@cf1 I used to do stained glass so it was really learning to solder electronics. I have a ton of glass in the attic. Maybe I should give it another shot.
He looks happy to have been saved! Soldering is a very rewarding skill to learn and use. I practice by soldering and removing components on junked TV boards and such. I’ve mastered point-to-point soldering and am fairly proficient with through-hole stuff, but surface mount soldering is still beyond me.
@PooltoyWolf I watched my dad do that since I was a little girl! My family owned a tv and appliance store, my dad did the service. Downstairs in the warehouse we still have hundreds of useless tubes for obsolete TVs! Such memories!
@Lynnerizer@nasman6@PooltoyWolf I still have two televisions in my apartment that use tubes. I’m not sure they work anymore but probably. Actually, I have three, now that I think about it. The living room tv is not that old but is a tube tv.
@cf1@Lynnerizer@nasman6@PooltoyWolf I have a radio that works as a line-in speaker but doesn’t pick up radio signals any more. I should take it apart and see what’s inside!
@cf1@kuoh@Lynnerizer@nasman6@PooltoyWolf yes, there was a time when the local hardware stores had self-service tube/fuse/relay testers - when I was an income-deficient young’n, we’d get old “broken” radios and TVs from people for free, take out the tubes, trek down to the tester and get new ones where needed. 95% of the time it was just a blown or weak component. Good gosh, I’m old …
@cf1@Lynnerizer@nasman6 Oh I’m well aware of what tubes are! I used to sell them for a living. I was asking what kind of TV sets another member had in their house. LOL
@Lynnerizer@nasman6@PooltoyWolf Contact the local amateur/ ham radio group and I know they will love the Tubes. They will buy them off you. Or you could go to a “HamFest” (after the Virus is history) set up a table. OMG you will sell a lot. I also have swapped / sold many a thing @ “HamFest”
@Lynnerizer@PooltoyWolf Useless to you, maybe, but probably worth money, if you were to sell them on eBay, etc. Check it out. Vacuum tubes are not made any more, so what you have is increasingly valuable over time. They are worth far more as working tubes than as art.
@Lynnerizer@nasman6@PooltoyWolf I am not 100% sure. One is a B&W from probably the 70s, one is a spectacular Zenith from the 80s, and one is from the 90s (so probably not so vintage.)
@cf1@Lynnerizer@nasman6 Those are all solid state, with the possible exception of the 1970s set…there might be a couple tubes hiding inside that one. (Possible high voltage rectifier tube!)
@Jackinga@Lynnerizer The value of an individual tube depends highly on its type. Many audio types (6CA7, 6L6, 12AX7) are indeed worth money, even used, but there are many hundreds of TV receiving types (3AU6, 17AX4, 19EZ8) that are basically valueless, some of which were ever only used in a single model of TV set. I’d be happy to try and help you sort them
@Lynnerizer@mycya4me@nasman6 I sell at Orlando HamCation every year, have been for close to a decade now. Fantastic show and loads of fun! Might not happen this year, though… :C
@L@PooltoyWolf, I highly doubt that Orlando HamCation will happen this year. I would like to attend one year & the Big one in Dayton too. But I been attending one of the largest in the Mid Atlantic. It is called FrostFest in Richmond, Va (the week before Orlando HamCation. I agree Lot of fun, Great people & Awesome deals. 73, KK4JNN
After decades of solder wick and varying forms of squeeze bulbs & plungers, I’ve just upped my desoldering game to this.
Only $110-130 from the usual suspects. (Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, etc.)
I’d been looking at ChipQuik and other fancy low melting point desoldering alloys, but $20-30 for a few feet was kinda hard to swallow. There are also cleanup issues before resoldering. I found a pointer to a block of the alloy that would probably last several lifetimes, but at $60-70 that made the leap to the vacuum station a no brainer.
But mostly I had no idea the China, Inc. option was this cheap. It was Dave Jones that pushed me over the edge.
@blaineg I’m going to be recapping (changing out tired old capacitors) on both of my Vectrex game systems, and I wanted very much to not destroy the boards in the process.
@PooltoyWolf Ebay prices are insane these days, several hundred dollars at least. I got my first one in the closeout fire sale for $50. I bought my second one online, through Usenet, WAY before eBay existed.
