From the beginning, the MC HCK was conceived to be not only cheap to produce and sell, but it was also conceived to be buildable at home, at a low cost. In this post, we’ll show how to build a MC HCK at home.
Getting the Parts
All required and optional parts are listed in the BOM. Let’s quickly go over how to get the required ones.
PCB
The MC HCK boards can easily be ordered from the usual suspects in China. Just download the fabrication gerbers and attach them to your order; usually you will have to create a zip file. Now wait 10 days or so until your PCBs arrive. Cost: $10 + shipping for 10 boards
MCU
You can sample a compatible MCU directly from Free scale. Cost: $5 for 5 MCUs.
Passives
These are common parts, and many people will already have them in some way or another. The SMT parts are 0603 size, but the pads are large enough to take 0805 parts as well. In case you’re still missing one or the other part, below is a list of possible eBay sources:
- 100nf decoupling caps Cost: $1.85 for 100
- 2.2μf regulator caps Cost: $1.89 for 20
- 33Ω resistors Cost: $2 for 100
- 1kΩ resistors Cost: $0.99 for 50
- LEDs Cost: $0.99 for 15
- buttons Cost: $6+$1 for 50
Assembly
Check out this soldering stop motion sequence taken while hand soldering a MC HCK:
Read More: Self Built MC HCK for $5