A SMT version

PCBWAY forwarded to me a query from a customer about the THT version of the board which is published as a shared project on their site. The person asked a BOM for the PCB. I explained that I didn't recommend the THT version for assembly as it used through hole components, but that I had already designed a SMT version but not produced it yet.

PCBWAY offered to sponsor the fabrication and assembly of the SMT version. I submitted the design from KiCad 8, using the PCBWAY external plugin which is very nice and generates the required files, then takes you directly to the ordering page on the website.

4 weeks later the boards arrived, extremely well packed. PCBs are actually quite robust but there were layers of padding in the box, just in case.

I connected one board up to my trusty Arduino Uno and loaded the test program sr32gpo-test.ino. Two LEDs are connected to the far end of the shift register chain. As expected they blinked alternately.

You can find all the necessary files at the Github site for sr32gpo-smt. Bear in mind that you may wish to modify a couple of things in the BOM. One is the value of the output resistors. I have chosen 4.7k which will source or sink about 1mA. The limit of the 74HC595 is 6mA per output. I also chose the LDO regulator for 5V, although it is not used in this test. You may wish to choose the 3.3V version if that's what your design needs.

Thanks to PCBWAY for the sponsorship so that I could validate my design. Now what do I make with these boards? 🤔