Rate: My shopping.

ransoman · Post by **ransoman** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:06 am

so on saturday i went down to my local Maplin which is the Uk equivilent of radioshack i assume. Since my portable will be the first electronic i have ever made i have no tools.

I bought: (as recomended by the book)

15w tiny soldering iron,
Iron stand
desoldering pump (there is no such thing as a desoldering iron in the uk)
Digital multimeter
***cordless*** hot glue gun (laughs at image of ben on the desert island with the generator)
Solder (kinda need that)
Blank circut board (for custom boards and practice)
set of jump leads (pre sized and shaped ribbon cable, looks perfect for portables)
Helping hands (been looking everywhere for one of these)

So i am all set. My casio ev-680 arrives this week, will order a radica off amazon. Spent about Â£80 so far ($140ish).

Can't wait to get started.

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:15 am

Have fun, and good luck! Maybe if you can find some scrap circuit boards somewhere you should practice your soldering on them.

ransoman · Post by **ransoman** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:08 am

I have an old Hard drive lying around so i am going to practice on the controller.

PancakeGoblin · Post by **PancakeGoblin** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:18 am

Looking good so far, good luck!

Extreme_Jesus · Post by **Extreme_Jesus** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:55 am

you can get de-soldering irons

i had one, but my dad used it to removed hot melt glue so its kinda useless now

maplins are ok, but radio spares are better they have more stuff, but they're mail order only

Post by **Skyone** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:28 am

Desoldering IRONS are a hell lot better than the pumps. Pumps can work if you have a steady arm, and if somehow you are left and right handed. BUT! If you practice enough, you won't have to use the pump too much!

sweetsuzuki · Post by **sweetsuzuki** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:10 pm

Extreme_Jesus wrote:you can get de-soldering irons

i had one, but my dad used it to removed hot melt glue so its kinda useless now

maplins are ok, but radio spares are better they have more stuff, but they're mail order only

I use mine for that! No problems yet.