=  NOW 40 WPM  =  

NOVICE AND TECHNICIAN CLASS LICENSES IN 1977 WHILE IN THE US NAVY NUCLEAR
PROPULSION PROGRAM.  HE EARNED HIS ADVANCED CLASS LICENSE IN 1987.  RICK
GRADUATED BALL STATE UNIVERSITY IN 1988 WITH A BS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
MATH/SCIENCE EDUCATION AND BECAME A TEACHER.  IN 1994, HE GRADUATED FROM
INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WITH AN MA IN EDUCATION, AND BEGAN TEACHING IN
THE GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM.  HE RETIRED FROM TEACHING IN 2017, AND
CURRENTLY WORKS PART TIME WITH WOODWORKI

VIEW IT IN THE DISPLAY PANE AND BEGIN WORKING WITH CONTROLS.  AFTER
POPULATING YOUR PAGES WITH CONTROLS, YOU CAN COMPILE AND TEST YOUR DESIGN
RIGHT IN THE EDITOR.  GRANTED, IT KNOWS NOTHING OF INPUT FROM YOUR SKETCH,
BUT YOU CAN TEST LOCATION AND OPERATION OF CONTROLS, THE SIZE OF TEXT, AND
THE COMMANDS YOUVE PROGRAMMED TO BE USED BY THE DISPLAY ITSELF BEFORE
TAKING THE TIME TO LOAD IT ON THE DISPLAY.  CLICK COMPILE ON THE QUICK
ACCESS BAR, THEN CLICK DEBUG AND CLICK ON YOUR BUTTON TO YOUR HEARTS
CONTENT.  YOU WILL NEED A MICROSD CARD TO LOAD YOUR DESIGN TO THE DISPLAY
ITSELF.  USE FILE TFT FILE OUTPUT TO COMPILE AND SAVE THE DESIGN TO THE
CARD.  WHEN THE DESTINATION FOLDER IS DISPLAYED, YOU CAN TURN OFF POWER TO
THE DISPLAY AND INSERT THE CARD IN THE SLOT ON THE DISPLAY.  WHEN YOU
SUPPLY POWER TO THE DISPLAY, IT WILL LOOK FOR THE DESIGN FILE AND TRY TO
LOAD IT.  THE DISPLAY SCREEN WILL SHOW THAT THE UPLOAD WAS SUCCESSFUL.
POWER DOWN, REMOVE THE CARD, AND POWER UP TO SEE YOUR DESIGN OR DESIGN
CHANGES.  AS FAR AS I KNOW, THE MICROSD CARD READER ON THE DISPLAY CAN BE
USED ONLY TO UPLOAD DISPLAY DESIGNS.  DETAILS ABOUT USING THE DISPLAY IN
THE SKETCH ARE ON THE WWW.  ARRL. ORG/ QST IN DEPTH WEB PAGE.  MORE PROJECT
RESOURCES, INCLUDING CODE AND PCB LAYOUTS, ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE AUTHOR AT
WWW. WW9JD. NET.  MICROPROCESSOR BOARD SELECTION AND PCB DESIGN  ONE OF MY

GOALS WAS TO MAKE A SMALLER, LIGHTER DEVICE THAN THE HEATHKIT ORIGINAL.  I
WANTED TO USE AN ARDUINO NANO BOARD, BUT MY SKETCH EXCEEDED ITS MEMORY
LIMITS.  I ENDED UP DOING MUCH OF MY PROTOTYPING WORK ON A BREADBOARD USING
AN ARDUINO MEGA.  I SETTLED ON THE ROBOTDYN MEGA 2560 PRO CH340G/
ATMEGA2560 16AU PERFBOARD FOR MY FINAL DESIGN.  I WANTED THE KEYER BOARD TO
BE INSTALLED BEHIND THE DISPLAY.  THE NEXTION INCLUDED AN ACRYLIC CASE THAT
IS JUST A FRAME FOR THE DISPLAY A FLAT BACK WITH CUTOUTS FOR THE DISPLAY
CONNECTOR, MICROSD CARD, AND THE REAL TIME CLOCK BATTERY, SOME PLASTIC
SPACERS, AND HARDWARE.  I ORDERED ANOTHER CASE TO USE FOR MOUNTING THE
KEYER BOARD BEHIND THE DISPLAY.  THERE ARE SEVERAL PCB MANUFACTURERS THAT
WILL PRODUCE A SMALL RUN OF BOARDS QUICKLY, AND AT LOW COST.  I USED KICAD
TO DESIGN THE PCB, AND PCBWAY TO MAKE THE ACTUAL BOARDS.  THE TOTAL COST
WAS ABOUT 30.  MY FINAL VERSION INCLUDES PROVISIONS FOR ATTACHING THE
QRPGUYS PADDLE KIT, SHOWN IN FIGURE 1.  I USED EPOXY PUTTY TO ATTACH A PAIR
OF 6 32 STANDOFFS DIRECTLY TO THE PCB, PLACED BY USING THE PADDLE ITSELF
FOR THE PROPER LOCATIONS.  I ALSO USE THE UMATIC2 KEYER WITH VIBROPLEX

=  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  =  QST DE W1AW  <
