Just jumping in here.

I bought just one set up...built it...soldering was fine...everything should work. No 5V at my house (son of a...). Went to RadioShack and the only 5V they had was some $23 Enercell monster. Plug in...nothing works. No spark, no heating, no nothing. I just ordered the adapter you sell on the site, and I patiently wait.

I'll jump back on here after I receive the adapter to let you guys know how it went.

Hi Jimmy,
I split this into a new forum thread because it wasn't actually related to the topic you originally attached it to.

Do you happen to have a multimeter that you can use to test with?

If not, are you *sure* that the "monster" has the right plug shape and polarity? (2.5 x 5.5 mm, center positive)

I don't have a multimeter. I also don't have any significant knowledge of electrical engineering on any level...fyi.

The plug has the option to switch up the polarity (yeah, they make that...crazy). The plug actually sticks out a tad, so I think it's too long.

At any rate, you guys just shipped out my adapter today, so I'll have it here soon to test.

So I received the new power adapter...and no luck.

I think maybe I burned one of the circuit tracks with the solder iron...although it doesn't look like it. But it's the only thing I can think of (every part is soldered into it's appropriate place).

Bummer.

It's not really possible to "burn" the tracks-- they're made of copper --but they can potentially be torn off if you're rough.

Some things to check:
1. Is the chip correctly oriented, and fully seated into its socket?

2. Do the solder joints look clean? Is there any place that there might be two pins accidentally soldered together? (If so, fix them.) Or any pins that might not be fully soldered? If so, touch them up with a little bit of fresh solder.

3. Is the power jack installed on the bottom (not top) side of the board?

4. Is it plugged in? Have you tried another power outlet?

5. Is the power switch installed, and if so, have you tried both switch positions?

6. Is anything on the board getting HOT?

7. Try looking at the board, powered on, with a digital camera, with the lights dim or off. (A laptop's camera or a cell phone camera will usually work well). If the "CPU" is running, then the IR LEDs should be faintly visible with a purplish glow on camera.

8. Were you careful to watch the orientation of the LEDs when you inserted them-- long lead into the square hole?

I'm sorry you wrote all of that. Really I am. I'm a f*cktard and had the microcontroller seated backwards. Great.

Anyways, here is the successful creation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA2MKbZ6lvY

Thanks for all your help!

No need to be so hard on yourself; there's a reason that it was first in the list of things to check. I'm glad that it's working now!