[time-freq] Handling 0603 parts

[Christopher T. Day]

Steve,

Address should be good, thanks. 

The soldering kit sounds like a good idea to me. It's a little hard to
know what to look for in tools the first time around.

I've done several other projects with at least some SMD soldering -
various SoftRock models, RockMites, Warbler, Antenna Analyst 908, HPSDR
Atlas board,... This was my first time with 0603 parts, though. SMD
soldering is definitely fun, and probably quicker than through-hole once
you get the hang of it. Also from the list above, there are a lot of
really nice kits to build these days using at least a few SMD chips.
With the terrifically powerful chips available these days, I think
homebrew is undergoing a major renewal and SMD in an integral part of
it.

One thing - I like the parts page idea, but I think they would work
better if the paper chip tapes were taped to the page face down. The
packing tape used to attach them is so strong and springy that the chips
are tricky to extract. If the paper tape were face down, it could be
removed from the page and placed face up with its chip cover film
intact. I find it much easier to get out single chips then by pealing
back the film with a knife blade.

BTW, I'm 58, so this is not just a kid's game.


	Chris - AE6VK

 
-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Bible [mailto:srbible at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 9:25 AM
To: time-freq at lists.tapr.org
Subject: RE: [time-freq] Handling 0603 parts

Hi Chris,

Glad to hear things are working well for you.  I hope that your
experience encourages others to embark on surface mount soldering.  It
is fun.  You will find that you won't go back to through hole :-).

On the no-clean flux, I clean it with IPA (Isopropol Alcohol) you can
get at the drug or hardware store.  Do use this stuff in a well
ventilated area.  It is hard on the nose.  You'll see then why to switch
to organic :-).

I've been thinking, a good TAPR project would be to create a surface
mount tool kit.  The contents would be organic flux solder in various
sizes, organic flux liquid, despensing bottle, solder wick, and
tweezers.  Anything else that should be part of the kit?  What would
people like to have?  How much should the kit cost?  Or are there other
places that sell these tools in a kit form?

BTW, I have the replacement parts in the mail.  (I assumed your address
in the call book was good?)

- Steve N7HPR