jlarryh@... writes:
>> Even if you can't afford a nice Panavise or something, one of those little
$5 jobbies with the alligator clips really work fine too when you REALLY need
that 3rd hand.<<
I have been using one of those little "dual helping hands" for years, and I
don't know what I would do without it in some situations.
>>but I check every resistor with my Fluke before soldering them in. Even in
good light, the colors are just not all that clear at times. Red and orange
are very different on some, yet almost identical on others. Same for brown
and violet. Hell, maybe I'm just getting old and blind.<<
You are not getting old and blind. The browns, oranges and violets on the
blue high quality resistors are almost indistinguishable from each other at
times. Why they can't use brighter and more pronounced colors I would like
to know.
Useful Tip: for those who are using one of those handy $3 lead benders.
Have you found yourself bending the leads of those little axial ceramic
capacitors and then tried to insert them into the PCB only to find that the
holes are spaced narrower than the resistor and diode holes, rendering your
lead bender useless, while you cursed the name Paul Schreiber out loud ? Me
too ? The solution is to firmly push the capacitor into the round hole in
the top of the lead bender, which is used to hang the thing up, and bend the
leads around that narrow portion of the lead bender. It will give you a
perfect fit.
-Elhardt