2023-04-21, 02:14 PM
So arrived and it looks very nicely made.
First impressions are just mechanical ...
On my Pi4, the height of the pillars is correct for the board, but the connection block is about 3mm too short, only just making contact with the header on the Pi4. I pushed the connector down 1.5mm from the MacArthur and it is better, but really, it needs a longer header.
The board contacts the USB sockets, so only the solder resist on the PCB prevents a short circuit of the tracks to the USB sockets, which will happen in time. A simple solution: put some PVC tape on the top of the USB sockets to prevent the board contacting thr bare metal.
The labelling of the connections/sockets is on the back of the board. Impossible to see once the board is mounted. If the connectors were just mounted on the back of the board instead of the top, the labelling could be placed on the top silkscreen layer, which woudl make it much easier to wire up without referring back to the manual. This could be done without any board changes, just the top silkscreen would need updating and the hand soldering of the connectors made with them mounted on the bottom layer. There is enough clearance between the Pi and the board to accommodate this.
Personally, I woudl be happy to lose the "seatalk" connection and gain a proper NMEA2000 plug, so I can connect with standard cables, but this is a minor point. I will have to find an NMEA2000 to bare wires cable.
Last question: where can I buy the IMU seen in the manual?
First impressions are just mechanical ...
On my Pi4, the height of the pillars is correct for the board, but the connection block is about 3mm too short, only just making contact with the header on the Pi4. I pushed the connector down 1.5mm from the MacArthur and it is better, but really, it needs a longer header.
The board contacts the USB sockets, so only the solder resist on the PCB prevents a short circuit of the tracks to the USB sockets, which will happen in time. A simple solution: put some PVC tape on the top of the USB sockets to prevent the board contacting thr bare metal.
The labelling of the connections/sockets is on the back of the board. Impossible to see once the board is mounted. If the connectors were just mounted on the back of the board instead of the top, the labelling could be placed on the top silkscreen layer, which woudl make it much easier to wire up without referring back to the manual. This could be done without any board changes, just the top silkscreen would need updating and the hand soldering of the connectors made with them mounted on the bottom layer. There is enough clearance between the Pi and the board to accommodate this.
Personally, I woudl be happy to lose the "seatalk" connection and gain a proper NMEA2000 plug, so I can connect with standard cables, but this is a minor point. I will have to find an NMEA2000 to bare wires cable.
Last question: where can I buy the IMU seen in the manual?