these are so much better than the matty PKE, is there a way off adding this to a matty PKE?
I haven’t tried, so I can’t say. Also, it would be cheaper to hawk the matty on ebay, for $200, buy a Guntahkela shell, and use the remaining cash to pay for the PKE circuit than it would be to buy the kit and then try to mod the matty.
Nice to see these are coming along… Can’t wait to see the finished meter…
Just an update to let folks know that the servos for this final batch of PKEs should be arriving in the next few days, and I’ve just placed another $200 order for the last big batch of parts I need to finish the current PKE orders up. There’s a few more connectors and some knobs I need to order after this from another couple sites, but that should be it for the parts.
Also, at this time I’m not going to be taking any new orders for PKEs. I’ll be busy with the Mighty Microcontroller for the next few months.
Hey guys,
Was gonna post a PKE update today, but that’s going to be delayed till Wednesday. I had another obligation I needed to take care of this weekend and it took longer than expected.
Due to high temperatures the update will be delayed till Monday. I opened my window yesterday morning to finish soldering the PKEs together and was hit by a blast of hot air like from an oven. I can’t solder with the windows closed, and I can’t open them in temperatures nearing 100 degrees, so I’ll have to work on them a bit in the evening and over the weekend when it’s supposed to cool down again.
Anyway, by the next update I should have the remainder of the assembly of the boards complete, and I should be able to ship out those PKE kits which don’t have shells that need work.
Update!
Assembly of the PKE boards is now 98% complete. All wings are assembled, all screens are assembled, and all components on the boards, save for the microcontrollers, battery connectors, and speakers, have been soldered in place.
What remains to be done besides the above is assembling the remaining wing and screen connector cables, programming the microcontrollers, soldering the connectors to the switches and pot, and assembling any remaining LED connectors.
Sounds good! Looking forward to it! Thanks for all the hard work!
CK
Hey guys,
A combination of an unanticipated trip the the dentist, the fourth of july holiday, some stuff I had to take care of with the Mighty Microcontrller, and a problem uploading code to the PKE chips conspired against me this week, but I figured out the problem with uploading the code (I was following the same tutorial I used to do it last time, but it turns out one wire in one of the photos is attached to the wrong pin and for some reason this either didn’t affect my results last time I did it, or I forgot I had the same problem and solved it previously. Also I bought the chips from Digikey instead of sparkfun and apparently they were configured by default to run at 1mhz) so I’ll be working on getting these boards finished up this weekend.
Finished programming all the chips last night. Next step will be soldering them in place.
The last of the chips has been soldered in place.
Things left to do to finish up the kits before assembling full PKEs:
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Attach batteries and speakers
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Attach screen connectors
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Assemble remaining LED connectors
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Assemble remaining wing connectors
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Cut leads on LEDs and insert into connectors
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Strip silver wires for touch switches
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Solder switches and knob to connectors
I think that about covers it. Not too much left!
Without wanting to rush you, any update? 
Looking forward to the kit!
Regards,
CK
There was a bit of a delay because I was trying to get that huge Mighty Microcontroller update done so I can put the prototype into production soon, but that’s finished and I’m back at work on the PKEs. Last night I assembled the last of the screen and wing connectors, and stuck the rectangular LEDs in their sockets. I’ll be working tonight, tomorrow, and probably Monday as well on soldering the switches and potentiometers to their connectors. I’m working nights now so I can open my windows when soldering and the heat won’t be an issue. I’ll post an update Monday to let you know how far that stuff progressed. It’s not much soldering so I think I’ll have that done by Monday. I’ve still got to solder the screen connectors, speakers, and battery connectors in place though.
TLDR; the list from my previous update is now down to:
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Attach batteries and speakers
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Attach screen connectors
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Strip silver wires for touch switches
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Solder switches and knob to connectors
I should also add:
- Reinforce battery, screen, and speaker wires with glue or epoxy. Being wires soldered directly into the board they will weaken and break off if flexed too many times if I don’t reinforce them. I used hot glue to do this last time, which they do in a lot of consumer electronics, but that’s a bit messy on a board this small, and it’s hard to keep from burning the wires with the glue gun tip.
Thanks for the extra update and the tip! Do make sure you get your sleep, though! 
I finished assembling all the connectors for the knob, power switch, and mode switch last night, and will start soldering the knobs and switches to them this evening. I’m three wires, a few LEDs, and a few knobs short but I’ll be ordering those soon enough. Those won’t delay anything though. I was sure I ordered enough knobs and some spare LEDs, but if they’re in a box here somewhere I have yet to find them.
I knocked one more item off the list of things left to do this week:
The knobs and switches have all been soldered to their connectors.
I also took some pics of all the recent progress:
Looking great. Thanks for the update and pics!
I’ll have another update on these for you soon. I will be ready to place the order for the prototype of the Mighty this weekend and then I can spend a day or two finishing up the electronics on these. Working as fast as I can.
Thanks for the update… Looking forward comparing it with the Matty version…