K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part II

This here is the beautifully crafted PCB that you can get from K5BCQ. For the five dollars that it costs for this board, you get a pretty darn good deal in my opinion. 

Here is another prize-winning pic of the top of the K5BCQ Board.

Here is another awesome pic of the bottom side of the board. 

The first step of building the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer on the K5BCQ board is to install the header that holds the Arduino. The regular K3NG Arduino CW Keyer build calls for the Arduino Mega 2560. Because one of the ideas for the K5BCQ board is to reduce the size of the keyer. So instead of using the Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini. I'm also building a homebrew breadboard version of the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer where I am using the Arduino Mega 2560. Here is a quick pic of the regular Arduino Mega 2560 on my breadboard compared to the much smaller Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini.

The Pro Mini is the first component that I add to the K5BCQ Board since it is the most important part of the project. 

Step one was to get some 2.54 mm male and cut them down to fit the pin layout on the Pro Mini and put them in the holes on the Pro Mini

Then I cut down some 2.54mm Female Headers and cut them down to the same size as the male headers. I then put the female headers on the male headers that I have already soldered on the Pro Mini. Putting the female headers on the male headers that are one the Pro Mini and then fitting them to the holes on the K5BCQ ensure that all of these headers are in proper alignment. 

Be sure that you put the Pro Mini on the BOTTOM of the K5BCQ board. 

Then solder the headers to the K5BCQ board. 

So that will complete the first step of our grand project. To follow along and be notified when the following steps are uploaded to this blog, then please subscribe. Feel free to leave any comments in the comments section below and as always you can contact me at Aaron@K5ATG.com