Project for a Snowy afternoon

[atrax27407]

Yesterday, I noticed that the LED on my primary console was no longer working. Since we are virtually snowed in here in mid-North Carolina, I thought it might be a good idea to see why it wasn't working and fix it. I called "Mr. Hardware" (AKA Jim Fetzner) to see how difficult this project would be to finish. Simple, he said. Maybe for him but I have never particularly liked soldering stuff and for the last decade or so, I have been afflicted with CSS (Can't See S**t). But, my "new eyes" from my cataract surgery at the beginning of the year, gave me some confidence. I decided to at least start the project.

 

I took the console apart and removed the power supply. I discovered that one of the LED's legs was broken flush with the board. Since I wasn't interested in saving the LED, I simply cut the other leg off flush with the board as well (a tip learned from The Great Gazoo). I flipped the board over and got out my solder sucker (an old Radio Shack model with a suction bulb) and "had at it". It worked just fine. In a few seconds I had cleared all of the debris from both holes and had a pristine area to work on.

 

Red is not my color so I stuffed a yellow LED in its place and soldered it in while my solder sucker was cooling. When I was finished, it even looked like someone who knew what they were doing had made the repair. It's amazing how well things go when you can see

Edited December 11, 2018 by atrax27407

[+save2600]

Ummm, yeah... thought something might be wrong with your eyesight. Did you know that's a tarantula in your avatar... NOT an adorable kitty cat?

 

I jest. Congrats on the repair!

[twoodland]

Congratulations on a job well done! What's next on the 99er project list?

[+9640News]

When I was finished, it even looked like someone who knew what they were doing had made the repair. It's amazing how well things go when you can see

 

Sunday morning I got up and discovered one lens had come out of my glasses because a screw had come loose. Fortunately, I did not lose the screw, but trying to see the tiny screw without glasses was next to impossible. I finally found an old pair of glasses, and then a magnifying glass and managed to tighten the screw back down securing the lens.

 

Beery

[atrax27407]

The Great Gazoo used to wear three pairs of glasses when he was soldering something.

[Opry99er]

Well done, sir!!!

[RickyDean]

I have to wear some over the head magnification lens and then also sometimes, I have to wear some chinese made, high mag glasses, to see the very tiny stuff, like macbook fuses and so forth.

[twoodland]

I too wear multiple pairs of reading glasses when soldering SMD components.

[FDOS]

I too, had cataract surgery, but "seeing" isn't my issue. I can no longer touch type which also means I don't have a steady hand to solder even discrete components, let alone integrated circuits or SMT; yet I did assemble 2 x IDE SMT cards (I believe around 2009), but both failed after a year. They began with the T.N. IDEAL DSR, and ended with F.K. DSR V8.0.

[+Lee Stewart]

... Did you know that's a tarantula in your avatar... NOT an adorable kitty cat?

...

 

I do not understand the significance of “27407”, but, considering Bob’s infatuation with certain TI-99/4A software written by a couple of Aussies (Tony and Will McGovern) and named for the spider whose genus is his handle, I would say that his avatar is Atrax robustus, i.e., the funnel-web spider.

 

...lee

[+save2600]

I do not understand the significance of “27407”, but, considering Bob’s infatuation with certain TI-99/4A software written by a couple of Aussies (Tony and Will McGovern) and named for the spider whose genus is his handle, I would say that his avatar is Atrax robustus, i.e., the funnel-web spider.

 

...lee

Yep, got the lowdown on that the other day. Frightening stuff!

[Omega-TI]

 

I do not understand the significance of “27407”, but, considering Bob’s infatuation with certain TI-99/4A software written by a couple of Aussies (Tony and Will McGovern) and named for the spider whose genus is his handle, I would say that his avatar is Atrax robustus, i.e., the funnel-web spider.

 

...lee

 

The number 27407 does not conform to Australian or New Zealand postal codes, but 27407 does come back to Greensboro, NC.

It's just a guess on my part, so I may be wrong.

[+Lee Stewart]

The number 27407 does not conform to Australian or New Zealand postal codes, but 27407 does come back to Greensboro, NC.

It's just a guess on my part, so I may be wrong.

 

No. You are correct. I actually thought it might be something like that, but got lazy and did not go any further.

 

...lee