Thanks Harvey,
? I bought a syringe of as per Stefan's post above. I have read about a foreign brand named Mechanic that most people give it high marks.

I also watched some video's earlier today about flux cleaners and in one of them they said MG's the winner.

Isn't bizmuth the stuff that is in lead free solder, or is it some new type? I guess it is a new type because from what I read, lead free has a higher melting point that no lead solder. I have no clue as I never tried it.
Dave

"> Be aware that the rated shelf life is anywhere from 6 months to a

year. It lasts longer if you keep it refrigerated, especially after
breaking the seal."

Guys, there's something I always wanted to know about that shelf
life....what the heck causes the stuff to go bad?
Charlie
On Tue, 05 Nov 2019 14:51:58 -0700 "Dwayne Reid" <dwayner@...>
writes:

Hi there.

We have been purchasing 63/37 solder paste from Chip Quik - both
direct and via Digikey. It's available in both syringe and jar
form.

Be aware that the rated shelf life is anywhere from 6 months to a
year. It lasts longer if you keep it refrigerated, especially after

breaking the seal.

We normally purchase the Water Soluble flux version - we then just
wash the boards under running hot water and blow dry with compressed

air. This works especially well for the small prototype board runs
that we do.

dwayne


At 10:39 AM 11/5/2019, Dave wrote:

I have plenty of regular solder, and plenty of flux, now I need to

buy some solder paste for smd stuff. Any recommendations? I would
like some in a jar and also a syringe just to have both. Is

no-clean

solder better? Also, I just want tin/lead solder if it is still

available.

Thanks,

Dave

Thanks Harvey,
I bought a syringe of <> as per Stefan's post above. I have read about a foreign brand named Mechanic that most people give it high marks.

I also watched some video's earlier today about flux cleaners and in one of them they said MG's the winner.

Isn't bizmuth the stuff that is in lead free solder, or is it some new type? I guess it is a new type because from what I read, lead free has a higher melting point that no lead solder. I have no clue as I never tried it.
Dave

I have plenty of regular solder, and plenty of flux, now I need to buy some solder paste for smd stuff. Any recommendations? I would like some in a jar and also a syringe just to have both. Is no-clean solder better? Also, I just want tin/lead solder if it is still available.

Thanks,

Dave

I have plenty of regular solder, and plenty of flux, now I need to buy some solder paste for smd stuff. Any recommendations? I would like some in a jar and also a syringe just to have both. Is no-clean solder better? Also, I just want tin/lead solder if it is still available.

Thanks,

Dave

On 11/3/2019 7:34 PM, Dave wrote:

Harvey,

? Thanks for explaining all of that to me. I guess the old say applies here too.

Question: How to eat an elephant?

Answer: One bite at a time. :)

NOTE: needs salt.....

Where there is a will, there is a way. You need to make some youtube videos on this. They would be very popular. Or even write a book. I guess like anything else though. Take it one step at a time. But you still need to know a lot about the subject at hand.

Hmmm, well, tell you what, when I redesign the website, I'll update all the PC board sections, and then give some postmortems on some of the older projects.? Then I'll start with some of the newer ones.? No free software, but I will (hopefully) give people enough of an idea to know how to do things without following a cookbook.? I prefer learning rather than recipes.

Documentation? It's on my list so far.

On the connector and pin removal. Is this for when someone needs to change out a worn out connector or to reuse the pads and traces for a mod?

This preserves the board, while destroying the connector (for the most part).? ST Micro has a series of boards on which I base projects (NUCLEO 32/64/144).? You can't buy the boards and put the parts on them for that amount of money.? However, not all boards have all connectors.? I started off with sockets on one board, and then shifted (because I didn't look at the old boards) to sockets on the plugin.? So I got two boards with sockets, and two with pins, and I need pins for new designs.

Prying off the plastic leaves an array of individual bifurcated sockets, which are then removed individually, holes cleaned out, and then putting pins back in for the new designs.

so you get whatever you want once the part is removed.

