62 down, 38 to go for another 100 Decoder Buddys.

Definitely a What’s on my workbench, but a story too.

Starting with a new supplier for the Decoder Buddys has been very rewarding but has presented some challenges too.  The motherboards have come through much neater than my design.  You can get to the resistors more easily  if necessary.  I have also been able to get a Decoder Buddy with 0 ohm resistors for those people who have need a straight 12 to 14 volt outputs from their decoder.  This will help those who have inline resistors running to their LEDs already as well as 12 to 14 volt lamps.  We will have Decoder Buddys with 750 ohm resistors for locomotives with 1.5 volt lamps or bulbs in the near future.  All in all a great experience working with an excellent US supplier!

One tough part happened when we got the small connector boards made.  The holes on the board were smaller than the originals and the green solder resistant coating made the holes even smaller.  The headers were soldered onto the boards and shipped to me.  I sent a large number of the boards out and then, when working with one of the assembly’s, I discovered that the connector board was too tight to work well.  I recalled all the new ones I sent out and have started to fix the problem.  First they all had to be unpackaged then the connector board had to be separated from the motherboard.  This was a major ouch for my fingers and fingernails!  Then the holes had to be enlarged.  The old Black and Decker drill with the Micro Mark pin vise holds a 0.026” #71 drill.  There are 9 holes in each connector board X 500 connector boards.  You do the math, my fingers hurt.  The white piece on the drill is a drill stop so I don’t have to worry about damaging the header.  The new batch of connector printed circuit boards will be right.  I’m glad my new supplier knows the ropes.  I would probably have ordered a couple thousand.

The philosophy part for me was that I believe that a responsible company should stand for their product.  If things are not right, fix the problem before it causes further problems.  That’s not to say I didn’t feel the devil on my other shoulder.......

The new “correct” batch of Decoder Buddys will be at the National Train Show in Salt Lake City, UT in the Yankee Dabbler booth.  I wish I could be there too!

Nick