Build a Bonus Track

This is a great beginer activity! If you have ever wanted to learn to solder, now's your chance! There are volunteers to help!

In addition to the onboard track, the badge has a capability to have bonus tracks! (or entirely custom ones if you are so inclined). The bonus track activity will have you build an additional track that can be used on your badge. To complete this activity you will be soldering headers, tracing traces, adding jumper wires, and installing some standoffs.

Head to the Badge Village area to collect materials. Note: Limit 1 track per attendee. Chose wisely! Materials are not "to-go" until the end of the con, we want to give priorty to folks who want to sit and complete it at the con.

Before we start, turn off your badge and remove the batteries to be safe!

Let's begin!

Install Standoffs

Each bonus track has 3 standoffs to support the track. There are additional holes in the bonus tracks to let the LEDs shine through, so be sure to insert the standoffs in the right holes! Simply insert the standoff from the bottom of the bonus track, and thread the nut on the top side. Finger tight is plenty!

Install Headers

Next we install the male and female headers. If they are not pre-cut, we need to cut them to only have 5 pins. The male header (one with prongs on both sides seen below) can be cut to 5 pins without sacrifices any pins. Cut between the 5th and 6th pins from the end.

Unfortunately, we have to sacrifice a pin to cut the female header. So cut right on top of the 6th pin as seen in the photo below.

Once its cut, you can clean up what remains of the 6th pin. But do be careful to not snip too close to the pins you need. If you do, it could ruin it. Its better to leave excess! See how the clean up is done below.

Now put the male and female headers together!

Now insert the assemble into the pin holes on both the bonus track PCB and badge PCB. I have the male side on the badge PCB, but either way works!

We are now ready to solder! Check out the infographic below for a crash course or a nice review. If you want help, grab a volunteer who will be happy to help!

With the standoffs installed, the assembly should be stable and you can solder it right on the table. Start with the top of the bonus track. Work you way down, pin by pin till done!

Flip the assembly and do the backside!

Booya! You are now done soldering the headers! Nice job! Take a peak at the labels on the badge silkscreen, they will be important later!

Jump the Detect Pad

First remove the bonus track from the badge if you still have it attached. There is a pad on the back of the bonus track that needs to be "jumped". This just means adding a solder glob to bridge the two pads together! Simply hold your iron across the two pads and feed solder into it. Pull the iron away and the pads should be jumped together. If you are having troubles, try lowering the temp of the iron, this makes it easy to bridge the pads.

Trace and Add Jumper Wires

Last step! Time for tracing and jumper wires. Take a look at the back of the bonus track, there are some pads along the top. You need to follow their traces on the PCB, through the header, and to the badge PCB where they are labeled. Once you figure out what goes where, you can solder jumper wires!

wow, much puzzle!

Once you figure out where a jumper wire needs to be, we first strip the wire. Take the wire strippers, open them, place the wire in the 22 AWG hole, close them, and pull away! This will strip shielding off and expose bare wire!

Twist the wire end to keep it from freying. Now add solder to the pad you wish to solder to; a nice puddle will do! With the puddle molten, push the wire in, then remove the iron and let the solder set. You have soldered a jumper wire end!

Now repeat for the 3 connections you need to complete: starts, track, and finish/end. You can keep things tidy by triming the wire to length!

You didn't think I was going to show you the back of a completed track so you can see how it gets connected, did you?! Trace those traces and get things connected! :)

Race!

If all went well, you can power on your badge and insert the completed bonus track. The badge should detect the track and display "bonus track".

You can start a race by holding the start pad like you normally would! You can also use the config menu to change the difficulty like you would for the normal badge track. Race on!