
	By far the most common fault is a solder short. Almost all
of the problems so far reported, then fixed, have been due to some
solder short on the board. In one case solder had flowed up under
the '020 socket and shorted a couple of address lines, simply too much 
solder was used.  It took the poor fellow a week of sleepless nights to 
find it, and was a pig to repair. You will save yourself alot of grief 
if you do the soldering slowly, sparcely, and with care, with a good iron. 

	The other common fault is in making the connector which mates the 
68000 socket on the AMIGA to the LUCAS board. If you can't find a commercial
version of this part they are quite easily made. The instructions I give
for building one are quite simple but it reqires care to build this 
accurately. If you make a little jig for cutting the wires which go 
between the two 64 Pin sockets which make up the connector. It is important
that they be all the same length. I now have four cases reported  where it 
took two attempts to build this little connector to get it right. In all cases
it was simply that it was rushed the first time. So take your time, better
to take two nights building it that 7 nights debugging it. 

	I have had one report of a via (a feedthrough hole to pass a trace
on the top of the board to a trace on the bottom) which was open. These
things happen, but rarely. If you suspect this you can check continuity with
an ohmmeter. or fill all the vias with solder. 

	Oddly enough, no one has had any bad '020's, 881's or PALS (Pals
are verified correct when I burn them). Someone did have a flakey 74F04,
and another had a bad clock oscillator. 
	
	That's about it, for reported problems so far. There is one 
philosophy that I'd like to pass along though. A teacher of mine once said
"If you hear hoofbeats, don't think Zebras". Always check the obvious first.
If you have problems check for shorts first and formost. Next check that the
connector firmly mates with the 68000 socket. If you still have problems a
logic probe can assist in pointing the way to the problem. Keep resetting
the AMIGA (Control-Amiga-AMIGA) as if there is a problem the processor may 
quickly go to a state which doesn't tell you much. (ie. the HALT pin is low)
etc. Until you hace the power light flashing which means that the 
processor is running cycles don't worry about the type of chi[p you use for
U9. Virtually any 74XX74 will atleast run the initial cycles which flash
the power LED.

	Everytime I discuss the type of problems you can run into when you
build your own boards I think to myself, "I'm going to scare those poor guys
half to death". I then promptly try to say something comforting and uplifting
and it usually comes off sounding like some gothic father figure, coping with
a beloved, but errant son. Also there is the "You're not having a problem...,
you're having a chance for personal growth."

	Both these attempts at consolation stink, it bugs the hell out of 
me when some managerial type uses them on me. Basically, if your having 
problems, your having problems,  and your just going to have to find it and 
fix it, or find a friendly hardware type and buy him a beer.

				Brad Fowles
 
