This is true. I didn't have any trouble doing SMT work 30+ years ago
using a Vision Engineering Mantis stereo microscope with a 4X lens.?
Now that I'm approaching 60, SMT work is a bit more of a challenge.
Hands nor vision are what they were 30+ years ago.
73
Stan
KM4HQE
On 6/17/22 17:12, Terry Perdue wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Good vision is only half the equation. A steady hand is also
necessary. Both get worse with age.
?Hi Guys,
FWIW, all I do in DIY kits is SMT, I am 62 with very bad
vision myself.? A B&L Stereozoom (4) stereo microscope is
essential.? I have no trouble doing TQFP's, QFN's, down to
0402 passives, SOT-23's SOT-363's, etc.? You can too!
73,
Robert, WA2T
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Re: How to update using Mac
On Sat, Jun 18, 2022 at 02:31 AM, <fastguido@...> wrote:
Totally lost now.
Hello Guido, OK, if you have never used the Terminal program under MacOS it is not so easy. When you go web page you will see a big green button, labeled Download, see below:  Click on that green button and a download? of file dfu-util-0.11-binaries.tat.xz starts to MacOS folder Download (usually). Then you need to rename in Finder file dfu-util-0.11-binaries.tar.xz to dfu-util-0.11-binaries.tar, which is an archive file. With a double click of the mouse on file dfu-util-0.11-binaries.tar this file is unpacked to folder dfu-util-0.11-binaries. Then you have to use the Terminal. If you have never used the Terminal in MacOS, you have to learn something new. Good luck. 73, Rudi DL5FA
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Re: How to update using Mac
Totally lost now. I just don't understand what you guys are telling me. Seems to be two different ways that you showing me. ?Also when I click on??http://dfu-util.sourceforge.net/releases there are whole list of files, which ones to use, all or just one?
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How true! I have to take any solder jobs over to a friend. My hands shake unbelievably and I'm only 68, figured I had another 10 years to go and hopefully longer than that... But I keep waking up on the green side of the grass...that's a good start to my day. Every Day Is a Gift!
Tim? K4SHF
On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 6:13 PM Terry Perdue < K8tp@...> wrote: Good vision is only half the equation. A steady hand is also necessary. Both get worse with age. On Jun 17, 2022, at 2:27 PM, Robert Entwistle <rentwist@...> wrote:
?Hi Guys,
FWIW, all I do in DIY kits is SMT, I am 62 with very bad vision myself.? A B&L Stereozoom (4) stereo microscope is essential.? I have no trouble doing TQFP's, QFN's, down to 0402 passives, SOT-23's SOT-363's, etc.? You can too!
73,
Robert, WA2T
|
Completely drifted off the topic but I didn't think I could do
SMD at 70 plus. I started with the big ones at 1206 on simple
things but now do 0805's on more complex projects. I don't use any
expensive magnifiers, I glued a jewelers loupe from ebay for a few
GBP to a cheap pair of reading glasses from the local supermarket
to give x20 magnification.
On 17/06/2022 23:12, Terry Perdue
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Good vision is only half the equation. A steady hand is also
necessary. Both get worse with age.
?Hi Guys,
FWIW, all I do in DIY kits is SMT, I am 62 with very bad
vision myself.? A B&L Stereozoom (4) stereo microscope is
essential.? I have no trouble doing TQFP's, QFN's, down to
0402 passives, SOT-23's SOT-363's, etc.? You can too!
73,
Robert, WA2T
|
Good vision is only half the equation. A steady hand is also necessary. Both get worse with age.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Jun 17, 2022, at 2:27 PM, Robert Entwistle <rentwist@...> wrote:
?Hi Guys,
FWIW, all I do in DIY kits is SMT, I am 62 with very bad vision myself.? A B&L Stereozoom (4) stereo microscope is essential.? I have no trouble doing TQFP's, QFN's, down to 0402 passives, SOT-23's SOT-363's, etc.? You can too!
