5
4. Construction
4.1
General construction tips
Parts placement is defined by the silkscreen printed legend on the PCB, so please observe it carefully,
paying particular attention to the correct orientation of the semiconductors.
The PCB is quite small and the parts are close together. You are recommended to use a low wattage iron
with a fine tip, and fine solder e.g. 1mm diameter or less. Take care not to overheat the PCB and risk
damaging it. A well-lit area and magnifying glass are useful. Be careful not to bridge solder across closely
packed connections. Some of the joints are close to each other. I recommend checking with a DVM to
make sure no solder bridges have been created.
4.2
Parts placement and general construction notes
Please refer to the parts placement diagram below, in all the following steps.
When assembling ProgRock, it is important to ensure that the components are pushed all the way to sit
nearly on the PCB. This will ensure that the height of the components over the board is not too much:
remember that the Si5351A Synth module will be plugged into ProgRock. Many of the components
installed on the ProgRock PCB reside underneath the Si5351A Synth module PCB. There needs to be
enough clearance to ensure no short-circuits with component leads on the underside of the Synth PCB.
These two photographs will give you an idea of how the finished assembly will look, and fit together. You
should keep this in mind while building the kits!
