your questions are not very clear, sorry. Maybe what terrorgen can help?

The pins get you signals all the way to the prototyping board, from there, you need to run wires to the circuitry that you will probably build the on the holes available on the prototyping board.

If this still not what you need, then take a picture and tell us how we can help.

4

Awk! You didn’t mention you were an aviation enthusiast in the chat! We could have had a nice chat about airplanes…

Anywho, soldering is easy. Touch the iron to the pin and pad, wait a second, add some solder, wait a second for it to settle and pull the iron off. The junction should look like an inward bent cone.

5

Thanks all, solderig is fine, not a pro, but I can get by :slight_smile: I should have just checked for continuity across the board before even asking the question, still learning. Looks like there is continuity already wired in on the ground and the 5 volt lines, the others will require soldering.

Thanks for the quick answers, I’m sure I will have more questions, maybe even some better ones lol.

6

Sparkfun has some simple kits which you can use to learn how to solder, before attempting to solder you Cobra.

7

Thanks Mike, looks like they have some neat stuff over here, much appreciated.

8

Sparkfun even sells old scrap pcb’s for a few cents.
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9039

You can learn a lot from them (maybe SMT? :wink: )