Re: The Sorcerer's Progress
Last night I couldn't sleep. I went to finish off project #2, putting the circuit board on the platform, connecting the output, connecting the battery holders.
And then, just as I was almost sleepy, I tested it. It didn't work, and it was draining the batteries so hard their voltage dropped nearly to zero. (These are AAAs, so it's not too hard to do that.) So I had to debug it. In the process, I disconnected the undervolt circuits, in case something was wrong there--yes, I was getting desperate. I dismounted the circuit board, still wired in place, so I could get a better look at it. Eventually a wire popped up--the base (control) feed for the bootstrap transistor. Somehow I'd torn it loose, and who knows what it was making contact with. I put it back in its proper place, dodging the transistor's heatsink (mounted over transistor and board like a drooping mushroom cap) to solder it in, more securely this time. It worked, and I put it mostly back together. I still have to replace the undervolt monitor connections, and with the board in its present state, I should probably put a thinner tip on my soldering pencil for that. It's a crowded little sucka.
Anyhow, when that was done, I still wasn't able to sleep. I got to sleep at about 08:00, so I also got up late on Tuesday ... you get the picture.
I've spent the last few hours reading, doing a little reviewing, and mulling project #3. Now back to The Garden of End and Beginning.
