Test Equipment Anonymous

EC8010 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 3:23 pm I have "Most Secret War" as well and don't recall him mentioning the device the video was about. What I do remember was RV Jones telling the reader just how clever he was. It must have been true, otherwise he wouldn't have kept saying so.

In that case is it likely that the creator of a wonder such as this, not known for hiding his light under a bushel, wouldn't have devoted a page or two to it in a lengthy book? A quick search with Google has produced no mention of it.

The pictures of it in the video don't look much like WWII British gear; no little War Department arrow etc.

I'm beginning to wonder whether it isn't a complete fiction.

Very good points, all of them, especially the last.

tggzzz wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 4:00 pm Nonetheless, he did get some things right where others got them wrong.

And when that happens, you have to blow your own trumpet.

Zenith wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 4:30 pm I'm beginning to wonder whether it isn't a complete fiction.

Put it like this... Where can I buy these scopes; they have bigger screens than any of mine.

Expect to see much more AI slop. The objective is not to get people to believe the slop, but is to get people to not know what to believe. At that point people will believe whatever they are told is the truth. Job done; objective achieved. Corroborating evidence: the attacks on education which promote critical thinking skills in preference to rote memorisation of (alt)facts.

I wish I was joking.

There are so many sketchy channels these days. I open them in a new window, and look at comments to see if anyone has immediately called them out; if not watch for a while to see how sketchy it actually is. More often than not, I find myself downvoting it, then going back to the original window and clicking 'don't recommend this channel' to block it.

-Pat

Cubdriver wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 5:20 pm There are so many sketchy channels these days. I open them in a new window, and look at comments to see if anyone has immediately called them out; if not watch for a while to see how sketchy it actually is. More often than not, I find myself downvoting it, then going back to the original window and clicking 'don't recommend this channel' to block it.

-Pat

This video is pilloried as nonsense in the comments, many of which appear to have been made by people who know what they are talking about.

From The Other Plaice "PC Board Rework and Repair A Comprehensive Guide"
https://www.intertronics.co.uk/wp-conte ... -Guide.pdf
Clear diagrams rather than photos.

Wow! I've modified PCBs and I see that their handling precautions are similar to mine, yet I think they would consider me to be a complete novice. Impressive stuff.

I know I am a novice and a bodger in this area!

One example: I haven't seen this (simple clear) exposition of SMD soldering elsewhere...

4. Direct the hot air over the component with the hot air tool tip approximately 2.50 cm (1.00") from the solder joint. This initial heating will pre-dry the solder paste. NOTE When the solder paste has pre-dried, the paste will have a dull flat appearance
5. When the solder paste has dried, move the hot air tool tip to approximately 0.50 cm (0.20") above the component. Move the tool back and forth to heat both solder joints until complete solder melt is observed. (See Figure 2).

Other examples are repairing a PTH hole with an inner connection.

Thanks for that. I've done a bit of SMD work but I have a couple of serious SMD projects in the queue. I'm sure this will be very useful.

Small components stay in place due to the viscosity of the solder paste - provided the air gun isn't blowing a gale.

For whole boards I use a thin layer of sand to spread the heat in a saucepan on the gas hob.

AVGresponding wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:15 pm Use a pre-heater! It reduces the dwell time for the hot air drastically

And that applies to soldering with an iron on a PCB, too. If you are fast and organised, you can rotate through many joints, soldering nearby and benefitting from the pre-heating to give faster better joints. I solder SMD with a (Weller Magnastat) iron rather than hot air and use solder wire rather than paste. I have no trouble with SOIC8, but the smaller stuff is trickier and I don't much like doing it.

AVGresponding wrote: ↑Tue Feb 10, 2026 7:45 am I prefer an iron for soldering (I use hot air for desoldering) too, and the small stuff is where the nail polish comes in

While I'm happy to use an iron for desoldering small components, a hot air gun may be better for large components with many leads.

I'm not comfortable using an iron for soldering a small ceramic component, due to the possibilities of heat shock and differential thermal expansion. Irons seem fine for soldering large components with exposed leads/pads.

tggzzz wrote: ↑Tue Feb 10, 2026 9:34 am

AVGresponding wrote: ↑Tue Feb 10, 2026 7:45 am I prefer an iron for soldering (I use hot air for desoldering) too, and the small stuff is where the nail polish comes in

While I'm happy to use an iron for desoldering small components, a hot air gun may be better for large components with many leads.

