Ben Heck’s Super Soldered Atari 2600 Episode -- Episode 226

Love it! I will probably try this in the future. I especially love how clean the finished circuit looks.

Would a Commodore 64/PET cartridge socket work as a cartridge port for this project?

Great episode. I got the 3 chips salvaged from an old Atari board, so I'm considering to replicate this in protoboard, just as a learning project - I'm a software Atari tinkerer, having written a game (https://github.com/chesterbr/2048-2600) and an emulator (https://github.com/chesterbr/ruby2600 ), but not super lucky with hardware manipulation.

My goal is to build the minimal possible thing that can be verified to work (like he did in the last few minutes).

Looking at the files, I see that https://github.com/thebenheckshow/226-tbhs-Super-Soldered-Atari-2600/blob/master/docs/Schematic_Atari2600_2000.png seems to be the main one. I can likely find the components there (although a list would be awesome) and follow it (despite my very basic electronics knowledge). But I wonder if this was what Ben followed, or if that is an original diagram (looks like so, from the notes on the lower right corner) and he did modifications (and, in that case, which would those be).

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

They make tip tinner for keeping your tin clean and protected it really helps to make the tips last. Also wiping your tip often with a moist sponge keeps the carbon and flux from building up on your tips http://in.element14.com/pace/1102-0016-p1/tip-tinner-lead-free-brite/dp/1279335 Personally I dont' like using the Brillo pad type tip cleaner they take the coating off over time.

There have been some Youtubers asking about what solder Ben uses. Since I can't post pictures there, I will post it here. This is the solder Ben uses.

Ben used 30 AWG wire that was from an old computer ribbon cable. He pulls the individual strands off and reuses them as individual wires. This is the wire he used:

What gauge is the wire you are using?

1. Some of the cheaper irons just get hot in a fairly uncontrolled manner, others self-measure the tip temperature, and adjust power accordingly, i.e. they are temperature controlled. You want the latter, don't even consider the former.

2. Don't ever scrape the tip or press hard with it. For cleaning, use a special wire wool designed for this, or a damp sponge designed for this, and nothing else. Buy these items from a reputable electronics supplier (such as Farnell/Newark), not ebay, Amazon third party sellers and so on, because would you know the difference between types of wire wool?

3. Use solder specifically intended for electronics work, such as this Multicomp 507-1227 Multicomp 507-1227 . Again, consider where you're buying it from.

4. You likely won't need additional flux provided what you're soldering is nice and clean. Otherwise use a small quantity of flux such as from this Circuitworks flux penCircuitworks flux pen.

Usually the solder station is designed to work in harmony with the soldering iron, so I don't get the need to build a solder station when the iron manufacturer will have already optimised their station for use with their iron. I can't see much cost saving building your own either.

There are tons of other hints/guidelines around, these are just an example. Everyone has different product recommendations and slightly different workflows. What I can say is that if you follow the basic points listed above, your tips should give you many years of service. Replacing tips is an extremely rare event. I've not replaced any tips for about 3 years.

Just out of curiosity, do you happen to have the part numbers for the other 2 ICs. Don't know if I'll have them or not, but some time back I bought a BUNCH of C64 chips and my understanding most systems in the day used similar off the shelf parts. It'd be nice for me to do something with them than to let them sit in the boxes that I bought them in.

Great episode. Lots of handy tips for the part time solderer. I was hoping for a bit more cautionary mistakes explained. Such as: Bad solder - Sometimes I get burnt solder spots. This may be from old solder, but I've had this happen with new. Flux problems. Usually with thicker solder. And the solder eating away at my tips. When I buy them new they have a silver coating on the tips. When I use them, it starts flaking off (or I scrape off the carbon), leaving the copper underneath it exposed. Any advise on buying or maintaining solder tips would be helpful.

If you make a "Soldering 101 Part 2", it would be helpful if you addressed these problems I get. Maybe make a DIY Solder Station episode.