Homebrew PCBs

"Keith Doxey" <ukha@...> writes:

> Hope I can get on with SMT stuff, my eyesight is geting so bad that
> I need a magnifying glass to read the numbers on ordinary DIP chips
> now,

I've got a magnifying visor I use with 2.5x and 3.75x optics for it.
It's an OptiVisor, made by Donegan Optical Co in the USA.  Woodcraft
sells them.  The 2.5x is about right for most work; the 3.75x is for
the tiniest parts.

> got some SMT samples that are so small they look as if they just
> have one very wide flat pin on each side :(

I'm starting to get "old eyes" but with the visor I can still hand
solder down to 01005 caps (16 mil x 8 mil):

http://www.delorie.com/pcb/smd-challenge/proto-boards.html
http://www.delorie.com/pcb/smd-challenge/fp-pix/