Harvey

I can recommend a PZO binocular microscope if you can find one, it has multiple objectives ranging from 0.63 to 4.0 with 6.3 eyepieces, it has a very good field of view and plenty of room between the stage and objective to work in. They're similar in optical quality to Zeiss but can be found for very reasonable money.

Ok, doing it may be above your pay grade but the concepts won't be.

Typically, any graphics display knows how to draw a dot anywhere on the screen.

So you design graphics primitives, which implement drawing a dot, panel (square/rectangular area), line, and characters.

Then you figure out how a panel can *own* things you put inside it.? Draw the panel, draw the objects inside.

Then you figure out how, when you draw those objects, they don't go outside the panel.

Now for the LCARS look, you need to tweak a panel so that it's got rounded edges.

Then you need to design what I call a polycorner, which is the basic "up one side, rounded corner, across the top" shape.

You kinda make them out of primitives if you can.

if you want a button, it's a panel that owns a text object.

Then if you have a touch screen, you can ask each object if it's been touched.

if you touch a button, then go do something (if it's active, etc, etc...)

As far as drivers are concerned, that's also easy to understand. Each graphics display needs some sort of controller, like a display card is used in a computer.

Each controller has different capabilities and different commands to make it do stuff.? Some controllers know how to draw panels, some don't.

The driver talks to a particular controller, speaks its language, and then presents a united front to the application which is telling it to draw a square, there, and in a particular color... That little part is generally customized for each graphics controller/display.

the real trick is to realize that only a certain (and very low) level needs to actually know how the display works, the rest of the programming just needs to know the size and how many colors it has.

concepts are easy enough, doing it takes a bit of time.

more writing drivers and putting parts on a board now than not.

Oh, and a point to people who are removing lots of pin connectors from PC boards (and not saving the connectors).

Even a Metcal desoldering system doesn't get it all.

To remove a large connector, if female, pull off the body leaving the pins.? Heat and remove each with the desoldering tool, attempting to suck out the solder from the back.

If male pins, pry off the plastic.? Heat the solder side of the pin and pull out while using the solder sucker when it's out.

the fun part is that this doesn't always work, especially if the design didn't use thermals for ground pins and planes.

So:? take the thinnest soldering tip you have, ideally, it'll fit into and through the hole.

put it in one soldering pencil and have the desoldering tool at the ready.

put the desoldering tool on one side (and you can add solder to get a good transfer) with the point of the other iron on the other side of the pc board.? Desoldering will give you melted solder enough that the fine tip goes through and into the hole.? Suck out the solder and remove the tip.? Seems to clean out the hole very nicely when the extra heat is added.


Harvey


On 11/3/2019 11:20 AM, Dave wrote:

Harvey,

? I looked up LCARS with Google and although it didn't have anything at the top from Amazon I dug further and found a few things. Even a mod for the Android to have the phone set up like Star Trek. Pretty neat stuff. Looks like a major task to undertake but I am sure you will get it done. All of the technical explanation is above my pay grade at first, but I did a little googling to understand what you are saying. And it's still above my pay grade. :-) I wish you luck on the project.

Thanks,

Dave

On 11/2/2019 5:08 PM, Harvey White wrote:

Google LCARS.? The first thing to come up is that you can buy LCARS on amazon.? I so love brainless ads and bots.

Yep, it's the computer system in Star Trek, the Next Generation. It has a particular look to it that I'm copying in my own graphics primitives.? Designing something that does a radiused corner is fun, with a radiused fillet, too.

Just got finished putting a *theme* into play, so I can call up different color schemes as needed.

Currently, the basic board drives a 320 * 240 LCD TFT display. Using an S1D13781 (Epson), I can use the same SPI interface to drive a VGA display, since the Chinese board had its own driver. It's a straight plugin physically, and of course, needs completely different drivers.

Next project is to use the graphics DMA engine (rather limited) in an ST F7 processor to do much the same thing. Since its memory mapped rather than SPI interfaced, all I need to do is feed the processor graphics commands and it ought to be done faster.

We'll see how well that one works.? Got the driver for that written, but not debugged.

