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buildersTARPN ProjectsNinoTNC N9600A ➜ N9600A1 Assembly

page modified Dec 31, 2019

NinoTNC N9600A1 Assembly, and Operation

Specifications may change without notice.
Do not use this device in any situation where loss of life or property would be the result of the device missbehaving or failing. If you go beyond this rule, you are self certifying this device. This device is built by hobbyists for a hobby project. We do not certify that this design, or any particular unit, is sound. Use at your own risk.



Assembly Instructions

What you will need

Some of the images on this page can be enlarged and opened in a new browser tab by clicking on them.

⇒  All parts are inserted from the silk-screened side of the board, i.e. from the side on which the white writing is printed.
⇒  Except where specifically noted, all two pin components are non-polorized so you can put the part onto the board with the pins in either hole.

Install parts in this order:

1 Y1 7.3728 MHz crystal
y1-part-img_9282.jpg
The crystal will have some code on it containing the numbers 7.37
y1-board-after-9295

2 R4, R9, R15, R17, R18, R19, R20 200 ohm 5% resistors
y1-part-img_9282.jpg
These are the LED current limit resistors.
y1-board-after-9295

3 R2, R3, R6, R7 100K ohm 5% resistors
2nd-resistor-step-parts-img-9304.jpg
These are used in pairs to generate a voltage halfway between ground and 3.3v. This is used for as bias voltage for two different op-amp elements of U1..
2nd-resistor-step-board-after-img-9305

4 R11, R16 47K ohm 5% resistors
3rd-resistor-step-parts-img-9306.jpg
R11 turns off the MCLR input to the CPU. R16 is a pulldown to the Transmit Test button.
3rd-resistor-step-board-after-img-9308

5 R1 1.1K ohm
1% precision resistor
4th-resistor-step-part-img-9309
This is a low-end-limit to the Deviation adjust. It doesn’t need to be a precision resistor and it might not be in your version.
4th-resistor-step-board-after-img-9311

6 R5 22K ohm 5% resistor
Note: May use 1% substitute
5th-resistor-step-part-img-9312x170
In the TX-data/audio path between U1B and U1C op amp devices.
5th-resistor-step-IMG_9313x300

7 R10 7.87ohm
1% precision resistor
6th-resistor-step-parts-img-9428
This resistor is in the input and feedback loop for the 2nd op-amp stage in the TX-data/audio path.
6th-resistor-step-board-after-img-9316

8 R12 4.75Kohm
1% precision resistor
7th-resistor-step-img-9317
This resistor is in the audio path between the 1st and 2nd op-amp stage in the TX-data/audio path.
7th-resistor-step-board-after-img-9318

9 R13 7.15Kohm
1% precision resistor
8th-resistor-step-parts-img-9320
This resistor is in the input and feedback loop for the 1st op-amp stage in the TX-data/audio path.
8th-resistor-step-board-after-img-9321

10 R14 14.7Kohm
1% precision resistor
9th-resistor-step-parts-img-9322
This is part of the amplifier circuit for the 1st op-amp stage in the transmit data circuit.
9th-resistor-step-board-after-img-9324

11 R21 4.7Kohm 5% resistor
4pt7k-resistor-9429
This is a pull-up on the TX Inhibit bus. The CPU will drive this bus low when receiving. TNCs are tied together using this bus when they are on the same ham-band. This prevents other TNCs on the same band at the same site from interfering with each other.
10th-resistor-step-board-after-img-9324

12 C8 0.1uF ceramic
radial capacitor
c8-part-img-9325
This ceramic radial capacitor provides power supply filtering and glitch reduction on the CPU’s main power input.
c8-board-after-install-9329

13 C4, C5 18pf ceramic
radial capacitor
c4-c5-part-img-9330
These ceramic radial capacitors are part of the crystal oscillator circuit. There is one capacitor on each leg of the crystal between ground and the wire from the crystal to the CPU.
c4-c5-after-install-9332

14 socket U3 20 pin DIP IC socket
u3-socket-part-9335
u3-socket-tips_9336
u3-socket-tips_9337
Make sure all pins are straight. Use long-nose plier to fix any that need fixing. Carefully insert into the board with the round half-moon end pointing to match the board. That will be up from the perspective of this image. Bend two diagonally opposite leads down to the board outward to hold the socket onto the board as you invert the board to solder.
u3-socket-half-moon-view-9404
u3-socket-board-after-insert-9340

15 SW3 pushbutton switch
pushbutton switch
pushbutton switch
TEST-TX
Try to get all 4 pins into the holes without bending them. It should fit without any adjustment. Pressing this button tells the CPU to hold the transceiver in transmit. Release to unkey. Note that there is a SW2 RESET pushbutton that we will not be installing.
pcb after install

16 RV1 10Kohm trimmer
potentiometer
potentiometer
This is the transmit audio-frequency-signal level adjuster.
rv1-board-after-insert-9351

17 D3, D6, D7 LED, yellow
diffused
yellow_led-9352
These are polarized components. The shorter lead goes in the square hole
yellow-led-board-after-insert_9354

18 D2, D4 LED, green
diffused
green LED
These are polarized components. The shorter lead goes in the square hole!
green-led-board-after-insert-img-9357

19 D1, D5 LED, red
diffused
red LED
These are polarized components. The shorter lead goes in the square hole!
red-led-board-after-insert-img-9375

