How's it going? (2012-03-05)


EvilDragon

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Well, I'd say production is going pretty well.


GC are doing their very best to support us and get the Pandora running :)


So far, out of 300 units produced, only a couple ones didn't bootup. The remaining ones are safe and sound :)


We're not yet at full speed, though, but that will happen sooner or later.


We are having a small issue with the bare PCBs:


The solder mask layer isn't accurate enough to work the OMAP on all PCBs.


That means, that all PCBs are currently being checked manually if they can be populated.


This needs some time, but it's way better than simply populating all PCBs and have a high failure rate (we had such a company already...).


It this something to worry about?


Not really. It's pretty normal.


Both me and GC talked to other companies working with the OMAP and checked the internet:


Doing a production run with the OMAP is not very easy.


Basically, there are two ways to do it: NSMD (Non-Solder-Mask-Defined) and SMD (Solder-Mask-Defined).


The first method could lead to shortcircuits on the OMAP whereas the second method can lead to what we are currently experiencing: pads wiithout solder paste on them.


It's impossible to tell upfront which method works out properly for you - it depends on the PCB Manufacturer, the machine used for population and even the solder paste being used.


Therefore, this needs to be tested.


As GC knows we want to deliver and can't do a lot of tests, they're doing these tests while keeping the production going.


As mentioned, they are currently checking each PCB if it can be used and will populate it.


They also already ordered single PCBs (the current ones came in panels of four), about 100 done with SMD and 100 done with NSMD.


This will help to determine which ones work better and will also be assembled into full Pandoras :)


Once this optimization has been done, the machine could spit out 250 Pandora per day... though right now I'm happy that 300 have been finished and more to follow soon.


While it's not as fast as some of you hoped for, it's still faster than CC ever was - and without any failures.


So I'm happy here :)


About the Upgrade process:


I've setup the website for that already, but am too tired to post further infos and a link right now (it's 4:11 am here).


So I'll do that tomorrow and then you have the chance to get your unit faster (only classic preorders, of course) :) )


Stay tuned :)
 
I also appreciate such updates, though this one seems to be sent from the future: "2012-09-05" :)
Interestingly, numeric keys go from 1 at the top to 9 at the bottom on phones, while on keyboards they go from the bottom to the top (assuming one doesn't count backwards). As a result, 3 on the one is 9 on the other, and vive versa.
 
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delorean.gif
 
Nice to hear that the Pandora's are rolling off the assembly line.


What is the pin pitch on the OMAP?
 
Great to hear things are rolling. Good that things are worked out solid. Better quality than speed. And frankly It is not slow at all. Even with 50-100 per day that would mean that a new order can have a pandora in 4-8 weeks or se.


Good job, and thanks a lot for finding time for the update even in such a high pressure time!
 
The date in the topic-title is misleading.


I thought this was a post from the future <_<
 
2months is a too short delay, they take some advance...
 
Great to hear things are rolling. Good that things are worked out solid. Better quality than speed. And frankly It is not slow at all. Even with 50-100 per day that would mean that a new order can have a pandora in 4-8 weeks or se.


Good job, and thanks a lot for finding time for the update even in such a high pressure time!

So that is all there is? Only 400 new preorders? As I'm one of then I am guessing that i'll get my Pandora soon :D
 
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You know it's a typo seeing as the three button is right next to the nine button.

It's not on my keyboard.  Is that a common european layout?  I'd been wondering why in firefox the key combos to switch tabs are ctrl-3 and ctrl-9.
 
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