Harvey

Harvey,

? I looked up LCARS with Google and although it didn't have anything at the top from Amazon I dug further and found a few things. Even a mod for the Android to have the phone set up like Star Trek. Pretty neat stuff. Looks like a major task to undertake but I am sure you will get it done. All of the technical explanation is above my pay grade at first, but I did a little googling to understand what you are saying. And it's still above my pay grade. :-) I wish you luck on the project.

Thanks,

Dave

On 11/2/2019 5:08 PM, Harvey White wrote:

Google LCARS.? The first thing to come up is that you can buy LCARS on amazon.? I so love brainless ads and bots.

Yep, it's the computer system in Star Trek, the Next Generation. It has a particular look to it that I'm copying in my own graphics primitives.? Designing something that does a radiused corner is fun, with a radiused fillet, too.

Just got finished putting a *theme* into play, so I can call up different color schemes as needed.

Currently, the basic board drives a 320 * 240 LCD TFT display. Using an S1D13781 (Epson), I can use the same SPI interface to drive a VGA display, since the Chinese board had its own driver. It's a straight plugin physically, and of course, needs completely different drivers.

Next project is to use the graphics DMA engine (rather limited) in an ST F7 processor to do much the same thing.? Since its memory mapped rather than SPI interfaced, all I need to do is feed the processor graphics commands and it ought to be done faster.

We'll see how well that one works.? Got the driver for that written, but not debugged.

Harvey


On 11/2/2019 2:40 PM, Dave wrote:

On 11/2/2019 12:12 PM, Harvey White wrote:

Some groups are immediate, it seems, some may not be.

Yesterday and one other time recently they seemed broke and too k many hours to get my messages. Maybe Cox or someone else had a hand in it but when I called them they said they were having no problems. But we know how that goes...

?Well I got the boom and the ring light, and the Metcal. And the Panavise. That Metcal heats up fast! And I figured you would be busy with your pc boards and your drilling rig. How did that turnout?

The automatic positioner is still sitting there, mostly put together, most of the software is written.? I did get diverted onto another project, and just added a plugin card that simulates a Chinese made 320 x 240 TFT display, but drives an 8 inch TFT VGA display.

So right now, I'm adding color themes to the display.? I'll be duplicating (to an extent) the ST TNG LCARS display format. Ought to be fun.? Got a bunch of boards to put together for now.

Harvey

Too many projects, so little time. I know the feeling. Is the "ST TNG LCARS" something to do with Star Trek?


Dave

Google LCARS.? The first thing to come up is that you can buy LCARS on amazon.? I so love brainless ads and bots.

Yep, it's the computer system in Star Trek, the Next Generation. It has a particular look to it that I'm copying in my own graphics primitives.? Designing something that does a radiused corner is fun, with a radiused fillet, too.

Just got finished putting a *theme* into play, so I can call up different color schemes as needed.

Currently, the basic board drives a 320 * 240 LCD TFT display. Using an S1D13781 (Epson), I can use the same SPI interface to drive a VGA display, since the Chinese board had its own driver. It's a straight plugin physically, and of course, needs completely different drivers.

Next project is to use the graphics DMA engine (rather limited) in an ST F7 processor to do much the same thing.? Since its memory mapped rather than SPI interfaced, all I need to do is feed the processor graphics commands and it ought to be done faster.

We'll see how well that one works.? Got the driver for that written, but not debugged.

Harvey


On 11/2/2019 2:40 PM, Dave wrote:

On 11/2/2019 12:12 PM, Harvey White wrote:

Some groups are immediate, it seems, some may not be.

Yesterday and one other time recently they seemed broke and too k many hours to get my messages. Maybe Cox or someone else had a hand in it but when I called them they said they were having no problems. But we know how that goes...

?Well I got the boom and the ring light, and the Metcal. And the Panavise. That Metcal heats up fast! And I figured you would be busy with your pc boards and your drilling rig. How did that turnout?

The automatic positioner is still sitting there, mostly put together, most of the software is written.? I did get diverted onto another project, and just added a plugin card that simulates a Chinese made 320 x 240 TFT display, but drives an 8 inch TFT VGA display.