20 J3 FTDI USB Module
header-pin-row-of-20-part
header-pin-row-of-5-part-img-9361
FTDI module
Start by installing the two 5-pin headers with the short side into the top of the board and the long side of the pins aimed straight up. You may have to cut the headers from a strip of > 10 pins. Cut along the divider between pins 5 and 6. These headers fit nice and snug. Once they are soldered in, locate and place the FTDI module in between the headers. Solder the FTDI module at the 10 contacts. Inspect with magnifier and make sure the solder got onto the FTDI board.
ttdi-module-board-after-insert-img-9375
       This is the bag the FTDI module comes in
ftdi-module-bag-img-9371
Header pins soldered into place. Now insert the module in between the 10 pins such that the USB socket hangs off the board.
header-pins-installed-9362
       The module is inserted between the pins, ready to be soldered
ftdi-module-ready-to-solder-img-9366
The module has been soldered in. Solder is definitely bridging each of the 10 pins to the half-moon on the FTDI board.
ftdi-module-solderd-in-9367

21 C7, C10 1200pf
[metal] film capacitor
radial leads
c7-c10-part-img-9374
C7 and C10 are part of the input circuit for two of the op-amps in the transmit data output.
c7-c10-board-after-insert-img-9375

22 C6 3300pf
[metal] film capacitor
radial leads
3300pf capacitor
This is part of the feedback loop in the 2nd stage of the transmit data output.
c6-board-after-install-img-9377

23 C9 1500pf
[metal] film capacitor
radial leads
1500pF capacitor
This is part of the feedback loop in the 1st stage of the transmit data output.
c9-board-after-install-img-9380

24 C1 1uF
[metal] film capacitor
radial leads
c1 1uF capacitor
This is the capacitive coupling immediately following the DE9 receive data input, before the op-amp receive buffer.
c1-board-after-install-img-9383

25 C2 10uF 15volt
aluminum electrolytic
capacitor, radial leads
10uF capacitor
Carefully observe values and polarities. Cathode (negative) is marked with a black stripe and goes into the round solder pad/hole on the PCB. The silk-screen actually has a microscopic + sign. Put the --- side away from that.
This is the 5v input filter capacitor before the regulator.
c2-board-after-install-img-9385
         c2-and-c3-silkscrean-9388
26 C3 100uF 10volt
aluminum electrolytic
capacitor, radial leads
100uF capacitor
Carefully observe values and polarities. Cathode (negative) is marked with a black stripe and go into the round solder pad/hole on the PCB. The silk-screen actually has a microscopic + sign. Put the --- side away from that.
This is the 3.3v filter capacitor immediately following the regulator.
c3-board-after-install-img-9387x300

27 C11 10 uF Tantalum
dipped capacitor
radial leads
c11-part-img-9389x170
This is a polarized component. It’s solid yellow, round, and larger than the ceramic caps. Marked 10U 16, and it’s polarized. You may need to bend the leads to space them correctly for the pads. Carefully align the positive lead (marked with “+”) with the square pad (also marked with “+”). The + in both cases are practically microscopic. See pix.
Hooked to the VCAP signal to the CPU, and to ground.
c11-board-after-img-9392
c11 silkscreen showing + symbol

28 Q1 2N7000
transistor
2n7000-part-img_9391
Pay attention to the shape of the silkscreen box where this part is inserted. The flat side of the transistor lines up with the flat side of the silksreen shape.
This transistor is driven by a GPIO on the CPU and is responsible for pulling the PTT line to ground. If this transistor is missing or dead, the TX LED on the TNC will still light, but the radio will not transmit.
2n7000-board-after-img-9392

29 U2 1702
Linear Regulator
1702-part-img-9393
This part takes the 5v DC from the USB connector and regulates it down to 3.3v, as needed by the CPU.
1702-board-after-img-9394

Test #1 no-op-amp

        test-1-board-img-9395
        test-1-voltage-img-9399
        test1-op-amp-img-9491
30a U1 MCP6004 14-pin
quad Op-amp package
u1-part-img-9405
Make sure the half-moon shaped end lines up with the PCB as shown in the photos.
Solder only pins 4 and 11 at this time.
This is a quad-package op-amp (operational amplifier) used to buffer the receive AF data signal from the radio and to condition and buffer the transmit AF data signal to the radio.
u1-board-after-inserting-img-9408

Test #2 with-op-amp

        test2-img-9410
30b U1 MCP6004 14-pin
quad Op-amp package
Finish soldering the remaining 12 pins

31 J1 DE9 female
connector
DE9 connector
This is the interface to the radio.
I recommend inserting the connector (from the top side of the board) and then soldering one of the 9 small pins. Now, squeeze the connector into the board and heat the one pin you soldered. The connector will now fully go flush with the PCB. Once the solder cools, go ahead and solder the other 8 pins, and then finally the 2 large solder pads on the wings to add strength.
j1-board-after-img_9401x300

32 U3 u3 dsPIC 28-pin
microprocessor
u3-cpu-part-img-9412
Make sure the half-moon shaped end lines up with the PCB as shown in the photos. Watch all of the pins as you insert it the part slowly. Inspect around the chip for bent pins.
u3-cpu-board-after-insert-9413x300

Test #3 with-CPU

        test-3-img-9416
© Tadd Torborg, 2019↝2024 -- all rights reserved