Featured Articles
Announcing Pi
Technical Specifications
Raspberry Pi FAQs
Win a Pi
Raspberry Pi Wishlist
Actions
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 71 replies
  • Subscribers 718 subscribers
  • Views 8419 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

Gertboard - The Element14 strikes back

e14 Contributor

Oh dear. It seems that If I "Fluke PiStalker" want to obtain a Deathstar beating Gertboard from the Element14 Empire. I have to pay £30 quid and then go all "Hands Solo" from "Solder Wars" fame. (if the farce is with my at the time) Thats a big shame really cos I would have paid £40 willinging for one assemmbled by "R2D2" or some other Solder super Driod.

 

It looks then as if I will have to go remain Fluke PiStalker and wait for a Droid to build me one.

 

Come on Gert please chase the powers that be to get some assembled versions on the go for poor old guys like me whose idea or circuit assemmbly was screwing and fixing a couple of bits a BakerLite together 60 years ago. image

 

Seriously Gert a fantastic job great to see them in the wild but we cant all solder however easy it is, Take Pity Darth Gert and sort it for us.

 

That tale was NOT bought to you by any members of any film companies on the planet Earth. image

 

Just to keep the balls and games rolling ahead is my target.

 

Ray

Parents

  • Hello All!

    Count me in on the Gert Board. I've purchased one this morning and I've downloaded the comicbook that has the solder lessons. I'm going to give it a go. Sorry to sound so basic - but I find all of the info, projects, lessons, questions and products a blast.

    Best,

    Peg

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Good luck Peg. Hope you have great fun.

     

    OK im Sold-ered. I always believed I am a terrible wielder of the soldering iron. But I have never really given myself a fair test. A few emergency repairs with big blobs of solder is all I have achieved until now. I have done many Arduino projects but always managed to find a way to connect stuff with non perm. connectors,adapters, couplers whatever just to avoid the dreaded iron.

     

    I would like a Gertboard and even though Steve Read kindly offered his services I have decided to bite the bullet and go Hands Soloder. image

     

    I have a good iron and a couple of Maplin bot kits I bought about a year ago (EOL 99p each), I shall tackle those first as a trial. They have a couple of motors a pic socket and a few transistors and resistors etc. If either of them works after my efforts I will order a Gertboard and go for it.

     

    So wish me luck. I type this with 10 unburnt hand digits at this time and these hands were born when WW2 rationing was still on. So I am quite fond of them. image

     

    Who knows maybe I'll surprise myself and be a solder Da Vinci. haha. Night all.

  • in reply to cityswift

    This is what happens when you make a joint using 60/40 tin lead solder

    Lead free solder is somewhat different.. I still struggle with it, and as someone with long history of tin/lead soldering I always think I've done it wrong when I don't get the shiny surface I'm used to seeing image

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Thanks Selsinork and everyone for all the useful feedback in this topic.

     

              "I see others mentioning the helping hands things, the problem I always have with those and similar (I use a small vise to hold stuff when it really shouldn't move) is           that the extra few inches of height they add leaves me with nothing to steady my hands on and even more hand shake."

     

    Absolutley makes my shakes become veritable earthquakes... But practice whilst not making me proficient is making me a better solderererer. (oops. I can spell it I just dont know when to stop) image

     

    I've been away for a few days holiday. Sorry for late replies to some of these posts.

     

    Ray

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Ray Hughes wrote:

     

    Absolutley makes my shakes become veritable earthquakes.

     

    We may be in a transition phase at the moment, a time just before IC packages get so small that it's totally impossible for humans to solder devices directly.

     

    Maybe I should hurry up with building my 3D printer, and give it robotic solder station capability. image

     

    Morgaine.

  • in reply to morgaine

    Well Morgaine, along with your thingyverse printer you may by then be able to get that thingyflowsolder@home machine you always really wanted.

     

              Morgaine Dinova wrote:

              Maybe I should hurry up with building my 3D printer, and give it robotic solder station capability. image

     

    Regards Ray image

  • in reply to fustini

    BTW drew CPC sell some pistol griped desolder tools which although not as good as the several 100£ units are only £50 ish. They truely kick the *** of Solder braid.

  • in reply to Problemchild

    But you are right the braid is better than the cheap piston suckers ....grr

  • in reply to Problemchild

    John

    I once purchased a 'Phillips' solder sucker.

    Shorter than others, really good tip, that doesn't fall out, and works better than any other sucker I've found since.

     

    Another at work agrees and we both wish we could find a source to get some more.

     

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    Although I have a number of those spring-loaded pump-action suckers, I've never liked that one-shot mode of operation, and have long wished for some kind of continuous suction device.  I guess I could try jury-rigging a vacuum pump with some kind of chamber and filter to prevent solder reaching the pump ...

  • in reply to Problemchild

    John Alexander wrote:

     

    But you are right the braid is better than the cheap piston suckers ....grr

    I'd actually disagree with that. At least once you move on from single sided boards that don't have through hole plating. Even the really cheap piston suckers work much better than braid on plated holes.

     

    Nothing much beats a proper vacuum one though, but even so with SMT parts being the norm mine doesn't get a lot of use.

  • in reply to morgaine

    Morgaine Dinova wrote:

     

    Although I have a number of those spring-loaded pump-action suckers, I've never liked that one-shot mode of operation, and have long wished for some kind of continuous suction device. 

    Go buy one. You won't regret it. Although the bill for a decent one can be a bit eye watering image

Reply Children
No Data