1: Soldering

Getting started

If you don't have soldering experience yet, start with soldering some test pieces. Reading the "Soldering is Easy" comic is recommended:

https://mightyohm.com/files/soldercomic/FullSolderComic_EN.pdf

Parts

First, make sure that you have all the necessary parts:

• 1: PCB
• 2: 40 Pin Header
• 2: 3x B10K Potentiometers (the "knobs")
• 4: 3x IRF520N MOSFET
• 5: DC Barrel Jack
• 6: 3.15A Fuse + Holder
• 7: Toggle Switch
• 8: 5m 12V RGB LED strip
• 9: Arduino Nano V3
• 10: 12V 6A DC Power Supply

Soldering

1. Cut the pin header into two pieces of 15 pins using side cutters. Be careful, the plastic splinters easily, so it's probably better to "sacrifice" the 16th pin by cutting right in the middle of it.
2. Solder the pin headers (2) to the PCB (1). Make sure that they're straigt, so that the Arduino (9) will fit.
3. Solder the three potentiometers (3) to the PCB. The order doesn't matter.
4. Solder the three MOSFETs (4) to the PCB. The order doesn't matter. The aluminum heat sink should face the pin headers you soldered previously.
5. Solder the DC barrel jack (5) to the PCB.
6. Solder the fuse holders (6) to the PCB. Make sure that they're the right way around - the fuse must fit in there!
7. Solder the toggle switch (7) to the PCB. It's a bit tough to get it in there, in the next version we'll make the holes a bit wider. Make sure that the "on" part of the switch faces the top of the board (the "Arduino side") while the "off" part of the switch faces the bottom of the board (the "potentiometer side").
8. Take the LED strip (8) out of the packaging. There are two ends coming out of it, the one on the outside and the other one on the inside of the reel. Cut off the inner end with side cutters and solder it directly to the PCB. Make sure that the colors match (R: Red, G: Green, B: Blue, +: Black or White).
9. Put the Arduino (9) on the PCB. The USB port should face right, see the white print on the PCB for reference. The Arduino should be pre-programmed with the HSI controlling software where hue, saturation and intensity can be controlled with the three pot knobs.
10. Connect the other end of the LED strip (8) to the piece you soldered on to the PCB. Make sure the colors match.
11. Connect the power supply (10) to the DC jack (5).
12. Turn on the board, everything should now be working! 🎉

This is what the board should look like in the end (note that the LED strip connector is missing on these pictures):