Basically the chips in the package have a guaranteed period where they won't absorb moisture...so they are given a lifetime in the sealed bag & then a number of hours to be soldered before they absorb a certain amount of moisture...beyond either of those limits &
it's recommended to dry them in an oven before they are soldered onto the board.
It's a bit more complex than that, but it gives the basic idea.
Can't remember if it's the risk of moisture boiling off & breaking the plastic encapsulation in the chip and/or possible tarnishing on the pins/pads which degrades the solderability
General Stuff(tm)
- stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)
I wonder if it's actually the lead free solder which absorbs water and hence that won't flow once it's hydrated.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
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Re: General Stuff(tm)
Continuing the theme of "Ooops, I did it again." on the forums. I seem to have won an eBay auction for an Amstrad CPC 6128 + green screen monitor, modulator box and games all for £117. I'll have to drive over to Bristol to collect it the weekend after next.
Only submitting a bid 15 seconds before the end certainly works.
Given how much CPC 6128s usually go for on FleaBay these days this was a bargain.
Only submitting a bid 15 seconds before the end certainly works.
Given how much CPC 6128s usually go for on FleaBay these days this was a bargain.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
- Contact:
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Well, it looks like ParcelFarce aren't going to be delivering my RS Components order today given that they're apparently still stuck in the delivery office (driver shortage?), which means I won't be able to check the Apricot's bus signal timing.
Bother!
Bother!
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
- Contact:
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Designed a Cypress Semiconductor CY62167GE TSOP-I to DIP converter board this morning and seeing how much getting on assembled by PCBWay will be. A bit expensive as they're 4 layer boards though.
Let's see how that gets on.
Otherwise, I'm at a bit of a dead end due to the DIN plug units I ordered from RS Components weren't delivered yesterday so I can't look at the bus control timings on the Apricot.
P.S. In lieu of all this, and the posting about what machines we have, I'm creating a spreadsheet of all my gubbins.
Let's see how that gets on.
Otherwise, I'm at a bit of a dead end due to the DIN plug units I ordered from RS Components weren't delivered yesterday so I can't look at the bus control timings on the Apricot.
P.S. In lieu of all this, and the posting about what machines we have, I'm creating a spreadsheet of all my gubbins.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
- Contact:
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Hmm.. The reviewers at PCBWay keep rejecting my Gerber files as unopenable even though they are being generated in precisely the same way as I have before. :-/
P.S. Submitting without requesting assembly worked. Submitted a separate assembly quote request now.
P.S. Submitting without requesting assembly worked. Submitted a separate assembly quote request now.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
- Contact:
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Wooo! I just levelled up on PCBWay.
I went from "Bella Yu" (level 2) to "Yolanda Chen" (level 3) after ordering the assembly of one of the SRAM TSOP to DIP adapters with a CY SRAM chip soldered on top.
No bosses to fight yet though.
I went from "Bella Yu" (level 2) to "Yolanda Chen" (level 3) after ordering the assembly of one of the SRAM TSOP to DIP adapters with a CY SRAM chip soldered on top.
No bosses to fight yet though.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
- Contact:
Re: General Stuff(tm)
I've been in Twitter conversation with the person running the retro computer festival weekend being held at the Centre for the History of Computing in Cambridge on the 9th/10th October about possibly exhibiting stuff there, along with Binary Dinosaurs etc.
I'm not sure what to exhibit though. I could do "unusual British Micros from the mid-80s" with the Memotechs and Apricots, and maybe Sinclair QL, or I could show off the ST+TF536+switcher board and the TT or I could do something completely different, early Sun SPARCstations. Too many choices!
In other news, I brought the Apricot F2 out of storage so as to measure up the expansion card slot area as I knew that the steel shield was a bit different. This has meant a slight redesign of the board.
Anyway, whilst it's here I thought I'd have a proper play with GEM version 1.2.
So similar to the ST GEM and yet so different.
I'm not sure what to exhibit though. I could do "unusual British Micros from the mid-80s" with the Memotechs and Apricots, and maybe Sinclair QL, or I could show off the ST+TF536+switcher board and the TT or I could do something completely different, early Sun SPARCstations. Too many choices!
In other news, I brought the Apricot F2 out of storage so as to measure up the expansion card slot area as I knew that the steel shield was a bit different. This has meant a slight redesign of the board.
Anyway, whilst it's here I thought I'd have a proper play with GEM version 1.2.
So similar to the ST GEM and yet so different.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- stephen_usher
- Posts: 5661
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK.
- Contact:
Re: General Stuff(tm)
It looks like I'll be exhibiting stuff at the Retro Computer Festival in Cambridge in October.
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/ ... h-October/
I've still to decide what to take. I have a 1.8m long table so I can only really have a couple of working machines, with some extra static display.
I could do:
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/ ... h-October/
I've still to decide what to take. I have a 1.8m long table so I can only really have a couple of working machines, with some extra static display.
I could do:
- Unusual British computers from the mid-80s. (Memotechs & Apricots (floppy converter and maybe RAM board) and possibly Sinclair QL (with Super Gold Card clone))
- Accelerated Atari ST (520STFM+TF536 and CPU switch board) and Atari TT030.
- Or something else.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
- rubber_jonnie
- Site Admin
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Re: General Stuff(tm)
Very cool you're going to exhibit there, I sometimes go up in October for my birthday, it's a great little place. Sadly I won't be able to go this year, hope you have a great time and show off your machine
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...