[sdiy] Burr Brown OPA2134PA DIP

[brianw]

Admittedly, I'm spoiled by living in big cities where assembly services (like JLCPCB) are a short drive from home.

I feel like I'm doing more than enough DIY by drawing up my own schematics and performing my own circuit board layout. I used to etch my own printed circuit boards until I got punched in the face by chlorine gas. Now, given that it's easy to create standard Gerber files for such things, I prefer to hire people to do the tasks like SMD soldering.

I have no interest in buying a second-hand Toast-R-Oven and spending time hacking that to create my own SMT oven. I'd rather let someone who has professional gear and daily experience do this for me. Then I have more time to spend on circuit design and component selection.

That said, I do have some basic rework tools, including Weller soldering tweezers, so I can swap components without a round trip to the assembly shop. I suppose that means placing one op-amp on a DIP adapter PCB would not be too much trouble.

Brian


On May 11, 2026, at 11:49 AM, Mike Bryant <mbryant at futurehorizons.com> wrote:
> 
> 	• I just use 3x reading glasses. Works well for me for 0805 at least.
> 
> I just use JLCPCB 😄
> 
> From: Synth-diy <synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org> on behalf of p. hendricks via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org>
> Sent: 11 May 2026 18:20
> To: synth-diy at synth-diy.org <synth-diy at synth-diy.org>
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] Burr Brown OPA2134PA DIP
>  
> On 5/9/26 6:29 AM, Pete Hartman via Synth-diy wrote:
> 
> 
> On Sat, May 9, 2026 at 7:00 AM rrsounds via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
> I don’t think anyone does SMD soldering without some form (or, my case, forms) of magnification.
> 
> Well maybe I'm the exception?  I have not found a comfortable and usable form of magnification for the soldering itself.  Doing 0805 and soic I generally haven't had any trouble without, despite being very nearsighted all my life.  I do have a headset magnifier and a desktop USB microscope but they're for inspection not soldering.
> 
> I just use 3x reading glasses. Works well for me for 0805 at least.