1st, we learned that debugging electronics is best done with a cool head and plenty of time.
2nd, use quality electronic parts to begin with. It can save you lots of time. An example of this is the two types of IC sockets available on market. One on right has square holes with embedded spring loaded wipers. These are bad because these wipers may not touch the IC pins. The one on left have round holes with machined metal plating covering inner hole wall and outside top wall. This socket’s metal plating is more likely to conduct IC pins by design.
3rd, if you are working against time, initially spend time planning out the construction and testing steps. If you have a deadline which you need to put out a product by, you should plan it so that all you have to do is go through your outlined plan step by step. If you plan calls for experimentation, then you are on the wrong track. For assured success, you should go with a tried-and-true method. Sure, you may learn more by experimenting, but if your goal is to put out a product by a deadline then experimentation can hold you up.
And lastly, “Test as you build, build as you test.” You should build one step and test, as opposed to building through multiple steps. If you build one step and test, then if the test fails, all you would do is go back a step and re-do that step until you get it right. If you build multiple steps at once and then test, you will have to go through a more time consuming process-of -elimination (needle in haystack) to find out what your problem is.