@2palms There’s a thriving Vectrex community, everything from players to collectors, to game and hardware developers. There are far more modern “homebrew” games than the originals.
I looked at the links to the comic books. No where that I saw did it actually show how to solder, viz., heat the work, not the solder, when the work is hot enough, touch the solder with flux to it and the solder will melt and flow.
I worked in a TV shop in high school and college. Once we had a guy come in who insisted on doing his own repair. We watched him use half a roll of solder trying to melt the solder by dripping it onto the connection. He didn’t understand that one heats the work, not the solder. Finally taking pity on him, we explained how it was done, cleaned off the mess he had made and instructed him on how to do the job properly.
These days with multilayer printed circuit boards and surface mount chip sockets, soldering is much, much trickier. Finding someone who is willing or even equipped to make a solder repair is getting harder and harder in this age of throw away. No one can make a living repairing electronics anymore.
@Jackinga That’s what I learned in stained glass class- heat up the foil and not the solder. The teacher called it painting with solder and got really pissed off if we did that.
I’m really worried about the heat resistance of those little boards though. In stained glass the worst you can do is melt the foil adhesive.
@Jackinga@sammydog01 You can destroy/damage a circuit board, but you usually have to work at it a bit. That’s why you want a lower power iron for PCB (printed circuit board) work, so you don’t damage the board or the components by overheating.
The last thing you want is a monster, hundred (plus) watt soldering gun. Save that for mechanical stuff or heavy gauge wire.
@blaineg Unless it is explicitly stated a great number, perhaps the majority will not understand that one heats the work and not the solder. Because you probably know this and it is second nature after a while, you forget when you didn’t know.
There are a ton of fun kits on Amazon. Radios, clocks, Bluetooth speakers, LED lightshows, mini robots, etc. Most of them are reasonably priced. If you have the patience, ordering them from the Chinese mailorder places can save you a few bucks. Bangood, Aliexpress, Gearbest, etc.
@ruouttaurmind I like AliExpress & Banggood. the only issue I have is the extreme travel time. But hey at the price on many items it is worth the wait!
@mycya4me Not sure if you’ve ever notice, but Banggood has US based warehouses. Some items are stocked on shore and ship within a few days. I have received orders as quickly as three days. Some AliExpress sellers also have US stock. Sometimes you pay a buck or two more, but then sometimes it’s worth it not to tax my patience.
@blaineg You can find the multi-tube variety on Amz, eBay and the Chinasian mail order places for around the same price. I think they’re pretty cool and wouldn’t mind one on my desk, but the price is still a bit too dear for my budget.
Hey good job! What does cosmo do?
@tinamarie1974
@sammydog01 so cute
Stained glass?
@cf1 I used to do stained glass so it was really learning to solder electronics. I have a ton of glass in the attic. Maybe I should give it another shot.
@sammydog01. Yes, yes, YES! Give it another try! I have not touched mine in 25+ years, sure was fun though!! So pretty too!!
Good work!
He looks happy to have been saved! Soldering is a very rewarding skill to learn and use. I practice by soldering and removing components on junked TV boards and such. I’ve mastered point-to-point soldering and am fairly proficient with through-hole stuff, but surface mount soldering is still beyond me.
@PooltoyWolf I watched my dad do that since I was a little girl! My family owned a tv and appliance store, my dad did the service. Downstairs in the warehouse we still have hundreds of useless tubes for obsolete TVs! Such memories!
@Lynnerizer @PooltoyWolf You know people collect those, especially audiophiles… Just sayin
@Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf I still have two televisions in my apartment that use tubes. I’m not sure they work anymore but probably. Actually, I have three, now that I think about it. The living room tv is not that old but is a tube tv.
@cf1 @Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf I have a radio that works as a line-in speaker but doesn’t pick up radio signals any more. I should take it apart and see what’s inside!
@cf1 @Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf Yeah, 50 years is “not” that old. Today’s TVs barely last 5 years.
KuoH
@cf1 @kuoh @Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf yes, there was a time when the local hardware stores had self-service tube/fuse/relay testers - when I was an income-deficient young’n, we’d get old “broken” radios and TVs from people for free, take out the tubes, trek down to the tester and get new ones where needed. 95% of the time it was just a blown or weak component. Good gosh, I’m old …
@Lynnerizer I want to see your warehouse!
