RonTest
Start of a manual here...
Blah, blah, blah...
Preparing to Build
I trust you found everything in your order but should you have any issue just contact your coop manager and they will take care of it.
The next thing we want is to make sure you are up to speed on soldering and electrostatic protection of the components in your kit. If you are not an experienced printed circuit builder I recommend you visit the site:
http://curiousinventor.com/guides/How_To_Solder
And check out there extremely good video on soldering correctly. Even if you are an expert it is a good video to watch.
Another issue you must be aware of is that some electronic components can be damaged easily by electrostatic charges that can build up in you or your equipment. We have all been shocked by walking on carpet and grabbing a door knob before. This is electrostatic charge in action. It takes much less than this to hurt some of our parts. If you are unfamiliar with procedures to protect from this please use the internet to research it before opening your parts up. You can damage your parts if handled wrong!
You will need a few tools that do not come with your kit. You will need a good soldering iron. I can not stress enough that a good soldering iron makes a big difference in these projects. The little 15w cheap irons are more apt to hurt your parts by taking too long to get the parts up to soldering temperature than a good iron which can bring it up to temp very fast. Remember it is more how long you keep the part hot than it is how hot you get it within reasonable soldering temperatures. A good soldering iron can be had for very reasonable amounts of money. You can purchase one for $30 to $60 dollars. Most anything that is called a soldering station where there is a temperature control separate from the iron itself will more than likely be fine but make sure it is rated for more than 15 watts. I myself use a cheap Weller like this one
Solder Stations:
It works fine and is very inexpensive. I even saw this model on sale at Sears. Radio Shack has a very nice looking Digital Soldering Station (Model #64-053) for sale but you can't order the tips directly from Radio Shack. You need to order them directly from the manufacturer at Madell Tech's website. A forum member uses this iron at his business and on the road and it's been rock solid.
Another recommended Solder Station is the MPJA 302A is has a digital temperature readout
- http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=15141+TLMPJA Model 302A
What ever you get make sure and get 4 - 5 extra tips for it. It is an opinion thing but I prefer and find most prefer Chisel tips. get a couple .8 and a few 1.6 to see which you like and then you are ready to go. The tips do wear out and need replacement from time to time. I can build maybe 4 to 8 big controllers (FS, Etc) with a single tip but when you are learning you will use them up faster.
You need solder so buy some. I recommend .032 size (0.8mm or 0.7mm) as the larger sizes tend to cause you to put too much solder on. How much? Go ahead and get a 1 lb spool as it’s cheaper in large volume and you will go through it faster than you think. Make sure you are getting rosin core for electronics they make some solder for plumbing that has acid as the core this is a bad mistake to make.
You need some work area to work with good lighting. Do not attempt to solder circuit boards in poorly lighted areas. If you wear reading glasses go get them you will want them I promise you. I recommend a set of helping hands like this: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104639&cp=&parentPage=search
