[sdiy] New Oakley Flanger/Chorus module

[Oakley Sound]

Tony K > I was wondering if you considered this too ambitious a project 
for a first time SMT attempt, or even intermediate. Not setup up for SMT 
here.

My first board I designed with SMT was in 1987. The ICs were the same 
size back then, SOIC, but I think most of the resistors were 1210 or 
1206 so slightly bigger than what I'm using here.

However, this Flanger board was the first SMD PCB I've populated for a 
very long time. And all I have here is a standard soldering iron (Weller 
TCP), a very fine pointy bit and 0.7mm Pb/Sn Hydro-X solder wire. I do 
have a special pair of reading glasses (made extra strong for this sort 
of work) and I use an additional magnifying glass to check each part 
once I've cleaned off the flux.

It is more fiddly than through hole and you have to be very careful when 
you are taking the parts out of the bag that you don't lose them, sneeze 
on them or what have you. Most components have their values stamped onto 
them but non polar capacitors do not. However, the actual assembly time 
is much the same as through hole. If you don't have a flip-over assembly 
rig then through hole may actually take longer.

The only real disadvantage is if you need to remove any ICs but you can 
use things like ChipQuik (a special solder that takes an age to go hard 
once melted) or develop a knack with a big soldering iron tip. A proper 
desoldering tool and re-work station is a good idea if you do a lot of 
SMD work.

SMD is a great way to make boards compact and you shouldn't be worried 
about trying it out.

Tony

www.oakleysound.com