Rage II - Ultimate Machine Part 3.5

Yesterday I finally received my order from my electronics supplier of choice, and excitedly I went about building the circuit board for my Ultimate Machine - relishing the chance of wielding my soldering iron once again.

I set up the board nice and tidy using three-pin connectors for the switches, power source and servo output, organizing all components logically and neatly across a small board - for practicality as well as for show.

The first thing I noticed was that the electronics suppliers had sent me the wrong diodes, but that was no biggie as I could use the ones they sent me, though it was annoying. Then, after soldering the whole thing together, measuring across the circuit and attempting to start it up for the first time, nothing happened. The circuit is powered, and all looks good, but for some reason the servo doesn't get signals.

Eventually I had to call it a night, and thus I promised myself to sort it out this weekend. Today, as I arrived at the office, I had a thought: yesterday the DPDT switches they had sent me made something in me twitch, but I did not quite react to it. Today however, I suddenly realised that the switches they had sent me are also wrong. I ordered DPDT on-on switches, but they sent me DPDT on-off-on switches - not nearly the same, and very aggravating.

However, I should be able to test the circuit with the wrong switches, but I immediately registered an order for two new DPDT on-on switches on their webshop, and then I sent a copy of the order confirmation to their sales office to make sure they get it sorted.

So let's sum it up:

1. Electronics supplier misplaces my order, making the components over 1 month delayed
2. Electronics supplier sends me the order, but asks for payment for the second time
3. Electronics supplier sends me wrong diodes and wrong switches

The problem is that if I want electronics over here, I will have to use this company as they are the ones most likely to stock what you need.