Teensy 4.0 Breakout Kit

[ETMoody3]

I'm no expert, but after some trial I set the temp to 20 degrees c above the solder paste temp and leave the flow low. Remains to be seen if I'll damage the gun that way, the temp is at the low end of the gun's range so...I'm guessing it should last. If not, oh well... another fee paid towards learning. $40 gun off of Amazon.

I've done some test work with the pre heater and without, with good results either way...I reckon the potential warping of a circuit board goes hand in hand with the size.

[mjs513]

I'm no expert, but after some trial I set the temp to 20 degrees c above the solder paste temp and leave the flow low. Remains to be seen if I'll damage the gun that way, the temp is at the low end of the gun's range so...I'm guessing it should last. If not, oh well... another fee paid towards learning. $40 gun off of Amazon.

I've done some test work with the pre heater and without, with good results either way...I reckon the potential warping of a circuit board goes hand in hand with the size.

I picked up one of these years ago and used it maybe twice: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Maybe its time to pull it out again and figure out how to use it.

[DerekR]

A bit off topic but if you are want to improve your soldering skills, here's a video showing the SMD assembly of a new Russian SDR (software defined radio) kit. It's not a tutorial, but it shows all the SMD soldering techniques in action (including the drag method and hot-air reflow on some very large ICs). It's interesting to see how the surface tension actually drags the chips and aligns the chips. The guy is super fast! Unfortunately the commentary is in Russian. Later in the video it shows the completed SDR in action which (to me) is also impressive.

[ETMoody3]

I decided I wanted to try a breakout on a project so I went ahead and did this much assembly...no CAN bus parts, no pull ups. I used solder paste and a heat gun. Small bits of copper tape were used to hold down the flex cable. As soon as I finish the through hole soldering I'll report on testing. I did check for shorts and continuity. So far so good.

[ETMoody3]

Yup, everything works. USB Host worked with every device tested.

[defragster]

Yup, everything works. USB Host worked with every device tested.

Good job, I think I posted I built one of the second betas to work. Just used a hand iron and solder wire this time.

I noticed the 1220 cell on my first Beta board was dead. Since I put headers on wrong/bottom side - pinning it in - I desoldered it - and used the spare NEW style holder (thanks Dan) - snipped off bottom centering pins - soldered one vBat end with Kapton tape under the other end and then jumpered that end to nearby GND pin and it is back in service. Not sure if the unpowered T_4 used up that much power - or if the cell started weak?

[jonfarrugia]

Is there a reason why you use a flex cable over 1mm pitch right angle headers for the pads on the underside of the teensy?
It seems like a lot more work and cost to using this flex cable.

[JayMonkey]

Hi Guys,

Is this T4 breakout available to buy as a kit yet ?

If so can someone please post a link ?

Cheers
Jay

[Miloš]

Hi guys,

Any news on this breakout board?

Miloš

[loglow]

Any news on this breakout board?

Yes, the first run of boards are being assembled now.

The production time has been delayed because of the virus outbreak in China.

The current estimate is that they'll be ready in about 30 days.

[Miloš]

Nice, thanks for the info. Does that mean that we will be able to order the kit via your website on Tindie? Will you offer kits with Teensy 4.0 included?

Miloš

[loglow]

Does that mean that we will be able to order the kit via your website on Tindie? Will you offer kits with Teensy 4.0 included?

Yes, and yes!

[loglow]

At long last: https://www.tindie.com/products/19936/

Don't forget to use the code PJRCFORUM25 to save 25 percent!

Please accept my apologies for all the delays. First, the pandemic delayed SMD assembly in China significantly. Then it rendered my workshop and storage space here in the United States inaccessible. We're still under lockdown here in Massachusetts.

Thank you so much to everyone who assisted with feedback, suggestions, debugging, and beta testing.

Assembly instructions are still in progress, but will be available at https://talldog.dozuki.com when they're finished.

In the meantime, you can check out the datasheet.

Sincerely,
Dan

[Miloš]

Ordered this morning

[defragster]

Very cool you got it all together @loglow/Dan/TallDog ! Bummer on the long delay to get there.

The Beta I assembled has been one of my active T4's here during testing since you sent it out months back. USB Host and SD card all usable. Will be nice for assembly having the SMD parts pre-soldered on he PCB!

[loglow]

Ordered this morning

Thanks!

[loglow]

Very cool you got it all together @loglow/Dan/TallDog ! Bummer on the long delay to get there.

Yeah, but delays seem to be the normal these days...

The Beta I assembled has been one of my active T4's here during testing since you sent it out months back. USB Host and SD card all usable. Will be nice for assembly having the SMD parts pre-soldered on he PCB!

That's great! I so much appreciate your testing. SMD soldering is definitely not for everyone, so I'm very happy to have gone the pre-assembled route.

[Miloš]

I got my boards safely yesterday. Starting a new project next week. Thank you so much loglow. Hey, do you plan on releasing the Eagle file for this board?

[groswald]

Hi All,

I've got a production board, and I'm trying to get it to talk to the CAN bus in my Jeep. I've tried several of the demo programs, but all have failed.

In checking my installation of the CAN transceiver I found that RX and TX appear to come out on Teensy 4.0 pins 30 and 31 (CRX3 & CTX3), which are default for CAN3 in the FlexCAN_4 library.

Can anyone confirm that this is correct? Of course I haven't pulled those pins through yet (bricked my 1st teensy trying to solder the right-angle pins to them) and I'll have to get some pogo pins ordered.

Regards,

Randy

[enginerd27]

I can't tell if this thread is considered dead (it is certainly stale), but it seems like the best place for my post. I ordered this kit before I discovered this section of the forum - probably good for loglow because somewhere around page 13 it sounded overwhelming!

I started to put together my own start-to-finish assembly guide before starting soldering in order to make sure that I had a good flow for everything. The beginning of this is at https://github.com/Enginerd27/Teensy4.0_TDBreakout/wiki. This is just a draft, and not complete.

I've got to step away from this for the week and go do my day job. If my assembly guide is redundant with something already out there, I'd appreciate a heads up!

[defragster]

Cool - they are still for sale ... tindie.com/products/loglow/teensy-40-breakout-revision-a/

they got to Beta nicely and worked - TallDog notes 30-60 minutes for assembly - the kits now have the SMD pre-soldered - which is cool.

It came with some printed notes - but PJRC was quick to get the T_4.1 ready and delivered - which diminished the value/need for this so seems the linked instructions are still incomplete.

Assuming printed notes came with a kit - that is likely the only thing out there for assembly.

[Mrchadwickusa]

I'm kind of embarrassed to say I bought the kit back in May of 2020, and I'm only now getting around to assembling it. I would love to buy the socket set with the low profile bits, but it doesn't seem to be available?

[defragster]

I'm kind of embarrassed to say I bought the kit back in May of 2020, and I'm only now getting around to assembling it. I would love to buy the socket set with the low profile bits, but it doesn't seem to be available?

Seems these work with care: protosupplies.com/?s=low+profile

They are nice low profile PINS and Headers that are in 14, 24 pin lengths or 40 pin and Breakable to length.

Problem might be the bottom side pin length if that connector is soldered.

I've assembled 3 - and seems I used those on the last one.

[DerekR]

I get them from Adafruit...

[MichaelMeissner]

I get them from Adafruit...

I assume you know about them, but in case you don't, Adafruit's ItsyBitsy processor has the same form factor as the Teensy LC/3.2/4.0 (other than the pins inside of the Teensy):

• Short female header: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4174
• Short male header: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4173
• Tall stacking header: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3883