New E-Mag/X-Mag board!!!!!!

[splat15k]

Originally we were goin with our engineer company to assembly the boards,.... But the price was double and they were as unprofessional as they come once we asked to end our business with them.

If I had 3k to spare , I would drag them to court over a simple file and contract breach.

Wow, that's unfortunate! Lot's of turmoil behind the scenes.

[p8ntbal4me]

Originally we were goin with our engineer company to assembly the boards,.... But the price was double and they were as unprofessional as they come once we asked to end our business with them.

If I had 3k to spare , I would drag them to court over a simple file and contract breach.

At this point, I want these boards in your hands.....

[splat15k]

Ah, I see now; that does indeed make sense. Thank you for the clarification.

To explain my curiosity: I work for a small company that designs test equipment and we design a few dozen boards a year, but we always tackle the assembly here in-house...all manual, no machine.

[p8ntbal4me]

I think there was a miscommunication somewhere:

The boards are completed as far as: all footprints and traces connected, tested, etc....

There was a small delay in getting the boards BACK on assembly after they were completed due to everything listed in post #630

It was short, but my guess they put everything on hold and let other projects pass us by (i have no idea if thats true,.. but as far as assembly lines go,... im reading that is a common practice)

The board house ALSO runs tests at every station on the fabrication and assembly process (i was told this). I dont do this for a living so I can not provide much insight on its truth,..... maybe someone in here can help out????

That error in post #630 also generated a completely different issue when they went to correct it as well. The CPL file that tells the machine where everything is located on the board was missing that R18 part as well as another,.. they also (Lacey) said that there was no polarity marking for the voltage regulator (PIN 1) so no way of knowing which was was "UP". Once they said this,... I knew something wasnt right with the CPL file. My assembly layout was checked so many times before I gave them the OK to re-make the boards,....

In the process of the 3 hours to fix the 3 small issues,.. it generated a hold on the order because they said that the original CPL file contained in the Gerber files didnt match the BOM. Which is 100% true,..... so they said "well we have to charge you for that, re-work the settings, etc",... which by them,.. is 100% correct.

The problem with that whole scenario: I paid THEM to make the CPL file months ago, there was no CPL with the original Gerber files,.... and they used an BOM that had a typo on the assembly side of the process. When we sat down an opened up the new files I made for the boards to be re-done,..... there was a completed BOM in a PDF with my signature on in contained in the Gerber files.
They were using a Excel document to generate the CPL,..... so,... they had errors on their end,... not ours.

Also: we were slated a 4 week turn around. If you add the 4 weeks to the dates for the delays, and check all that against my email dates,... they are 2 days behind. That would not include weekends. So by my WAAAAAAAY over due project book,.. they are on track to ship.

[splat15k]

Jai,

That is all great news! I'm glad you proactively sniffed out that HES issue and found a solution so quickly; well done, sir.

If the boards are completed, why are they waiting several weeks to ship them out? Even if they are doing basic continuity checks, it shouldn't take that long.

[p8ntbal4me]

UPDATE

I received an e-mail from Lacey yesterday.
She says that the assembly will be completed and READY for shipping between April 3rd & April 15th 2014.

After they are delivered here and I am satisfied with the electrical testing, the boards move to the final state: Programming! :-)

That process will take up to late June.

After that, we will ship (obviously pending no delays :-)


Another UPDATE: I found a small and annoying issue with the HES spec'ed out for the new board.
Seems the new Hall Effect Sensors on the market these days have a fail safe feature when it comes to magnetic polarity sensing range and sensor shape (the cone) based on the level to horizon you orientate the HES.

Long and short: move the gun barrel up or down past something of a 45 degree angle and the HES wont activate at all..... its weird.....

So I ordered a few different samples from my supplier and have found one that I like very much. Its wired in and works perfectly without elevation issues.

Those new replacement HES are in stock, ordered, and should be here next week.

[p8ntbal4me]

This,.. I am not sure of!!! (When Im done with the order I will ask)

[splat15k]

We're all wondering this I'm sure; is Lacey hott?

[p8ntbal4me]

UPDATE

Been going back and forth with our assembler (her name is Lacey) for the last few days.

She has been running connectivity tests between layers of components being applied to the board.

She did run into 3 errors,.. so I have been correcting them the last 2 days: one was a typo on the BOM that was sent in and what the Gerber file said. Quick fix.....

The others were admin issues,.. and in 3 hours we fixed it.

I put in the request (again) for pictures,.. they (hopefully) will comply.

[knownothingmags]

UPDATE

Its 10:49 here in NH,.... day 4 of snow plowing,.... Im waiting to get my phone changed over before I take a picture of the back deck,.. but there is an easy 24" of snow on it,... i have yet to shovel it this winter.

Not much to report,... i know things are moving,.. thats about it.

Ive been stressed out over these a bit,.. trying to get them out and done.
Ive had a few medical issues,... one I have an appointment for tomorrow,... gonna take some of my skin from my left arm pit (hopefully not!) (but i know you all wanted to KNOW that :-)

Stress, lack of sleep, working stupid hours,.... spending time with my daughter,... busy winter! So much for enjoying it,......

I hope to have some pictures of the assembly process in the future,..... keep track of this thread guys!

hey man,
slow it down some if you can try to relax if you can,
hope the medical stuff isn't serious.
don't worry about the boards too, much we all know you are working to get this done,

thankyou so much for the update and wish you the best of luck with all the stow, and med issues.

we are here if you need help.

[p8ntbal4me]

UPDATE

Its 10:49 here in NH,.... day 4 of snow plowing,.... Im waiting to get my phone changed over before I take a picture of the back deck,.. but there is an easy 24" of snow on it,... i have yet to shovel it this winter.

Not much to report,... i know things are moving,.. thats about it.

Ive been stressed out over these a bit,.. trying to get them out and done.
Ive had a few medical issues,... one I have an appointment for tomorrow,... gonna take some of my skin from my left arm pit (hopefully not!) (but i know you all wanted to KNOW that :-)

Stress, lack of sleep, working stupid hours,.... spending time with my daughter,... busy winter! So much for enjoying it,......

I hope to have some pictures of the assembly process in the future,..... keep track of this thread guys!

[knownothingmags]

Yeah, it'd be great for your opponent, too.

very true lol.

[splat15k]

will these turn on and off by a uv flashlight? oh that would be cool

any news, I may need more boards not sure yet till I get my stuff sold.

Yeah, it'd be great for your opponent, too.

[knownothingmags]

will these turn on and off by a uv flashlight? oh that would be cool

any news, I may need more boards not sure yet till I get my stuff sold.

[p8ntbal4me]

UPDATE for the BUYER Pre-Pay List

Added flampaint to spot #28 for payment made on 1/24/2014