Soldering/DMX controller

Although the USB controlled DMX controller was going to make the project easier to finish (enabling the use of DMX to be controlled by Visual Basic) it did pose another problem. The kit that I has purchased from Maplin was not assembled, and required relatively expert soldering for a total of 119 solder points (shown in the picture below, every gold circle corresponds to a solder point). Although I had some experience with soldering it had been several years since I had last used one, I think the last time would have been during sixth form college.

I first had to buy a soldering kit, which I luckily found cheaply in a home furnishings shop, for only £7.99. The kit came with everything necessary to complete the solderin; a soldering iron, a solder extractor, a spare head to the iron, a holder for the iron and solder.

This was a challenge that I was not particularly looking forward to as the board was imperative to the project and had been relatively expensive therefore it was not something that I wanted to get wrong. I decided that it would be wise to do several test and retune my soldering technique by testing on a spare piece of board and some wire.







Although the solder points probably aren't up to an expert's level I was confident that they would be adequate, which was pleasing as it meant that I would not have to pay somebody to do it for me.

The instructions for the procedure were extremely thorough and easy to follow. Upon starting I was pleasantly surprised with the joints, which were neat, and well placed, shown below. I tested the joints with a digital multimeter as a continuity tester, which confirmed that the joints were satisfactory to support a current.





With my confidence levels increased by these initial joints I proceeded with slightly less caution, but it was a long process.

After I had finished soldering the initial components, including the diodes and resistors I was pleased with the progress, and confident that the finished product would be suitable and would work sufficiently.

Although the initial joints had worked extremely well, it became more difficult once I had to operate closely to other joints, as I had to make sure that the solder did not touch the solder of another component, which would prevent the board from operating properly. As a result I had to use a solder extractor, to remove the touching solder from the joint, which meant that the whole process would take even longer.



This became especially relevant once I started to connect the IC sockets, which have several pins, some of which are not suppose to touch and some are. This meant that I needed to carefully following the schematic diagram in the instruction booklet.

Following approximately an hour and a half of concentration the board was finished and was able to be secured into the case that is provided with it.







At this point there was a real sense of achievement, but I was dubious about whether it would work or not. Much to my amazement it did work first time, and I was soon able to control a light through the the software that was provided, simply with the click of a mouse. This was an exciting breakthrough with the project.