So right now, I'm adding color themes to the display.? I'll be duplicating (to an extent) the ST TNG LCARS display format. Ought to be fun.? Got a bunch of boards to put together for now.

Harvey

Too many projects, so little time. I know the feeling. Is the "ST TNG LCARS" something to do with Star Trek?


Dave

Hi Dave,? I'm not new to this group but this will be my first post.

I have been using a binocular microscope (Philip Haris BM620B) for soldering since the late 1980's, as my eyesight was (and still is) not great.
I picked it up really cheap while working in Nigeria as it was a fraction of the price in the uk )?20 compared to ?160+ at the time).
It has a single boom arm with the binocular head, and it came with 2 binocular objectives - an x1 and an x2, and had x10 eyepieces.? I have found this to suit me perfectly for soldering THC's and for many other uses.? I also purchased a pair of x20 widefield eyepieces from ebay for well under ?20 (c. 2015) which work great.? The light source is a filament bulb (MES 12v 0.5W) which I managed to get spares from a microscope company called Brunel in the UK back more than 10 years ago.? I find that they give me sufficient light for all my needs and have never though about changing for LED lighting.? The eyepiece lenses have adjustable pupilliary distances which allows most users (children or adults) to set them comfortably, and is great at a distance that lets me solder with ease.? I can also alter the angle of the microscope to suit viewing from the side.? I have also used them for SMD work and have had no problems there either.? It is possible to get adapters to fit a camera in place of one of the eyepieces and to take pictures or videos as required using this microscope, but you can't get a good view of what you are doing unless the camera can show the picture on a screen so you can see what you are doing.? It would not be easy to use/adapt this type for BGA rework, but not impossible.

I bought one of the cheaper microscopes from ebay wich had a magnification range up to x500 or so but I found that it was very difficult to get focussed if it is not attached to a solid non-moving frame.? It did have a sufficient range of viewing distances which let you set a comfortable work distance, but you needed a computer to run the software and also view your work on it's monitor.? This microscope I gave up with using, after several attempts mostly due to the problems of focussing.? These types usually cost from ?20 - ?50.

I also have a collection of coins which I wanted to catalogue for insurance purposes so I ended up buying a decent setup from a Chinese company on ebay for around ?250.? This has a single boom stand with a single head which holds the lens system.? A 16M digital camera (for stills and video) is attached at the top and you can also use various objective lenses ranging from x0.5 to x2, and gives me a maximun magnification of x180.? It has an LED ring light which works fine and gives even illumination.? You can use the software supplied with a computer (USB), but I found it suited my needs better using only a monitor with an HDMI input, and gave high quality and sharply foucussed pictures.? Pictures (4608 x 2592) and videos (1080P @ 60FPS) are stored on a micro-SD card, I am currently using a 32GB card.? Although this may be useable for soldering I am not 100% certain that it would allow a comfortable distance for working on a PCB without getting in the way.? As the head tilts it may be possible to used this with a BGA Rework unit but I have not yet tried this.? It may be that the lens is too close to the heater elements and may be subject to heat damage.? If I do give it a try I will try to leave a message on this thread if successful.

Final thoughts:? I personally would recommend the Philip Harris option from my list as this is the easiest to set up and use, and you should be able to get something similar from various suppliers without breaking the bank.? If you feel that you need to record what you are doing for the likes of YouTube, etc, it is still possible to do so but you have the extra costs for a camera etc.
I would avoid the cheap digital microscopes, and go for a decent one if you decide that this is what you need.? Do not go ahead and buy without checking that it is suitable for what you want to do so make sure to contact the seller and ask questions regarding the working height, pupiliary distance and magnifications available.? Also ask about the availibility of other parts such as different lenses etc,? The one I have for my coins has an extension for the upright on the stand so I can double the height from the work area.? This could make it suitable for BGA work as well.
I would not personally spend much more than ?250 - ?300 for a system as I don't see any benefit (for me anyway) in any of the extra features sometimes offered.? I will add some photos of the ones I have to give you an idea.? Hope this helps.
Regards,
John