SynthModules

A PSIM-1 (rev1.0a) board is sitting on my desk winking it's little green eye at me. First impressions are important and the PSIM makes a solidly good impression. First off,  by way of introduction I want to point out that I did not receive a free PSIM for evaluation I am paying for my unit and I do not work for, or receive compensation from Synthmodules.com. The only perk I get is the privilege of an early  sneak-peek at the product from the designer. Also  I must specify that I am only evaluating the PCB , not the panel or hardware.
       The physical appearance of the PCB is very neat and well laid out. Good quality components were installed throughout, most notably 1% tolerance metal-film resistors. There is a combination of socketed PDIP and surface-mount chips. The assembly soldering is very neat. This is particularly impressive around the surface mount components. The Board is a high quality through-hole type and it is free of rosin and other assembly residues.  The vias are efficiently laid out without excessive crowding and power buss vias are larger than the data and signal vias.The LED subassembly is attached to the main PCB with a high-quality ribbon connector. Even though the DB9 serial connector (to the PC) is attached directly to the PCB , a  panel-type DB9 socket was employed  that transfers the insertion force to the panel rather than the PCB. 
        Overall, the material and workmanship give an impression of good quality and attention to detail.
          The power buss is directly compatible with the Wiard 1200 , Blacet 'PSCONN' connectors and two beefy diodes are installed for reverse current protection.
         The PSIM booted properly as soon as I applied power and after a couple of hours, it is still blinking contentedly at me as I type. None of the components felt unduly hot and my power supply is not even warm. I will report on actual exact current consumption in later posts.
          I will post a diary of my impressions as I wade into the the process of developing programs for the PSIM.
         As I said first, impressions are important and the PSIM board acquits itself very nicely right out of the box.