***Official Electronics Thread of Officialness (it starts off with lots of Nixie Tube Clock goodness

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aod
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I like the cartograph place for some stuff, but for electronics i tend to find that Rapid has better prices on pretty much everything by a long shot (don't think it's a competitor).

I think 18W is hot enough for beginners, but it's exactly the same price as the XS and they look almost identical in design so you know...
 
i've used those Antex Irons... i found them INCREDIBLY annoying to use, both slow to heat up, got too hot (no temperature control) and the heat is distributed all over the front end meaning that half the iron is radiating hot air, leading to burns if you have to hold it at an odd angle.

not to mention, the three-inch-thick mains cable got in the way all the time.

Also, with an iron that's too low a wattage, you've got two problems, Firstly, it takes too long to heat the subject material, meaning you have to hold the iron on the component for extended amounts of time, possibly leading to component damage (and melted wiring insulation!), and Secondly, if you're soldering something with a large thermal capacity, the iron will cool down and take a long time to get back to temperature, this also applies when you're cleaning the end of the iron.
 
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Well the advice i heard was that Antex make some of the best irons for beginners since they're cheap but don't skimp on build quality like a lot in that price range, and are simple to use since most people just starting out won't need or particularly want temperature control. What would you recommend?
 
well, i use an Iroda Solderpro 50, it's fairly cheap, has adjustable temperature and no cable at all because it runs off regular lighter-butane which you can get at any newsagent.
It's also very very quick to heat up and the fine-tips are nice and thin
 
Solder paste? The stuff used for Reflow-soldering or the non-soldering conductive glue stuff?

either way, probably not.
 
Errm, not entirely sure but some of the vids i have seen of it have been a paste applied to a pcb, the part placed on and a soldering iron then flows it.
 
Okay, next question - how do you use a breadboard? Probably one of the main areas i've been falling down in has been that i've just put things in their places on the PCB and gone for it without testing beforehand... sometimes out of necessity, not just choice :p

Oh, and on the criticism of the Antex irons with the not very flexible mains cables, there are models without them - couldn't you just put your own on to make it much nicer to use? Say like those used on actual (steam) irons?
 
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Spanker said:
Errm, not entirely sure but some of the vids i have seen of it have been a paste applied to a pcb, the part placed on and a soldering iron then flows it.
Click to expand...

that's reflow-soldering paste... yes, i suppose you could use that, i've no idea how easy it would be though, that's not really what the stuff's designed for. you may find it quite hard to apply neatly.

PermaBanned said:
Okay, next question - how do you use a breadboard? Probably one of the main areas i've been falling down in has been that i've just put things in their places on the PCB and gone for it without testing beforehand... sometimes out of necessity, not just choice :p

Oh, and on the criticism of the Antex irons with the not very flexible mains cables, there are models without them - couldn't you just put your own on to make it much nicer to use? Say like those used on actual (steam) irons?
Click to expand...

you probably could i suppose, but even a thin and flexible cable gets annoying occasionally. Breadboard is used for prototyping circuits that you're designing yourself, with pre-made PCB's it's not used.
 
Aod said:
that's reflow-soldering paste... yes, i suppose you could use that, i've no idea how easy it would be though, that's not really what the stuff's designed for. you may find it quite hard to apply neatly.
Click to expand...

I have seen it applied through something along the lines of a hypodermic needle but with a larger needle type end. I know it isn't ideal but i really want to try to build one and this may be my only way as i am disabled. :)
 
I use my 50w Weller iron for everything (model PU-3D the same as this, which went for a bargain price). Antex irons are OK for beginners but some of the stuff I solder needs a lot of heat so I really wouldn't get on with one of them nowadays.

I just change the tip depending on what I'm doing and doing fine work is easy enough with the right tip. Here's the solder side of a 3.5MHz transceiver kit I'm in the middle of building.

solder-side-20110910-194447.jpg


And the component side.

component-side-20110910-194522.jpg


I know this is going a bit OT but I'm just showing that it is possible to solder small delicate stuff with a big meaty iron.
 
Spanker said:
I have seen it applied through something along the lines of a hypodermic needle but with a larger needle type end. I know it isn't ideal but i really want to try to build one and this may be my only way as i am disabled. :)
Click to expand...
Oh i see, well, there isn't any technical reason why it wouldn't work if you could get the paste in there nicely. you might have a bit of trouble holding the components in place but if you place them on the PCB in the right way you should manage :)
Feek said:
I use my 50w Weller iron for everything (model PU-3D the same as this, which went for a bargain price). Antex irons are OK for beginners but some of the stuff I solder needs a lot of heat so I really wouldn't get on with one of them nowadays.

I just change the tip depending on what I'm doing and doing fine work is easy enough with the right tip. Here's the solder side of a 3.5MHz transceiver kit I'm in the middle of building.

http://www.feek.co.uk/images/solder-side-20110910-194447.jpg

And the component side.

http://www.feek.co.uk/images/component-side-20110910-194522.jpg

I know this is going a bit OT but I'm just showing that it is possible to solder small delicate stuff with a big meaty iron.
Click to expand...

Indeed! :eek: Very nicely done by my eye :)
 
@Feek: 'Possible', perhaps, with skill. But easy? :p

At one point during my failed guitar amp project i decided to just cut tiny pieces of solder off, place it on the contact then melt it. Worked surprisingly well... some of the time ;)
 
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PermaBanned said:
@Feek: 'Possible', perhaps, with skill. But easy? :p

At one point during my failed guitar amp project i decided to just cut a tiny pieces of solder off, place it on the contact then melt it. Worked surprisingly well... some of the time ;)
Click to expand...

that's a method i've used with crappy irons in the past, surprisingly effective although extremely irritating when it goes wrong :p
 
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