73,
Robert, WA2T
|
Hi Guys,
FWIW, all I do in DIY kits is SMT, I am 62 with very bad vision myself.? A B&L Stereozoom (4) stereo microscope is essential.? I have no trouble doing TQFP's, QFN's, down to 0402 passives, SOT-23's SOT-363's, etc.? You can too!
73,
Robert, WA2T
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
To add data to your last email, Erik:? We have had several connectorized but bare board, preamps from epay at LTO (Little Thompson Observatory <>) in our various radio astronomy ventures.? Many of those do not come up to advertised specifications and most of them have become trash in a few days or weeks.? They're cheap, but don't perform.? Be careful of epay preamp purchases.?
Dave - W?LEV
On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 8:01 PM Erik Kaashoek < erik@...> wrote: Never buy from a non specialized seller. Positive feedback should be above 99%.
The shop should sell many electronics components or modules and preferably already sold a lot of the LNA modules with real feedback.
--
For more info on the tinySA go to
-- Dave - W?LEV
Just Let Darwin Work
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Never buy from a non specialized seller. Positive feedback should be above 99%. The shop should sell many electronics components or modules and preferably already sold a lot of the LNA modules with real feedback. --
For more info on the tinySA go to https://tinysa.org/wiki/
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Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Remember, gain is not the only important parameter.? Noise figure or noise temperature are important as well to increase the (S+N)/N ratio.? For example, a 10 dB gain amp with a 9 dB noise figure really won't do much good.
Dave - W?LEV
On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 7:36 PM Keith_Who < keith@...> wrote: Another interesting LNA and very inexpensive; ?
? Quotes; Operating frequency£º0.1-2000MHz
Power supply voltage: 6-12 VDC
Maximum power output£º+10dBm (10mW)
System impedance£º50 ohm
Amplifier gain£º
F=0.1MHz, gain=32dB
F=500Mhz, gain=31dB
F=1000MHz, gain=29dB ? May be sacrifice a little gain and put a 10 db attenuator between the amp and the Tiny SA to make sure the input to the Tiny SA is never at risk of damage from high signal inputs to the amplifier? I would like to hear other people¡¯s thoughts on such an idea? ? Thank you. Kind regards, Keith (In the UK) ? ? ? ? Erik, ? How do you tell a fake eBay LSPF5189 LNA from a real LSPF5189 LNA PCB? ? They all are nearly marked as 50 MHz to 4 GHz, but the description of this one says it will go down to 0.1 MHz or 100 KHz; ?
? I¡¯m very interested in low level signal detection, but a close friend of mine recently blew up the attenuator on the low input connector after looking at the noise level outputted from a LISN. He had a physical external -6db attenuator in circuit, but decided to remove it because he wanted to look at some lower level signals and after connecting the Tiny SA back up without the physical external -6db attenuator in circuit, the low input went exceedingly insensitive and we guessed the electronic attenuator had failed. ? Neither myself or my friend have good enough eye sight or steady hands to repair this tiny SA, if anyone in the group can help in fixing the Tiny SA I would dearly love to hear from you please. ? Kind regards, Keith (In the UK) ? ? ? Any wide band LNA you can buy on eBay will work as long as you buy from a reputed seller, preferably one that has sold many.
It won't hurt if the upper frequency is way above 1GHz but its not needed.
Make sure the frequency range starts below the minimum required frequency
Example of what can be done:? The LSPF5189 LNA works well at 3.3Volt.
Make sure you get a genuine, there are many fakes that will self destroy in a day or two
-- Dave - W?LEV
Just Let Darwin Work
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Another interesting LNA and very inexpensive; ?
? Quotes; Operating frequency£º0.1-2000MHz
Power supply voltage: 6-12 VDC
Maximum power output£º+10dBm (10mW)
System impedance£º50 ohm
Amplifier gain£º
F=0.1MHz, gain=32dB
F=500Mhz, gain=31dB
F=1000MHz, gain=29dB ? May be sacrifice a little gain and put a 10 db attenuator between the amp and the Tiny SA to make sure the input to the Tiny SA is never at risk of damage from high signal inputs to the amplifier? I would like to hear other people¡¯s thoughts on such an idea? ? Thank you. Kind regards, Keith (In the UK) ? ? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Keith_Who
Sent: 17 June 2022 19:40
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [tinysa] Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier? Erik, ? How do you tell a fake eBay LSPF5189 LNA from a real LSPF5189 LNA PCB? ? They all are nearly marked as 50 MHz to 4 GHz, but the description of this one says it will go down to 0.1 MHz or 100 KHz; ?
? I¡¯m very interested in low level signal detection, but a close friend of mine recently blew up the attenuator on the low input connector after looking at the noise level outputted from a LISN. He had a physical external -6db attenuator in circuit, but decided to remove it because he wanted to look at some lower level signals and after connecting the Tiny SA back up without the physical external -6db attenuator in circuit, the low input went exceedingly insensitive and we guessed the electronic attenuator had failed. ? Neither myself or my friend have good enough eye sight or steady hands to repair this tiny SA, if anyone in the group can help in fixing the Tiny SA I would dearly love to hear from you please. ? Kind regards, Keith (In the UK) ? ? ? Any wide band LNA you can buy on eBay will work as long as you buy from a reputed seller, preferably one that has sold many.
It won't hurt if the upper frequency is way above 1GHz but its not needed.
Make sure the frequency range starts below the minimum required frequency
Example of what can be done:? The LSPF5189 LNA works well at 3.3Volt.
Make sure you get a genuine, there are many fakes that will self destroy in a day or two
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
On 17/06/2022 18:17, koralrf via groups.io wrote: Does anyone know of a good low cost broadband pre-amplifier which can be used
with the Tiny SA?
I have an old HP 8447E (Gain 22dB +/- 1.5dB from 100kHz to 1.3Ghz) which I use
for EN55011/CISPR11 measurements, but it would be nice to have a smaller
pre-amp for use with the Tiny SA.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Tony Tony, You may need to be careful not to exceed the rated maximum input to the TinySA from the maximum output of your LNA. Perhaps adding a filter for the range in interest would help - avoiding large FM broadcast signals, for example.... Cheers, David -- SatSignal Software - Quality software for you Web: Email: david-taylor@... Twitter: @gm8arv
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Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Minicircuits also markets good, well specified, and reliable connectorized preamps in the $50 range and MMICs in the $3 to $15 range (if you want to build your own).?
Dave - W?LEV?
On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 5:36 PM Erik Kaashoek < erik@...> wrote: Any wide band LNA you can buy on eBay will work as long as you buy from a reputed seller, preferably one that has sold many.
It won't hurt if the upper frequency is way above 1GHz but its not needed.
Make sure the frequency range starts below the minimum required frequency
Example of what can be done:?
The LSPF5189 LNA works well at 3.3Volt.
Make sure you get a genuine, there are many fakes that will self destroy in a day or two
--
For more info on the tinySA go to
-- Dave - W?LEV
Just Let Darwin Work
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Erik, ? How do you tell a fake eBay LSPF5189 LNA from a real LSPF5189 LNA PCB? ? They all are nearly marked as 50 MHz to 4 GHz, but the description of this one says it will go down to 0.1 MHz or 100 KHz; ?
? I¡¯m very interested in low level signal detection, but a close friend of mine recently blew up the attenuator on the low input connector after looking at the noise level outputted from a LISN. He had a physical external -6db attenuator in circuit, but decided to remove it because he wanted to look at some lower level signals and after connecting the Tiny SA back up without the physical external -6db attenuator in circuit, the low input went exceedingly insensitive and we guessed the electronic attenuator had failed. ? Neither myself or my friend have good enough eye sight or steady hands to repair this tiny SA, if anyone in the group can help in fixing the Tiny SA I would dearly love to hear from you please. ? Kind regards, Keith (In the UK) ? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Erik Kaashoek
Sent: 17 June 2022 18:36
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [tinysa] Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier? Any wide band LNA you can buy on eBay will work as long as you buy from a reputed seller, preferably one that has sold many.
It won't hurt if the upper frequency is way above 1GHz but its not needed.
Make sure the frequency range starts below the minimum required frequency
Example of what can be done:? The LSPF5189 LNA works well at 3.3Volt.
Make sure you get a genuine, there are many fakes that will self destroy in a day or two
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Maybe something like this:
On Friday, June 17, 2022 at 10:21:39 AM MST, koralrf via groups.io <koralrf@...> wrote:
Does anyone know of a good low cost broadband pre-amplifier which can be used with the Tiny SA?
I have an old HP 8447E (Gain 22dB +/- 1.5dB from 100kHz to 1.3Ghz) which I use for EN55011/CISPR11 measurements, but it would be nice to have a smaller pre-amp for use with the Tiny SA.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Tony
|
Re: Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Any wide band LNA you can buy on eBay will work as long as you buy from a reputed seller, preferably one that has sold many. It won't hurt if the upper frequency is way above 1GHz but its not needed. Make sure the frequency range starts below the minimum required frequency Example of what can be done:?
The LSPF5189 LNA works well at 3.3Volt.
Make sure you get a genuine, there are many fakes that will self destroy in a day or two
--
For more info on the tinySA go to https://tinysa.org/wiki/
|
Re: How to update using Mac
Download Extract .tar archiv via double click on the file Open the Terminal program # change directory to download folder $ cd <and drag the folder dfu-util-0.11-binaries with the mouse from Finder to the Terminal> ENTER $ cd dfu-util-0.11-binaries/darwin-x86_64 # test for the right program $ dfu-util -V dfu-util 0.10 Copyright 2005-2009 Weston Schmidt, Harald Welte and OpenMoko Inc. Copyright 2010-2020 Tormod Volden and Stefan Schmidt # flash tinySA # Enter DFU mode, when connected via USB tinySA Menu->CONFIG/DFU->ENTER DFU Download actual firmware in same folder: http://athome.kaashoek.com/tinySA/DFU/ actual: tinySA_v1.3-347-g31eb02e.dfu # flash the firmware $ dfu-util -a 0 -D tinySA_v1.3-347-g31eb02e.dfu # Reset tinySA # Later copy the dfu-util program to a convenient place. 73, Rudi DL5FA
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Re: How to update using Mac
Hi Guido, The instructions which are the same for all OS are not duplicated. Below is a modified portion for macOS:
Download the current firmware from the provided site link and rename it to tinySA.bin (remember the folder name).
Download dfu-util from??and check you can execute in the Terminal program.
From within the Terminal program, ensure you are in the folder where you downloaded dfu-util and the renamed tinySA.bin
(cd to Download for example)
Now from the Terminal shell prompt, type the following exactly (remember, in UNIX upper case is different from lower case).
dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08000000:leave -D tinySA.bin
Hope this helps.
Larry
AC9OX
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Low Cost Broadband Pre-Amplifier
Does anyone know of a good low cost broadband pre-amplifier which can be used with the Tiny SA?
I have an old HP 8447E (Gain 22dB +/- 1.5dB from 100kHz to 1.3Ghz) which I use for EN55011/CISPR11 measurements, but it would be nice to have a smaller pre-amp for use with the Tiny SA.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Tony
|
Can someone tell how to update the firmware using a iMac in simple terms. I looked over the Wiki, but over my head, seems to be Windows biased.
|
Tim K4SHF
Keith_Who
David J Taylor
Wes Stewart
Larry McElhiney