Building a ham radio transceiver:ATS3B by Steven Weber KD1JV

[Manu404]

you have some bad soldering point but anyway this is nice ^^

why haven't you used this technic : watch?v=wQXhny3R7lk

instead of soldering each legs one by one ?

[TheHappyWhaleshark]

LoL i thought you were making it out of ham

[poikaa3]

I assembled the ATS-3A, using a low wattage pencil and it turned out fine! High magnification and taking my time the whole kit went together in two days and was running proper right off the get go! The DDS chip was difficult because the legs were so fine and close, but one by one I did it! Great kit! 72 Rod KB8DNS

[kc7fys]

@poikaa3 Yes, I have heard of people making this kit with all kinds of soldering tools. I'm not entirely sure, but most modern soldering is done with hot air reflow methods--most hi fi equipment, communications equipment, and computers--but there are still people melting solder with a secondary source like another hot piece of steel. I prefer air for small stuff like this, just to eliminate the guesswork.

[darynsax]

Well done bud ,this is what the radio hobby is all about ,giving it a go and we all have to start somewhere

[CircuitGuy75]

That is interesting. I don't understand why you didn't just use a soldering iron. It seems like more trouble to put paste on the pads, put the parts on, and then reflow, unless you're a pick-and-place machine.  Is this just to show it's possible? Why not use a roll of solder and an iron?

[kc7fys]

Because of the size of this device, the multitude of tiny specks of parts and minuscule pins. Using solder paste was a much more reliable way to make sure they all had reliable joints. I was impressed--and with so little heat. I might have destroyed many of the parts with a conventional iron. That's why I used the Cash Olson method with this particular SMD device. I used a conventional iron plenty, too--for the through-hold parts and etc.

[CircuitGuy75]

It looks like a lot more work than soldering the parts with a fine-tip iron, but I've never tried that method. When I first learned to solder SMT 10 years ago, I thought it would be harder than through-hole, and now I think it's easier; so it's possible there's a better way to stuff an SMT board than what I do.

[kc7fys]

You certainly could be right. I think there are merits to each method. In this case, the extreme small size and need for precision took me to paste. I was surprised at the ease of use, and every part is perfectly centered on the fillet by surface tension.

Nothing beats an iron, however, in most cases.

[RetroRepair]

I think CIrcuitGuy might be trying to show off. This method is almost required for a board that dense. I couldn't imagine how long it'd take to solder all that up by hand. Came out great too.

Also, 5 stars for singing loved ones :-D

[kc7fys]

I know guys who did this board with a soldering iron, and didn't mess it up. I don't see any reason to use that method--except if you associate "soldering" with a hot iron. Hot air did it just great. Thanks for the comment.

[randyonweb]

autsch

das tuet richtig weh

lueget nech die lötstelle ah

so grässlech xD

[kc9mav]

Am I going crazy or am I hearing CW in the background in the beginning?

[trcwm]

add &fmt=18 to the URL; the video will be much clearer.

[kc7fys]

Why is that--the video is crystal clear. Why isn't that the default URL? How can I change all of my videos?

[trcwm]

I'm unsure why this isn't the default setting on YouTube. I just found out about this URL option. It works on many videos, but it doesn't show up in the video settings.

[Nudnik88]

Well i tell you, this is pretty far from proper reflow-process...

[kc7fys]

Yes, that's right. The radio works perfectly, even with this rather crude process. Thanks for the compliment.

[yudiwebpersonal]

thats it? where's the part II?

[karlskronanisse]

your weldings is just looking like shit from hell. i weld better when i was 8 years old and i can say that on the bible, for now on i have military aircraft welding license, was extreamly hard to do, and needs to redo every 3 years.

[kc7fys]

Lovely English. Tell us more about your welding license.

[karlskronanisse]

well, just send me a email and i will send you my msn adress, then i will tell you everything about it when we chatt on msn.

[poikaa3]

I built mine, ATS-3a, in March of 05. I used a 5 watt grounded pen from RS and shaped the point. I did not mass the soldier on any IC, hence I did not have to "clean" up any globs. Worked perfect right off the bat! Great rig!!

[kc7fys]

It really is. Thanks.

[AG4WT]

WHAT WERE YOU DOING? AG4WT

[kc7fys]

I went in and cleaned it up with a scriber tool. Dodgy, but it worked GREAT. I am a strong believer in hot air now. I was totally skeptical, but it turns out the other hams were just describing it in a way I didn't understand.

BTW, I'm getting on PSK with this rig--thanks to YOUR vid. Stay posted... 7J1AWL

[K7AGE]

Looks good. How was the cleanup around that one IC. I have a softrock kit to build! I bought a couple of starter kits at Pacificon before I build the softrock. Randy

[kc7fys]

Randy-san,

Have you started on your softrock?

I was very impressed with your trip to Beijing. You know well to expect the unexpected and not to expect the expected--something like that--when travelling outside of English-speaking countries.

Best 73,

Jonathan 7J1AWL