I'm not comfortable using an iron for soldering a small ceramic component, due to the possibilities of heat shock and differential thermal expansion. Irons seem fine for soldering large components with exposed leads/pads.

One might say the same risk of thermal shock can apply to any SMD resistor also.
Have a play with K style soldering tips that can bridge both pads of many SMD components and melt the solder bond for you to wipe or pick them off the pads.

tggzzz wrote: ↑Tue Feb 10, 2026 9:34 am While I'm happy to use an iron for desoldering small components, a hot air gun may be better for large components with many leads.

Agreed; I recently used hot air to recover the ZIF socket from an aged programmer. I note your comment about temperature differential and thermal shock in small ceramic components.

tautech wrote: ↑Thu Feb 12, 2026 11:22 am

tggzzz wrote: ↑Tue Feb 10, 2026 9:34 am

AVGresponding wrote: ↑Tue Feb 10, 2026 7:45 am I prefer an iron for soldering (I use hot air for desoldering) too, and the small stuff is where the nail polish comes in

While I'm happy to use an iron for desoldering small components, a hot air gun may be better for large components with many leads.

I'm not comfortable using an iron for soldering a small ceramic component, due to the possibilities of heat shock and differential thermal expansion. Irons seem fine for soldering large components with exposed leads/pads.

One might say the same risk of thermal shock can apply to any SMD resistor also.

Aren't they ceramic?

Have a play with K style soldering tips that can bridge both pads of many SMD components and melt the solder bond for you to wipe or pick them off the pads.

I have various Metcal tips, but not a knife.

I've never investigated knives, so I don't know their advantages. For desoldering, my presumption is that they won't be long enough to touch all the contacts on one side of an IC, and hence less than perfectly sufficient. For soldering, one-at-a-time or drag soldering seems sufficient.

For desoldering large components, especially through hole, I have mostly settled on hot air, or one-at-a-time with handheld solder pump (flexible silicone nozzle) and/or wick.

Yup ceramic was the term that I couldn't pull up after a few days away and a long drive home, some 900km and 4 visits to friends and customers.....14 hrs on the road in total after first dropping the grandson at school.

I only use the K style tip for SMD passives and it invariably saves firing up the hot air.....but I have also used it for fusing busted thermoplastics.....Hakko style tips soldering iron here.
This sorta thing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/142947445118

tggzzz wrote: ↑Thu Feb 12, 2026 1:03 pm I have various Metcal tips, but not a knife.

I've never investigated knives, so I don't know their advantages. For desoldering, my presumption is that they won't be long enough to touch all the contacts on one side of an IC, and hence less than perfectly sufficient. For soldering, one-at-a-time or drag soldering seems sufficient.

For desoldering large components, especially through hole, I have mostly settled on hot air, or one-at-a-time with handheld solder pump (flexible silicone nozzle) and/or wick.

I suppose there are industrial desoldering stations which cost thousands and will painlessly desolder just about anything. Even then they may have problems with leads which are a tight fit and are bent over, on densely packed boards. There's ultra low melting point solder which might help but is expensive.

I've never found there's any one technique which is a winner every time. A lot depends on whether the component is expendable or the board is expendable. If you want both intact it becomes a lot harder.

I use

a cheap desoldering station, which sometimes works like a charm.

a soldering iron and solder sucker. Good if the iron can go one side of the board and the sucker on the other side.

braid.

heat spreaders made from thick copper wire.

a soldering iron and moving the component from side to side. Works best with components with two leads.

heating the board with a painter's hot air gun and hitting it on a brick.

two soldering irons for some SMD parts.


I suppose I should look into getting a proper hot air station.

It's much more efficient to remove known dud LED's with a scalpel just pushed sideways between the pads to shatter the plastic and have just the pads remain...then hit them with the iron to remove them.....but Ali PCB's are a whole nuther level of difficulty.

Had a porch lamp with 18V LED's on a Ali PCB and it wasn't worth the furking around so gave the 100x 18V SMD LED's to Defpom for a fixture he wants to try to repair....he might come to the same conclusion I did.............

Latest from styropyro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC7sNfN ... &index=100

Dang I thought I'd be the first to bring you this, but as it turns out, I'm not the only one fascinated by this kind of thing, AVGresponding beat me to this by a few hours, oh well so be it, still very good to watch. Also very interesting to see the tame, wild squirrel make an appearance; maybe it is Einstein, reincarnated as a squirrel. Let's hope it has the good sense to keep out of the way while the experiments are live.