The Front Panel Board was my first attempt with KiCad. Low cost PCB manufacturers in Asia make it economically feasible to build a small board such as this to simplify the front panel wiring. Five of these boards, including international priority shipping, were less than US$20.
The Front Panel Board contains the three front panel rotary encoders with switches, along with pull up resistors and RC filtering. The On Air LED is also mounted on the Front Panel Board. A link to the schematic is provided below.
All three rotary encoders are 12 pulses per revolution.
The AF/RF Gain rotary encoder is on the left in the photo below and controls all variable gain functions in the transceiver, including, AF gain, RF Attenuator and RF Preamplifier, IF Gain, and Line Out level. This rotary encoder has detent and push switch function.
The Function rotary encoder is in the middle in the photo below and provides access to all other functions, including, band selection, AGC, mode, tuning rate, functional presets, and calibration. This rotary encoder has detent and push switch function.
The Tuning rotary encoder is on the right in the photo below. This rotary encoder does not have detent for smooth tuning action, but does have push switch function.
A 12 position right angled pin header provides a single point of connection to the Backplane Board as shown in the pictures below.
The Front Panel Board mounts to the transceiver front panel below the LCDs using the shafts of the three rotary encoders. The LED was soldered in place after the Front Panel Board was mounted to ensure proper spacing with respect to the front panel.
© 2014 – 2021 Rod Gatehouse AD5GH
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