[HCRA] Are you building something for Show & Tell???

[Matt Wilhelm]

Howdy HCRA Members,

With less than a week to go before the HCRA Show & Tell meeting, this
mailing list is WAY too quiet.

I 'm just taking a break here from working on a project for Show &
Tell.  As I look at all this stuff strewn across my workbench, I think
the best part of doing all this work is getting to use a bunch of the
tricks that I learned building my Rockmite kit.  Anyone else working
on a project and had the opportunity to use a particular trick they
learned recently or a long time ago?  Not working on a project but
have a tip that might make life easier for someone who is?  Have a
project horror story to share to help us laugh at our own mistakes?

One trick that maybe everyone knows (but was new to me) was taught to
me by Jim, KK1W and involves tinning hookup wire leads.  Push the
stripped end of the lead into solder paste, add a small blob of solder
to the tip of the iron and touch it to the end of the wire.  The
solder gets sucked right down the bare lead in a fraction of a second.
 Quick and easy.  Might be old news for most, but if you don't know
the trick, tinning wire leads is a pain in comparison.

Oh and for horror stories...How about the kit that I just finished up
that worked great in prototype form, but now that I spent a couple
hours making it pretty in a project box it doesn't work at all.
ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!  Time to check those connections.  Guess just because
it's easier to tin leads doesn't mean that they will hook themselves
up properly. :(

In the spirit of Show & Tell, share your ideas, tips and tricks (and
horror stories too) with us newbies out here.

Hope all of your workbenches look as crazy as mine!

Matt "where did that resistor go" Wilhelm/W1MSW