<div dir="ltr"><div>I don't use an oven, hot air, paste or stencils, and all my DIY is for my own use. I don't do anything with crazy tiny packages or BGA/QFN<br></div><div><br></div><div>For passives/diodes/transistors I put a blob of solder on one pad, heat it, place the part, hold it until the joint cools, then do a few more parts (only the same part value to help avoid errors!) the same way, and circle back and do the remaining pads<br></div><div><br></div><div>For SMD ICs I'll tack a pair of opposite corner pins in place and then do the drag soldering thing with some no-clean flux</div><div><br></div><div>I'm curious about trying low-volume outsourced assembly though (eg. Seeed's "Fusion" service) just for the experience of trying it. I enjoy the schematic capture and board layout process in Eagle — especially since I added automatic generation of front panel PCBs to my workflow! — but frankly I don't enjoy the assembly process that much anymore<br></div><div><br></div><div>John<br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 24 May 2021 at 22:01, Benjamin Tremblay via Synth-diy <<a href="mailto:synth-diy@synth-diy.org">synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Hey, please steer me in the right direction for a minimalist inexpensive smt workflow I can get started with. I love nonlinear circuits modules but afraid to build them. I had a dream a golden retriever was trying to talk to me, maybe that’s what it was trying to tell me.<br>
Thanks,<br>
Ben<br>
<br>
Benjamin Tremblay<br>
<br>
> On May 24, 2021, at 5:26 AM, Roman Sowa <<a href="mailto:modular@go2.pl" target="_blank">modular@go2.pl</a>> wrote:<br>
> <br>
> Steve has already commented it so nicely, I just want to add a little.<br>
> <br>
> First of all it's good you want to do anything with electronics at all and not spend all day wiggling a phone. If it's SMD or DIP is not a showstopper IMHO, all doable at home. There are also salvaged parts, you can make huge stock of parts by disassembling old disposed equipment. As a free bonus your soldering skills will improve.<br>
> About your fat chisel tip - don't assume SMD needs thin tips. Most of the time I use 2mm wide chisel for SMD, sometimes 5mm wide.<br>
> <br>
> This is a good way of distraction from survival between paychecks, keep it up. It's fun with lots of specialized tools and materials, but it's even bigger fun with improvised minimal setup.<br>
> <br>
> Roman<br>
> <br>
> W dniu 2021-05-22 o 15:07, Benjamin Tremblay via Synth-diy pisze:<br>
>> I can accept that things are changing. But, the loss of through-hole larger components is a loss for me. I can adjust, but it is a loss.<br>
>> I don’t have much money for electronics. My purchases come in drips. $15 or $8 here and there. I’m using a fat chisel tip on my soldering iron because I don’t have budget for a new set of tips. I’m low on solder.<br>
>> I’m not going to have capital for tools and pcb fabrication. I never will. I use what I can get, and that’s how I will carry on. I do happen to have a cheap soldering microscope, but no nifty tools to make smt convenient. I was able to tack a ram chip onto my Teensy the stupid way and I know every time I do it that way I roll the dice to see how many times I have to do-over until all the pins are properly connected.<br>
>> Electronics will never be about gear or toys or well-stocked shelves above my tidy workbench. It’s how I distract myself while doing the calculus of survival between paychecks.<br>
>> Benjamin Tremblay<br>
>>>> On May 22, 2021, at 8:50 AM, Tom Wiltshire <<a href="mailto:tom@electricdruid.net" target="_blank">tom@electricdruid.net</a>> wrote:<br>
>>> <br>
>>> <br>
>>> In my opinion, trustworthiness of the source, primarily.<br>
>>> <br>
>>> On eBay, you’re buying a chip. It might have the right number of legs. It might be marked with the right writing. It might even be the right chip. But that’s definitely not always the case.<br>
>>> <br>
>>> <br>
>>>> On 22 May 2021, at 11:22, ShedSynth via Synth-diy <<a href="mailto:synth-diy@synth-diy.org" target="_blank">synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a>> wrote:<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> What are the practical differences between the TI/CoolAudio LM13700 and eBay<br>
>>>> items like these which still appear to have stock?<br>
>>>> <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162776473998" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162776473998</a><br>
>>>> <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172160273446" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172160273446</a><br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> Thanks,<br>
>>>> Al<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> -----Original Message-----<br>
>>>> From: Synth-diy <<a href="mailto:synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org" target="_blank">synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org</a>> On Behalf Of<br>
>>>> <a href="mailto:mskala@ansuz.sooke.bc.ca" target="_blank">mskala@ansuz.sooke.bc.ca</a><br>
>>>> Sent: 19 May 2021 13:07<br>
>>>> To: <a href="mailto:synth-diy@synth-diy.org" target="_blank">synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a><br>
>>>> Subject: [sdiy] DIP LM13700 discontinuation<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> It seems Texas Instruments is discontinuing the LM13700N - that is the DIP<br>
>>>> version of the part. Mouser lists it as "End of Life" and links to this<br>
>>>> discontinuation notice dated May 12, 2021, with the last order date May 12,<br>
>>>> 2022:<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> <a href="https://www.mouser.com/PCN/Texas_Instruments_PCN20210505000_2021051212340278" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mouser.com/PCN/Texas_Instruments_PCN20210505000_2021051212340278</a><br>
>>>> .pdf<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> I haven't been able to find this notice on the TI Web site, which still<br>
>>>> shows the product's status as "active," including the DIP version.<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> CoolAudio makes a 13700 clone and their data sheet describes both DIP and<br>
>>>> SOIC versions, but the DIP seems to be a unicorn. CoolAudio doesn't sell it<br>
>>>> on their Web site, neither do any distributors, and a Web search for the<br>
>>>> purported part number of V13700D only turns up the data sheet. I don't<br>
>>>> believe it really exists in any way accessible to hobbyists. Maybe they'd<br>
>>>> make it for you if you ordered a million units.<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> A Chinese manufacturer called "XinLuDa" offers a DIP dual operational<br>
>>>> transconductance amplifier called the XD13700, available through LCSC, which<br>
>>>> seems to be a clone; I don't know how faithful it is or isn't. They do note<br>
>>>> in their data sheet that there are differences in the buffer units between<br>
>>>> the XD13700 and XL13700 (which is their own surface-mount version of a<br>
>>>> similar part). Interestingly, they claim that the DIP version is better -<br>
>>>> in which case why make them different at all?<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> Alfa offers a 3280 clone (data sheet says both DIP and SOIC, but the Web<br>
>>>> site only lists the SOIC); and something called the AS13704, which is a<br>
>>>> 13700-like OTA in a quad instead of dual configuration, and only in SOIC.<br>
>>>> Neither can directly replace a DIP 13700.<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> I think the 13700 may be a bellwether for through-hole packages in general.<br>
>>>> As basically the last OTA to be available in a through-hole version from a<br>
>>>> major manufacturer, it has a big share of the market for through-hole analog<br>
>>>> electronics. If it makes sense to discontinue this product, that means the<br>
>>>> market in question is now too small to be worth serving anymore, and that<br>
>>>> assessment will be applied to other products too. Memento mori.<br>
>>>> <br>
>>>> --<br>
>>>> Matthew Skala<br>
>>>> <a href="mailto:mskala@ansuz.sooke.bc.ca" target="_blank">mskala@ansuz.sooke.bc.ca</a> People before tribes.<br>
>>>> <a href="https://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/</a><br>
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</blockquote></div>