Phi-panel circuit board update

Recent comments from customers interested in phi-panels have convinced me that going from the original buttons with black plungers to low-profile metal buttons was a bad idea. On my end, the low-profile buttons on the front side of the board required me to reflow both sides of the boards, something that takes a lot of time and extra effort.

So I have made a recent priority update to the phi-panels, both 20X4 and 16X2, to use the original buttons with black plungers again. I’ll be building these boards soon and post some photos.

From now on, all kits will have pre-built components on the back side. All you need to solder are:

• Buttons
• LEDs and their resistors
• Connector for serial port
• LCD
• Buzzer

If you buy assembled version, as always, everything is assembled and ready to go.

Here is the back side of the kit board, with key components already reflow-soldered on:

Here is front side of the kit board, just a blank board:

Here is assembled unit, same as before:

Here is assembled unit’s back side: