SMD soldering practice kit
posted Aug 24th 2008 11:59pm by Eliot Phillipsfiled under: classic hacks, led hacks, misc hacks

Here’s an interesting kit put together just to help you work on your SMD soldering skills. It’s got 49 SMD LEDs on the front with a programming header and switch jumper. The back has an ATtiny26L and a coin cell. At only 3V, power management is essential; all of the example programs are only addressing one LED at a time (imperceptible to the human eye). If you turn on too many LEDs at the same time, the voltage drop could cause the AVR to reset. Included example programs are a scrolling marque, bouncing balls, and Conway’s game of life. SparkFun has tutorials for regular SMD soldering and using a reflow skillet. The video below shows the kit builder attaching just one LED using the heat and slide method.
[thanks tom]





I prefer a pair of curved tweezers to align the surface mount part. Just tin the pads slightly, place the part on top, and heat it up.
Posted at 1:03 am on Aug 25th, 2008 by tony