@Lynnerizer @nasman6 I used to work for a guy who sold new old stock vacuum tubes for a living. Great guy, we still do swap meets together.
@cf1 @Lynnerizer @nasman6 Are we talking actual vacuum tube chassis TVs, or just solid state TVs that have CRTs (picture tubes)?
@cf1 @Lynnerizer @PooltoyWolf the tubes themselves. I’ve seen some art created with working tubes, and audiophiles use them in amps
@cf1 @Lynnerizer @nasman6 Oh I’m well aware of what tubes are! I used to sell them for a living. I was asking what kind of TV sets another member had in their house. LOL
@Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf Contact the local amateur/ ham radio group and I know they will love the Tubes. They will buy them off you. Or you could go to a “HamFest” (after the Virus is history) set up a table. OMG you will sell a lot. I also have swapped / sold many a thing @ “HamFest”
@Lynnerizer @PooltoyWolf Useless to you, maybe, but probably worth money, if you were to sell them on eBay, etc. Check it out. Vacuum tubes are not made any more, so what you have is increasingly valuable over time. They are worth far more as working tubes than as art.
@Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf I am not 100% sure. One is a B&W from probably the 70s, one is a spectacular Zenith from the 80s, and one is from the 90s (so probably not so vintage.)
@cf1 @Lynnerizer @nasman6 Those are all solid state, with the possible exception of the 1970s set…there might be a couple tubes hiding inside that one. (Possible high voltage rectifier tube!)
@Jackinga @Lynnerizer The value of an individual tube depends highly on its type. Many audio types (6CA7, 6L6, 12AX7) are indeed worth money, even used, but there are many hundreds of TV receiving types (3AU6, 17AX4, 19EZ8) that are basically valueless, some of which were ever only used in a single model of TV set. I’d be happy to try and help you sort them
@Lynnerizer @mycya4me @nasman6 I sell at Orlando HamCation every year, have been for close to a decade now. Fantastic show and loads of fun! Might not happen this year, though… :C
@L@PooltoyWolf, I highly doubt that Orlando HamCation will happen this year. I would like to attend one year & the Big one in Dayton too. But I been attending one of the largest in the Mid Atlantic. It is called FrostFest in Richmond, Va (the week before Orlando HamCation. I agree Lot of fun, Great people & Awesome deals. 73, KK4JNN
DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!
@Lynnerizer @nasman6 @PooltoyWolf Well, I’ll never know. I am definitely not opening any of them up. : )
After decades of solder wick and varying forms of squeeze bulbs & plungers, I’ve just upped my desoldering game to this.
Only $110-130 from the usual suspects. (Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, etc.)
I’d been looking at ChipQuik and other fancy low melting point desoldering alloys, but $20-30 for a few feet was kinda hard to swallow. There are also cleanup issues before resoldering. I found a pointer to a block of the alloy that would probably last several lifetimes, but at $60-70 that made the leap to the vacuum station a no brainer.
But mostly I had no idea the China, Inc. option was this cheap. It was Dave Jones that pushed me over the edge.
@blaineg I’m going to be recapping (changing out tired old capacitors) on both of my Vectrex game systems, and I wanted very much to not destroy the boards in the process.
@blaineg
EEVBlog Dave Jones is the Master.
@blaineg I still can’t believe I had an opportunity to own one of those and I let it pass me by. Ugh!
@blaineg Hey cool! My buddy has one of those that’s working. I thought he was the only one.
@PooltoyWolf Ebay prices are insane these days, several hundred dollars at least. I got my first one in the closeout fire sale for $50. I bought my second one online, through Usenet, WAY before eBay existed.
@2palms There’s a thriving Vectrex community, everything from players to collectors, to game and hardware developers. There are far more modern “homebrew” games than the originals.
Want to do some soldering? Got an old oscilloscope handy? Make your own Vectrex!
https://hackaday.com/2020/05/07/scopetrex-is-a-game-console-for-your-oscilloscope/
Here’s a couple of great resources.
https://mightyohm.com/blog/2011/04/soldering-is-easy-comic-book/
https://mightyohm.com/blog/2012/05/smt-soldering-its-easier-than-you-think/
@blaineg Downloaded. Thanks!
