Now that I’ve got the MCE Remote all built and in service (works quite nicely!), I need a new project.  I’m interested in getting involved in surface mount devices.  The reason for this is threefold - there are certain devices that aren’t available in through-hole packages, when using SMT you can typically make a board a lot smaller, and lastly individual SMT components not on breakout boards are typically a LOT cheaper than the already-soldered part.

In my last post about the MCE Remote relay I was working on, I prototyped up the circuit and finalized the schematic in Eagle.  After doing that, I worked on a PCB layout ( all related file can be found here ).  It was a bit of a trick getting a suitable layout sorted out in Eagle, but I got it done.  From there, I was able to generate transfers for the top layer (silkscreen), and the bottom layer (etch).  They appear below;

Well, it’s done!  Last night I completed the last of the wiring, spun up all the motors, ran through the pre-flight checklists, and this morning I set the quad going in the carport.  It took off, no major issues.  Leans to the right, but I think that’s because of the angle of the carport’s concrete.  I only brought it about a foot off the ground 🙂

Did some more optimizations on my Microserver to improve performance and reduce the write I/O going to the USB flash.

On Wednesday, I received my $199 (!!!) HP Microserver.  This little beauty is a low-cost, low-power solution for anyone who wants a tiny NAS or otherwise always-on box.

Well, I got the frame assembled (mostly)!  Still need to do a few bits (and all the cabling), but the frame’s put together and it fits like the plans said it would.  Great feeling when that pans out.