Download
Share
Print this page
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Circuitmess Manuals
  4. DJ Equipment
  5. Jay-D
  6. Build manual

Circuitmess Jay-D Build Manual

Hide thumbs

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual
Jay-D Build Guide
Introduction
The beginning
Prefer video instructions? We got you covered! You can follow along with our Jay-
D video build guide at this link. 
Welcome to CircuitMess Jay-D build guide!
By following this build guide, you'll learn how to assemble your own mini DJ
mixtable. With Jay-D, you'll learn how microcomputers and other electronic
components are used for sound production. You'll also get a bit closer to becoming
a DJ superstar!
Check out the anatomy guide before you start to learn more
about the components you're about to assemble.
A great addition to this guide that leads you through all the steps of the build is the
anatomy guide that explains the components on the main board in more depth. 
You can check it out here!
Get ready to have some fun!<br>
Age group
Jay-D is designed for everyone that's at least 11 years old - like it says on the box.
Some of the assembly steps should be approached carefully, so make sure to have
an adult jump in if you need some help with soldering or tightening the bolts later
in the process. It's okay to ask for help.
Don't worry though! We'll go through the assembly step by step and provide some
useful tips along the way. We'll give you a heads-up if there's something important
to keep in mind while assembling.
i

Advertisement

loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the Jay-D and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel

Summary of Contents for Circuitmess Jay-D

  • Page 1 Get ready to have some fun!<br> Age group Jay-D is designed for everyone that's at least 11 years old - like it says on the box. Some of the assembly steps should be approached carefully, so make sure to have an adult jump in if you need some help with soldering or tightening the bolts later in the process.

  • Page 2: Assembly Time

    So hold on tight, read all the instructions, and get ready to have fun! This is a great opportunity and your first step in your big engineering career. Learning with Jay-D As previously mentioned, Jay-D will teach you a few useful things in the following 4 hours or so.  Here's what you will learn:...
  • Page 3 Open your Jay-D box and check if you have all the components. Make sure to lay it all on a clean surface where you'll inspect if everything is there according to the photo and the list below. In case something is missing, please contact us at contact@circuitmess.com.

  • Page 4: Mandatory Tools

    If you have your CircuitMess Tools pack in front of you, you should be all set! In case you got the Jay-D kit without the Tools pack, this is a good time to borrow some of the tools or purchase them.

  • Page 5: Soldering Iron

    Soldering iron This is the most important tool in a maker’s arsenal. For Jay-D's assembly, any entry-level soldering iron will suffice. If you plan to dive into the world of DIY projects, you should consider getting a more expensive one with more features. There are also many soldering irons with interchangeable tips that can be particularly useful when working with much smaller components.

  • Page 6: Needle-Nose Pliers

    Soldering sponge This small piece doesn't seem like much until you soak it in some water. It then  turns into a super solder-cleaning sponge! Use it after soldering a couple of joints to remove the excess solder from the tip of your iron. Make sure that the sponge isn't dripping wet or bone dry - it should be damp.
  • Page 7 Needle-nose pliers Standard cross screwdriver You’ll need this cross (Phillips) screwdriver to assemble the casing together. A standard 2.0mm cross screwdriver should do the trick.
  • Page 8 Desoldering vacuum tool (solder sucker) This tool is useful when cleaning up soldering mistakes, but it isn’t necessary for assembly. If you plan on doing some hacking, modding, or hardware repairs in the future, having this is always a good idea. Standard cross screwdriver Desoldering vacuum tool&nbsp;...
  • Page 9 Additional useful tools Helping third hand with magnifier This could make your soldering experience a little more enjoyable, especially when doing some more complicated projects. Helping hand with a lot of additional tools Multimeter A multimeter can be used for many things: testing tricky connections, measuring battery voltage, testing resistors &...
  • Page 10 Solder wick Multimeter You can use solder wick along with the desoldering vacuum tool to clean up any soldering mistakes. Just put it on the wrongly soldered joint and press on it with a hot soldering iron, then it will soak up the excess solder like a sponge!  Useful for fixing solder joints when they cannot be easily reached with a solder sucker.
  • Page 11 Assembly Soldering introduction The first thing that you'll do as a part of the Jay-D assembly process is soldering! Have you ever done that before? If your answer is no, we suggest you look at the following few links where you'll find useful tutorials and blogs about soldering. It will only take you 10 minutes to get into the zone and understand how it's done.
  • Page 12 A little bit of heat + some solder = a connection! There are several rules of soldering that everybody, regardless of their skill level, should follow at all times. Never inhale the dust and the fumes that can be produced by the soldering iron! These can be hazardous, so please don't inhale them.
  • Page 13 Using the soldering iron The soldering iron is very easy to use but only when used properly. If you have purchased the CircuitMess tools pack with your Jay-D kit, you have gotten a white soldering iron with a temperature regulator.
  • Page 14 Step 1 Set up your soldering iron so it stands on the stand - as shown in the photo. After that, plug it into a power outlet.
  • Page 15 Step 2 Set the temperature to 350° by turning the regulator. There is a small black arrow next to the regulator wheel, so make sure that it points to the right temperature, like in the photo. Your soldering iron is now ready to use, but give it a minute or two, so it can heat up.

