Finished my second board tonight! http://http://www.planetjay.com/bus-pirate-3-5a-soic-build/ Again a very difficult build, but very happy with it. Couldn't get my Pickit 3 to work at all under Mac OS X 10.7 so I ended up programming it under Ubuntu Linux instead. Still having an odd problem that I have to reboot the computer every time I reconnect the BP or it won't communicate. Pressing Enter does make the USB LED flash though. :/ Blaming Linux for that one. Also yes there's a solder bridge (as required) on the 4066. :)
I used to have a difficult time soldering SMD but man I swear its the flux. Having no flux its very hard and never comes out looking good; having OK flux its a bit easier but still looks crappy, having good flux you just swipe the iron across the pins and everything magically solders itself beautifully!
im in this whole flux phase of buying different fluxes and I have came to the conclusion on two fluxes! chipquik SMD 291; very good flux but expensive, like 13$ for 10cc. And my second favorite, only because its cheaper and very comparable to chipquik is AMTECH NC-559-ASM thats ~3.50$ for 10cc...
but I still reccomend chipquik because that 10cc bottle will last you well over a year with medium soldering time... but if you are unwilling to spend that much on just flux; then go on ebay and pickup some of the AMTECH.
I have yet to try what Ian uses; but the both the AMTECH and CHIPQUIK and Ians flux have a very similar white with a yellow ting look to them, so I bet they are all basicly the same... Just the CHIPQUIK is a tiny bit darker and has a different smell. So im guessing the chipquik over the amtech is a bit higher quality (better be for the price). Cant speak on Ians.
I promises your attitude about SMD soldering will change.
edit: oh and of course a sharp Iron tip; trying to solder SMD without a sharp tip (like as sharp as one of those soic leads at its point) then you might as well be soldering with chalk as your flux, as it wont help much :3 )
I did used the Chipquik SMD 291 and even posted a pic of it in my last build pics. :) http://www.planetjay.com/bus-pirate-shi ... ino-build/ (http://www.planetjay.com/bus-pirate-shield-for-arduino-build/) I don't think I could have completed the build without it. So far I have 5 tips for my Hakko FX-888 and I'm looking at getting 2 more. I'm already planning my next builds. I'm hoping to get good enough to eventually build my own projects from scratch.
Nice build, thanks for the post.
I have yet to try what Ian uses; but the both the AMTECH and CHIPQUIK and Ians flux have a very similar white with a yellow ting look to them, so I bet they are all basicly the same
I would guess super similar. My only criteria was kinda white-ish and in a syringe. My old stuff was from Philips and made in the 80s, no idea, it worked fine. The new stuff is better, but not sure if it is because it is fresh, or because of the formulation.