Building the Console Controller

05/05/2010

I'm currently building a board named: "Console Controller". It produces the sequences to carry out the Console commands: LOAD, DEPOSIT, EXAMINE- and EXAMINE+. It also handles other Console functions such as "Panel Lock".

This is important to the project as it will serve to prove two concepts: (1) The technique being employed for producing sequences by hardwired logic (see Building sequences with combinatorial logic) and (2) the construction technique being employed to actually wire boards by soldering (see Why are you soldering instead of wire-wrapping?).



So far, so good. The wiring process is quite slow but it is easy to make changes when needed. I do the wiring in two steps:

Step#1: I "prepare" the board by placing components and connectors, wiring power pins with naked wires and placing naked "half-moons" that will serve to guide signal wires is step 2.

Step#2: I patiently start connecting the signal wires using the "half-moons" as physical guides. Partial tests are performed during this step.


If I had a lot of time, building a board that way would take about a week. Unfortunately that is not the case so it is taking a little longer...