  • Page 16: Chapter One - Soldering The Components

    Chapter One - Soldering the components Now when you learned about soldering, it's time to put that into practice. Ready? Part One - Soldering the first component Let's start by soldering the headphone jack. Here are the parts necessary for this step: The circuit board The headphone jack.
  • Page 17 It's important that you solder this component in the right place. Make sure that you have the circuit board facing upwards, as shown in the photos. Once you find the place for the headphone jack pins in the corner of the board (where the black and white stripes are) adjust the component so it fits all the way in. ...
  • Page 18 Adjust the component in its place Once the pins are in, turn the board upside down while ensuring the headphone jack doesn't fall out. There are five soldering connections you'll have to make here.
  • Page 19 Turn the circuit board upside down and get ready to solder the first component Now it's time to solder the first pin! Firstly, carefully place the soldering iron on the first pin, so that it’s touching both the pin and the little plated area around the hole that the pin is going through. Leave it like that for about ten seconds so it heats up and then apply the tip of the solder to it.
  • Page 20 This is how your soldering connections should look When you solder every pin, turn the board again so you can see its front side. Check if the headphone jack sits tightly in its place.
  • Page 21 Nice! You soldered your first components on the board. Part Two - Soldering the pushbuttons In this step, you'll solder the two small pushbuttons to the board. Here are the components you will need:...
  • Page 22 The circuit board and two pushbuttons Now it's time to find their place on the board. Find two small black circles with four holes in places where the pins should go. These circles are located next to the LED board and the SD card socket.  Heads up - the pushbutton pins are shaped like a rectangle, so make sure to fit them accordingly.
  • Page 23 This is where you should solder your first pushbutton. Again, solder the pins from the back side of the board. Flip it and make sure the pushbutton doesn't fall out. Start by soldering the first pin and repeat the procedure for the rest of the pins.
  • Page 24 The first pushbutton is soldered to the board You're doing great! Now it's time to solder the second pushbutton just across the LED display. Insert all four pins and turn the board upside down so you can make the connections. ...
  • Page 25 The second pushbutton is soldered to the board Part Three - Soldering the sliders It's time to solder the sliding potentiometers. They are crucial components that will later be used for mixing, so your board will now start looking like a real mixtable. There are three sliders and each slider has three pins that need to be soldered to the board.
  • Page 26 This is where the sliders should go! Start with any of the three sliders. As previously mentioned, there are three pins on each slider. Fit the slider so that the two pins on one side go into the two holes on the PCB board and one pin goes into the single hole on the other side.
  • Page 27 Insert the slider After you've inserted the first slider, turn the board upside down and solder the three pins.
  • Page 28 Soldering the first pin...
  • Page 29 Soldering the two pins Put the second slider potentiometer on the board and solder it like the first one.  Repeat the process for the last slider as well.
  • Page 30 The second slider The third slider All the sliders are now soldered to the board - good job! Ready for the next step?
  • Page 31 Sliders soldered to the board from the front Sliders soldered to the board from the back...
  • Page 32 Part Four - Rotary encoders In this part, we'll show you how to solder the seven rotary encoders. Just like the sliding potentiometers, these rotary encoders will be one big step closer in finishing your mixtable. Here are the components that you'll need for this step. Got everything? Cool, let's start! Components you need: 7 rotary encoders + board Start with inserting the first encoder.
  • Page 33 Insert all the rotary encoders When it comes to soldering the encoders, please be careful because not all the pins need to be soldered to the board!
  • Page 34 You will need to solder the five small pins and leave the two big ones just like they are without soldering them to the board. In the photos below, you can see the process step by step and the final result. Solder the first pin of the rotary encoder...
