Necessary supplies
Each board can serve as digital input, digital output, analog input, or analog output, but it can only perform one of those functions at any given time. You choose its function by plugging it in to one of the four HDMI connectors on the acquisition board. If you want to use all four functions at once, you'll need to build four boards.
For each I/O board you build, you'll need:
Depending on what you're planning on connecting, you can also use screw terminals instead of (or in combination with) the BNC connectors. There are holes for 14 screw terminals, so you can solder on one each of 277-1279-ND and 277-1277-ND.
The following general lab supplies are necessary for assembly:
If you didn't receive a printed circuit board from Open Ephys (or need more than one), you'll need to order it yourself. Fortunately, this is a very straightforward process.
We recommend using Sunstone's ValueProto service, but if you have success with another company, please document it here.
With Sunstone, the cost should be about $80 for one board, or about $240 for four boards.
Solder the 8 BNC connectors into place on the I/O board. There are also holes for screw terminals (for example, Digikey 277-1279-ND) if you'd prefer that method of connection.
Solder the HDMI connector. This one's kind of tricky, so we recommend using the smallest soldering iron tip possible. If you accidentally solder two adjacent pins together, use flux to separate them. Remember to solder the through-hole connectors on the opposite side as well.
The soldering of the HDMI connectors is very similar to the method for hand-soldering omnetics connectors:
Alternatively, you can apply solder paste using a stencil, or even just by hand, and then use the heat gun to melt the solder onto the legs as described in the build guide for the acquisition board.
As a final step, place a drop of epoxy on the top of the HDMI connector, right where the plastic meets the metal. On some HDMI connectors, the plastic body has some wiggle room inside the metal shell. Because the metal shell is the structural component that is soldered to the PCB and the surface mount feet are embedded in the plastic, this can easily lead to broken connections. Epoxying the plastic to the metal shell in this way solves this issue. Don't use super glue or any runny glue that might get into the connector for this step.