MOTM

> What is "SMT?"
> 

SMT = surface mount technology. Resistors and capacitors are reduced 
to the size of a gnat's ass, and have no legs. The board has no 
holes, just tiny pads that the exposed ends of the parts solder to. 
ICs have leads that are thousandths of an inch apart instead of 
hundredths.

It's very high density packaging, designed for modern production 
electronics. The parts are basically too small to be handled by hand, 
and must be placed and soldered by precision robotic machines.

Aside from possible audio emasculation from shrunken down circuit 
paths, many people on this list love the act of assembly, and are 
opposed to SMT on general principles for that reason. You will never 
be able to easily repair a module years down the road if it is SMT.

OTOH, Paul will have increasing difficulty as time goes on in 
sourcing parts for traditional through-hole design. Many of these 
parts are disappearing, and can only be purchased as SMT.

So we kit builders and module hot rodders need to enjoy it for as 
long as we can.

Moe