  • Page 35 Solder the rest of the pins (except for the two big ones) Solder the five small pins and leave out the two big ones...
  • Page 36 Now repeat the soldering step six more times until all the encoders are soldered to the board. Your soldering joints on all the rotary encoders should look like this Part five - Soldering the screen Soldering the screen is the last step in this chapter. This is a pretty big one, so you should treat it with care. ...
  • Page 37 Components you'll need for this step Insert the pins into the board with the screen.  Be careful in how you insert the pins since the upper and the bottom part of the pins are different. The pins on the side that you should insert into the PCB are shorter than the pins on the opposite side.
  • Page 38 Insert the pin header It's soldering time! Now, bear with us, this is important.  Pins should be soldered perpendicular to the board with the screen. There is a useful tip that you can use at this point: 1) Solder just the first pin of one row of headers...
  • Page 39 Solder only the first pin 2) When the first pin is soldered, check if the pin header is perpendicular to the board 3) If the header is slightly skewed and needs adjusting, melt the solder and tilt the headers with your fingers. (Watch out not to burn yourself.) Adjust the pin header by melting the solder on the first pin 4) Check if the headers are aligned correctly, if not then repeat the process...
  • Page 40 Repeat the step if necessary until the pin header is perpendicular to the board The first pin is soldered and should look like this...
  • Page 41 When you're confident that the pin header is perpendicular, continue to solder all the remaining pins, just like in the photo. All the pins are soldered! You successfully soldered the pin header that will connect the screen with the main board.
  • Page 42 All the components you need Start by inserting the big metal bolts into one of the holes in the corner of the display board.
  • Page 43 Take one golden spacer and place it on the opposite side of the board screwing the bolt at the same time so that the spacer sits tightly. You can do that with your hand but don't be afraid to ask for help from an adult to make sure the bolt is tightened correctly! Tighten the bolt...
  • Page 44 Repeat the same step on each of the corners of the screen. Take one big metal bolt and one golden spacer per corner and make sure that they are tight enough. You can now place the screen on the board. Make sure to adjust the screen like in the photo so that the pins go on the left side where the headphone jack is. ...
  • Page 45 If you wondered how are we going to tighten the screen to the board - well, it's time to give you an answer. Turn the main board upside down while holding the screen, so it doesn't fall out. Take one metal nut and place it at the bottom of the bolt. Tighten it with your fingers, so it holds the screen in place.
  • Page 46 Tighten the nut so it holds the screen in place Repeat that step until all nuts are tightened...
  • Page 47 For extra protection, tighten the bolts by screwing them with your screwdriver. It would be best if you screwed the bolt on one side of the board while holding the nut on the other side. Tighten the bolts with the screwdriver Alright, everyone, this is the last time you're going to use your soldering iron in this project! It's time to solder the screen to the board.
  • Page 48 Time to use the soldering iron one more time! Solder the pins that connect the screen...

  • Page 49: Chapter Two - First Check

    Remember We hope you had a great time soldering the components. Sadly, you'll have to turn off your soldering iron now, but there are fun steps ahead, and we're not  quite done yet! Please turn off your soldering iron by unplugging it from the power outlet.

  • Page 50: Step #5 - Is It Working

    Step #6 - Input Test The first thing that pops up when you turn on your Jay-D is the input test. In this step, you'll test if all the components are properly soldered by clicking, sliding, and rotating all the buttons, encoders, and sliders.
  • Page 51 After fixing the soldering joints, repeat the first check process to see if the screen lights up. In case this doesn't help, reach out to us via contact@circuitmess.com, and we'll do our best to help out! Make sure to attach a few photos of your soldering joints on the boards so we can troubleshoot as soon as possible.
  • Page 52 Plug in the power adapter The screen lights up! Check out Jay-D's Usage Guide! Now that you assembled your Jay-D, click on the link below and you'll find a step- by-step guide on how to remix songs and much more. Jay-D Usage Guide...