Star Tech Journal

STAR*TECH Journal
Suggestions For The
Aspiring Technician
By Janes Beck
BAM Engineering
Greater Southern Distributing Co.
Atlanta, Georgia
My first, and :rrost important, suggestion
is; become a master at the art of
soldering.
SOLDERING
Soldering is definately an art that is
fast becoming a lost art. I spend quite a
bit of time repairing other peoples
"repairs". Pulled traces, removed plate-
through-holes, shorted traces, and broken
traces are a very cormron occurance.
As a rule of thurrb, if you replace a
component and the syrrptom changes, you
should suspect the soldering job before
you assume that the problem is caused by
:rrore than one part.
Unfortunately the only way to become a
proficient solderer is practice, practice,
and more practice. Most schools and
training facilities don't place enough
errphasis on this daily activity, let alone
provide the time for the practice needed.
One way to get plenty of hands on
training, without wasting a new board, is
to grab one of those ancient boards
renoved during a conversion, pick an area,
and re:rrove all of the chips. Then replace
them and see if the board is still
functional.
If it isn't, find the problem, fix it and
try again. If it is, then you are doing
great!
SOLDERING TIPS
To help you along here are a couple of
quick tips. The safest way to remove a
chip is to cut the legs off near the
package. You can then re:rrove the legs from
the board one at a time.
On sockets, try a little gentle prying
under the plastic. Some sockets will lift
leaving only the contacts that can then be
re:rroved one at a time. Just remerrber some
sockets won't come up this way so be
careful.
February 1988 (BJ
TFST OOUIPMEN.I'
Suggestion nurrber two, have the right test
equipment. The price of good test
A
equipment has been steadily dropping, and •
even very sophisticated pieces can be had
for little :rroney.
In :rrost cases the purchase of an
oscilloscope is a luxury, but a reliable
and accurate multimeter is a must! Good
multimeters are priced well under $100.
Also, logic probes and pulsers are dirt
cheap and are invaluable for working on
boards. Dynamic transistor testers are
available for under $20 and are small
enough to fit into any tool case. They are
much more reliable than the junction drop
method of testing, and can test nost
transistors in circuit.
capacitor
are handy
nonitors.
available
functions
testers are another luxury, but
if you work on a lot of
There are even multimeters
that condense many of the above
into a single unit.
TFST OOUIPMENr KNavLEDGE
Worse than not having the right test
equipment is having it and not knowing how a
to use it properly. r-bst technical
•
schools, and some local colleges, offer
night classes in electronics. It would be
worth the time and noney to take a course
in test equipment.
If that's not feasible, ask your local
distributor for assistance. r-bst will be
:rrore than willing to help out. Better yet,
talk to the technician, at your
distributor, that you deal with the nost.
It probably won't take too much coercing
to get him or her to lend a hand.
I.OOK BEFORE YOU LEAP
last, but not least, if you are not sure
about something you're going to do, and I
mean anything, ask. Your local distributor
is the best place to get fast, and free,
information. If they can't adequately
answer your question call the
manufacturer. They have full time
technical staffs to help you (and me).
No one ever got into trouble because they
had too much information, except maybe
Ollie North!
Well, that wraps it for now.
:rronth.
Until next
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