#218

[@michael_pa4mic]

Oh Nice subject! Will go watching this for sure to night. Thanks as always😎

[@jeffminnick5209]

Great topic on this video, and your skills are over the top as usual 73

[@TRXLab]

Thank you!

[@alexanderm7316]

It`s a brilliant,very impressive job.

[@TRXLab]

Thank you

[@billnicholson2470]

Very well done Peter. Even if I had the tools I doubt I would be able to do that. It takes alot of experience for sure. Nice job. Thanks for sharing!

[@TRXLab]

Thank you!

[@cookiebeariscool]

Great job , I have hot air but have never used it..... Must give it a try on an old board so I don't mess up a good one....thanks

[@TRXLab]

hope your hot air is strong enough. Mine is 1300 Watt. If it don't work in your case you have a hint what the problem could be...

[@dg9bfc]

on old revision (versionB) you should put the tcxo a bit away from the trx chip on a tiny extra board (a 2x2 solder spot board works well) ... and some tcxo are OPEN from below so i would not use that flux or solder paste on those clocks

[@jenniferlachance351]

Well done! Thank you for another brilliant "how to" video!

[@TRXLab]

Thank you

[@MrKelendros]

Hi peter i was this morning practising microsoldering with a trash board (Im baaaad yet), and i find from my favourite channel a tutorial about that today hehe, thx peter was nice to see the methodic procedure you follow.

[@TRXLab]

ah very good! Hope your hot air has enough power because one reason for being not successful is a low powered hot air station. Mine has 1330 Watt at 230volt

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

I was thinking of looking at a heated plate to raise the PCB temperature to get the ground plane hot and spread the thermal loading to avoid thermal shock to the large IC’s. Love your video’s and would love to see an old school FT102 amp section repair.

[@TRXLab]

yes you are right for job's like this a pre heater would be gold standard. But in the case of this video you would have not been able to see what ground plane can do...

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

@@TRXLab Have you had much to do with a FT102, I have one with power issues. low on 80M and goes down to 10W on 10m?

[@marcelobahl7655]

Hello, a beautiful job, which for a layman will never know that this TCXO exchange was made, a pity that I couldn't see it working. Hahaha Big hug, health and all. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

[@TRXLab]

Thank you!

[@douro20]

I'd put a label on it saying 'TCXO Enabled'.

[@rjordans]

Tricky part indeed! I typically help the process along with a soldering iron on the ground plans side when removing something like this. Just push the component to the side when it gets loose and pick it up later with some tweezers

[@TRXLab]

that is a way to handle it but I prefer more a pre heater

[@rjordans]

@@TRXLab, I agree, a preheater would be nice to have

[@monraet]

Great Video... Thanks. What is the voltage at the VCC pin?

[@t1d100]

Not to be critical; it's was a tough job, but... It appeared to me that you were creating a few problems that slowed the reflow process, during the removal of the original TCXO... All related to the use of the tweezers... One, you moved the tweezers in too soon and covered the left two pads, preventing heat from reaching them... Two, by testing for the release of the IC, too soon, by attempting to lift it with the tweezers, the tweezers became a heat sink and sucked all the heat away from the IC. The take-away is to have patience and watch the solder for it to reflow, before moving in with the tweezers. The solder will show/tell you when it is ready. And, keep the tweezers on the edge of the airflow, to keep them warm, so, when they are applied after reflow, they will not suck the heat out of the IC. Still, a thumbs up...

[@TRXLab]

Well everyone has his own experience so nothing wrong with your views...

[@radarwill]

Well that is one way, but I would use braid and a good iron to suck off most of the solder then use hot air.

[@wakkowarner7391]

On jobs like this I use a hot plate to heat the whole board up and if that's not enough it's over to the BGA machine.

[@TRXLab]

good approach!

[@thunderbuilt77]

Nice work. Right tools for the job.

[@TRXLab]

Thanks

[@MicheIIePucca]

Wow.. so easy to get a cold solder joint too on these things if you don't do it correctly.

[@TRXLab]

yes that is correct!

[@KD0CAC]

I think your having TOO MUCH fun ;) Thanks again

[@TRXLab]

lol I always have fun

[@Drvarnick]

My friend, you forgot to mention what crystal you use. Can we have the type you order and where we can buy it? Thnaks 😊

[@laser-on-off]

Next step : ceramic tweezers. ^^ DO you heat the PCB from the bottom, under side with some hot plate ? It may help a lot. Thanks for the video, we see things very well, and it is not easy to film. Great job !

[@TRXLab]

no, ceramic is too porous.

[@Gengh13]

For those components with only a couple of pins I prefer to use the hot tweezers and the soldering iron, you can easily heat 4 pads without needing hot air.

[@mrbambix]

wow Peter, at some point i need to do this to my AdaLM pluto as well good to see how you did it and indeed that groundplane... ;-)

[@TRXLab]

yeah the original one is crap

[@richarde735]

good morning from the usa you can not really appreciate how small that component is, until you zoom out. nice job!

[@TRXLab]

Yeah you never see how small they really are if you see them under the microscope only

[@88njtrigg88]

Watch out for tweezers becoming a heat sink..

[@88njtrigg88]

@goinghomesomeday1 Agreed... I'm going to attempt this however l don't normally get it right the first time. This is video is an excellent tutorial.

[@VideoRanger]

Nice work. I see it takes a lot of practice and experience to do this properly. Thanks for the video ES 73 OM.

[@TRXLab]

Thanks!

[@user-Mark750]

Fortunately, with the new Rev C/D of Adalm Pluto hardware, there is no need to solder on the board for this. Just make a small board or feed in any external clock - 2 firmware variables changed and the Pluto is running with an external clock - I've tried here 10 MHz and 25 MHz 100 mV pp up to 3.3V pp - nice improvement by AD !!! 🙂

[@johnwaldburger8822]

Nice demonstration. Can you tell us a bit about the hot air station you are using and the tape that you were using. Thanks

[@TRXLab]

Thanks. HAKKO FR-810B and capton tape

[@catalinalb1722]

Great to see this from your Channel. Hopefully you will do a review as well.

[@davidholman2536]

I found that I was blowing the hot air at the 25ppm tcxo for over 3 minutes. My new oscillator is on a daughter board away from the hot processors and works well. I wonder how much easier this would be with Chip quick de soldering kit?

[@TRXLab]

I personally don't like the chipquick desoldering kit but I know others like it very much. For this job you need a pre heater in addition and a powerful hot air station...

[@claudio6493]

Thanks.... The best 👍👍👍👍

[@TRXLab]

Thanks for watching

[@verschalter]

Thanks for the solder practice video. I train myself on old PCBAs out of the garbage bin. I have one question Peter. What type of FLUX do you use on these jobs? Thanks for your feedback. 73

[@TRXLab]

Thank you! I'm using chipquik smd291. Hope your hot air has enough power because one reason for being not successful is a low powered hot air station. Mine has 1300 Watt at 230volt

[@tombouie]

Quick off topic question: ?Is the USD2.0 speed limit (~0.5Gbps) bottleneck the Pluto SDR in any way?

[@OleF112]

Yes, this little pieces can drive you crazy.. that happend to me often on 4 layer pcb with massive groundplane, or multipacks with center heat sink. It got better with my new hot air station (1000W) and the PACE direct heated tips with extra thermal mass. It worked much better for me than my trusty Hakko. Good job, i hope it will work out good in pratical use of this SDR. 73 de Olaf!

[@TRXLab]

Yes you are right that can drive you crazy...Was für eine Station benutzt du? Meine Hakko hat 1300watt Aufnahmelaistung bei 230Volt. Was ist diese PACE Lösung? Für diesen job sollte man eine Unterhitze einsetzen. Was ist deine Erfahung?

[@OleF112]

@@TRXLab Peter, meine alte Hakko HotAir war End of Life und wörtlich "zerbröselt". Ich nutze seit über einem Jahr die Quick 861DW, besonders wegen der gebogenen Tüllen. Ich bin mehr als begeistert! Mein Hakko FX 951 Setup habe ich mit der Pace ADS200 ergänzt und den Ultra-Spitzen. Ich nutze Pace seit Jahren fürs Entlöten, die Qualität ist sehr gut, vor allem für die Verbrauchsteile. wann immer ich kann heize ich kleinere Boards mit PC oder Multilayer auf 60-65 Grad vor. Dazu habe ich einen kleinen Tischofen. Eine preiswertes elek. Thermostat mit PT 100 tut den Job. Sobald das PCB durchwärmt ist, hat man i.d.R. genug Zeit zum Arbeiten, da komplett durchgewärmt. 40 K mehr machen eine Menge aus. Es geht auch mit einem Heissluftföhn oder Haartrockner, aber ich finde dann stresst man punktuell. Ich kann die Quick und die Pace nur sehr ans Herz legen, der Ofen ist preiswert neu zu haben. Ich habe es mal mit Infrarot-Gestell probiert, ist mir zu sperrig und zu teuer. Wenn Du noch was wissen magst, schreib einfach eine kurze Mail. Gruß Olaf

[@TRXLab]

Okay super danke Olaf! Die Pace schaue ich mir mal an weil ich auch etwas neues zum entlöten brauche...

[@pda49184]

That looked 'very' tricky Peter.. Just shows you definitely need the right equipment to attempt this procedure. Even then ! ! .. Nice to see you back again. Prost und Bier .. 73 Pete (G4RYO).

[@TRXLab]

Absolutely right but this job should be done with a pre heater in addition so you need even more tools...

[@pda49184]

@@TRXLab Ha-ha, I knew nothing about the pre-heater.. I think I'll stick to through-hole PCB and turret boards 🤓...

[@bblod4896]

Great demonstration Peter. The only good point about SMD devices, for many repairs, you don't have to remove the PCB. Bad points: Extremely small size, which as you stated, can be blown away with a puff of air (try to find the part!). Ground plains that suck up all the heat, no lead solder, working under a microscope, expensive rework station, old hands that shake a bit, tweezers that flick the part into neverland 🤯. Guess you can't fight the future. Thanks for the video.

[@TRXLab]

Thank you! I agree with your points but your last sentence is the most important one..we really can't fight the future :-)

[@FordSeniorMaster]

Peter, May I ask, what PCB holder it is you are using?? It looks quite good and versatile. Vielen dank! Patrick

[@douro20]

Who made that TCXO?

[@TRXLab]

I don't know

[@tl2797]

I'll have to swipe out mine too soon :)

[@Mentorcase]

I thought you would have used solder paste to reattach it with just the heat nozzle and let it find it's own centre.

[@TRXLab]

no I don't use solder paste as I don't nee to re-ball BGA's very often....

[@werners.2969]

Which temperature did you choose for your hot air tool?

[@TRXLab]

390°C

[@jerseybob4471]

What kind of tape did you use?

[@PY4SR]

Kapton tape

[@greengrayradio1394]

Nice! Maybe a heater on the underside would have helped

[@TRXLab]

that is exactly what you need

[@TKomoski]

I thought the damn thing was glued down during production. Peter it's crooked but that's okay with the case on, you won't see it from 40,000 ft. Anyways glad it was a short video I only had three donuts. Always the best Saturday morning Cheers 73

[@TRXLab]

Yeah that often happens that parts are glued but according to my experience the glue is not heat resistant enough to hold the part on the pcb..

[@TKomoski]

@@TRXLab I thought that too when you applied heat from the iron

[@MrS3NS3]

Habe vor kurzen den Oszillator vom FY6900 Funktionsgenerator gegen einen VC-TCXO getauscht. Da meine eigentliche alte Heissluft Station nicht mehr richtig heiss wurde musste ich einen richtigen Heissluftföhn (Regelbar, auf 280°C) nehmen :) Ging sehr gut, pustet aber den TCXO durch die Gegend, war schon eine Herrausforderung. Wenn man fragen darf, was nutzt du für ein Flussmittel? Scheint sehr gut zu sein und nicht alles voll zu sauen. Ich nehme aktuell Rosin Activated Flux 835 von MG Chemicals, richtig gut, aber "ANTI-NoClean" ;)

[@TRXLab]

Yes it is never easy that is why I have done this video... Ich benutze schon seit langer Zeit kein Rosin mehr.. Ich nute chipquik smd291..

[@milanm2239]

Good morning from Canada

[@TRXLab]

Good Morning

[@1112223333111]

did it work?

[@TRXLab]

LOL it still works :-) and no complaints from the owner

[@ksafarian]

it took 9:20 to remove a component

[@TRXLab]

now you see how serious this issue is

[@earlrichardet2102]

nice work!

[@TRXLab]

Thanks

[@arbitraryuser]

Great video, learnt a lot. But now I have more tools I need to buy!

[@TRXLab]

Thanks! And what you need additional is a pre heater for jobs like this :-)

[@richarde735]

good morning for the USA

[@TRXLab]

Good Morning

[@sveinfarstad3897]

Hi, i guess this card is soldered with the new kind solder and not 60/40 solder. 60/40 is the absolute best for me, good job as usually btw Peter.

[@TRXLab]

I have tested the Mechanics solder with lower melting point but I did not like it...

[@1StanTheMan1]

SMD soldering takes some skills, and proper equipment. This is an example of how not to do it, using improper equipment. An Iron/tweezer would be more suitable to remove the device. Btw, did this unit work at all after your “mod”? I’m curious. Application of heat for more than a few seconds is frowned upon as damage to adjacent components or the new installed device can be easily damaged. I was also wondering if a rework/reflow would’ve improved the original devices performance, but that was never established. Keep up the videos! ‘73. KN6NBL, Stan

[@mabo4848]

Super ! Danke, 73 ...

[@TRXLab]

gerne. Danke fürs vorbeischauen...

[@Joe_HamRadioGuy]

Interesting.... Yes Good morning from the Northeast corner of the USA.

[@TRXLab]

Thanjs and Good Morning

[@berndb.5097]

Das war spannend..... Beim Zusehen kommt man sich richtig hilflos vor :-) Wenn dann noch die Sauglitze kleben bleibt kommt die Angst dazu das man gleich die Leiterbahn abreisst :-( Jetzt muss ich erst mal wieder runter kommen ..... das war nichts für schwache Nerven ;-) 73 de Bernd

[@TRXLab]

lol alles nich so heiß wie es gekocht wird...

[@BoB4jjjjs]

I hate S.M.D.s they are so difficult to work with. But it is the future, but it is here today. Amazing how much heat a PCB or a metal component can suck away. Making everyone's life a lot harder in the Lead free solder. It is horrible to work with, causes dry joints and when it comes to remove components it fights you all the way! Nice video, shows just how hard it can be at times. I wish I could go back to the 70s electronics, even the 80s, it was a lot easier.

[@TRXLab]

Well for reflow jobs we only use leaded solder and for jobs like this you need a under-heater in addition. We all can't get away from smd technique so the best is to demonstrate that we can work as well with smd's..

[@BoB4jjjjs]

@@TRXLab Yes exactly, but they are such a pain to work with. But we have to, so we will just carry on regardless!

[@TRXLab]

Yes what can we do so we have to

[@TKomoski]

Ich dachte, das verdammte Ding sei während der Produktion festgeklebt worden. Peter, es ist schief, aber das ist in Ordnung, wenn der Fall eingeschaltet ist. Sie werden es aus einer Entfernung von 40.000 Fuß nicht sehen. Wie auch immer, ich bin froh, dass es ein kurzes Video war. Ich hatte nur drei Donuts. Immer der beste Samstagmorgen *Prost* *73*

[@TRXLab]

you try to learn german?

[@TKomoski]

@@TRXLab I use the Google translate

[@fatboymotorsport]

I destroyed my first Pluto doing this mod, I knocked c123 off the board, I tried to just heat the old txco with a large tip but it just ruined my board, SMD is for the experts,

[@TRXLab]

oh not good

[@I967]

Inhuman size parts. Human unfriendly design. You need 300 dollars worth of equipment to replace a 0.05 cent part. And they go on and on and on about this eco and green stuff and how we should be saving the planet and all that nonsense but producing disposable electronics that barely last four years is absolutely fine. This planet must be another world's hell.

[@TRXLab]

I agree we should save the planet and therefor we show that devices with smd parts can be repaired as well as through hole parts or even better