@blaineg @sammydog01 Thank You for that resource!
My fantasy football team
@njfan Your team needs more than solder I’m afraid.
I looked at the links to the comic books. No where that I saw did it actually show how to solder, viz., heat the work, not the solder, when the work is hot enough, touch the solder with flux to it and the solder will melt and flow.
I worked in a TV shop in high school and college. Once we had a guy come in who insisted on doing his own repair. We watched him use half a roll of solder trying to melt the solder by dripping it onto the connection. He didn’t understand that one heats the work, not the solder. Finally taking pity on him, we explained how it was done, cleaned off the mess he had made and instructed him on how to do the job properly.
These days with multilayer printed circuit boards and surface mount chip sockets, soldering is much, much trickier. Finding someone who is willing or even equipped to make a solder repair is getting harder and harder in this age of throw away. No one can make a living repairing electronics anymore.
@Jackinga That’s what I learned in stained glass class- heat up the foil and not the solder. The teacher called it painting with solder and got really pissed off if we did that.
I’m really worried about the heat resistance of those little boards though. In stained glass the worst you can do is melt the foil adhesive.
@Jackinga Maybe not in those words, but to my eyes they’re showing and describing the proper technique.
@Jackinga @sammydog01 You can destroy/damage a circuit board, but you usually have to work at it a bit. That’s why you want a lower power iron for PCB (printed circuit board) work, so you don’t damage the board or the components by overheating.
The last thing you want is a monster, hundred (plus) watt soldering gun. Save that for mechanical stuff or heavy gauge wire.
@blaineg Unless it is explicitly stated a great number, perhaps the majority will not understand that one heats the work and not the solder. Because you probably know this and it is second nature after a while, you forget when you didn’t know.
I have a tough time with super glue.
I’m impressed.
Welcome to the fraternal order of solderers!
Navy-trained tech.
There are a ton of fun kits on Amazon. Radios, clocks, Bluetooth speakers, LED lightshows, mini robots, etc. Most of them are reasonably priced. If you have the patience, ordering them from the Chinese mailorder places can save you a few bucks. Bangood, Aliexpress, Gearbest, etc.
This little kit should be easy to assemble and looks to be a fun result. About $12.
@ruouttaurmind Ooh pretty colors! I might try it.
@ruouttaurmind Thank You. I ordered one! I need a simple clock for my computer room.
@ruouttaurmind I like AliExpress & Banggood. the only issue I have is the extreme travel time. But hey at the price on many items it is worth the wait!
@mycya4me Not sure if you’ve ever notice, but Banggood has US based warehouses. Some items are stocked on shore and ship within a few days. I have received orders as quickly as three days. Some AliExpress sellers also have US stock. Sometimes you pay a buck or two more, but then sometimes it’s worth it not to tax my patience.
@mycya4me @ruouttaurmind Looks like it’s discontinued, but I built this vacuum tube clock several years ago.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/194
It was a lot cheaper than most because it used a single tube with multiple digits.
But this page should keep you busy for a while.
https://www.adafruit.com/category/203
@blaineg You can find the multi-tube variety on Amz, eBay and the Chinasian mail order places for around the same price. I think they’re pretty cool and wouldn’t mind one on my desk, but the price is still a bit too dear for my budget.
@ruouttaurmind Thanks, when I’d looked at them years ago the multi-tube clocks were several hundred.
Maybe the supply of Russian nixie tubes has improved?
@blaineg The lower priced ones are simulated nixie (multi segment module in an acrylic tube).
But true nixie tube kits are there for around $130. I’ve seen them go on flash deals for under a hundy.
This one on Banggood seems to have legit nixie tubes for $77.
@blaineg Nvm. Simulated also.
@blaineg @mycya4me @ruouttaurmind no way you get that clock through TSA, lol. It is perty though!
@ruouttaurmind Not the same thing at all. Even my single tube version is cheating some.
@ruouttaurmind I ordered a light up Christmas tree kit from Banggood. I just got an email that it’s been sterilized and shipped.
@sammydog01
