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SX20

ElectronegativityElectronegativity Posts: 311
edited 2005-08-21 04:06 in General Discussion
I have in front of me an SX20 chip that came in the mail today.
Its compactness is both alluring and daunting.
Surely the possibilities for such a device are limited only by the imagination, but as I am a graduate of the Big Blob School of Soldering, this poor chip has much to fear.

Fabricating a circuit board in my basement with such fine lines seems like it would be fraught with difficulties, and the mounting process would most likely result in a microcontroller that was 60% tin and 40% lead.

If anyone out there in ElectronLand has a success story about the SX20 then I would be very interested to hear it.

shocked.gif

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I wonder if this wire is hot...

Comments

  • KenMKenM Posts: 657
    edited 2005-08-20 02:38
    Surface mount is not as hard as it may seem.

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    Ken
  • ElectronegativityElectronegativity Posts: 311
    edited 2005-08-20 02:40
    Details are more useful than they may seem... smile.gif

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    I wonder if this wire is hot...
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2005-08-20 04:36
    There are techniques to make the job easier, the quickest to master is the drag soldering method as shown in this video. Key is to use flux (water soluable or no clean), don't ride too high on the pins (bridging occurs), and most important: make sure the chip is properly aligned. And until your comfortable, continuity check all adjacent pins to hunt for bridges.

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    ·1+1=10
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2005-08-20 15:38
    Read MY inspirational thread about diving into the world of SMT here

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=538861

    Truly it is not that hard. It does take some practice, but I bet I only ruined about 10 chips before I got it down pat.
    Now I can solder the SX48 chips with a pitch of only 0.5mm (0.020").

    I know somewhere you can buy "dummy" chips that are packages with nothing in them. Of course you have to have something to solder them onto.

    Bean.

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    "SX-Video·Module" Now available from Parallax for only $28.95

    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30012

    Product web site: www.sxvm.com

    "One experiment is worth a thousand theories"
    ·
  • ElectronegativityElectronegativity Posts: 311
    edited 2005-08-20 23:52
    Thanks guys, I'll give it a shot sometime.

    Right now I don't have enought cash to set myself up for PCB construction.
    Maybe parralax would consider selling little boards like this:

    http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=276-159

    that were set up to mount an SX20 with leads that ran out to standard .1'' drilled contacts.

    -Alexander

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    I wonder if this wire is hot...
  • ForrestForrest Posts: 1,341
    edited 2005-08-21 02:48
    Sparkfun sells a 20 pin SSOP to DIP breakout board for $2.95 - should work great with the SX20

    www.sparkfun.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cart=352722&cat=66&
  • ElectronegativityElectronegativity Posts: 311
    edited 2005-08-21 03:35
    Thanks Forrest, That's exactly what I was looking for!

    I just ordered 6 of them.

    yeah.gif

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    I wonder if this wire is hot...
  • ForrestForrest Posts: 1,341
    edited 2005-08-21 04:06
    Your welcome cool.gif
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