PolkaDot

Recently had my first go at printing a board and soldering surface-mount components. It's a straight-forward breakout for an FT230XS.
 
Technique:
On the etching side, I used a 2:1 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide solution and Muratic Acid. Initially clear, it turned a lovely neon green when the copper started reacting! Etch took maybe 5-6 minutes.
I used an "ultra fine tip" Sharpie as the resist; learned the hard way that the 'Micron' brand of super fine tip pens doesn't work for this application  :-( . I was struggling to mark the pads with the sharpie, so instead I drew a dark box across an entire row of pins then used a type of dental pick to scratch a fine line between adjacent pads. Seemed to work pretty well!
 
I had bought a syringe of solder paste for the occasion, but ultimately I couldn't make it cooperate--globs kept bridging pins. Eventually I just put down solder on all the pads, put some flux on the pins and reflowed that way.
 
Anyhow, it was a somewhat messy learning experience, but hopefully next I'll print/mount the whole module. Will keep you posted!

Recently had my first go at printing a board and soldering surface-mount components. It's a straight-forward breakout for an FT230XS.
 
Technique:
On the etching side, I used a 2:1 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide solution and Muratic Acid. Initially clear, it turned a lovely neon green when the copper started reacting! Etch took maybe 5-6 minutes.
I used an "ultra fine tip" Sharpie as the resist; learned the hard way that the 'Micron' brand of super fine tip pens doesn't work for this application  :-( . I was struggling to mark the pads with the sharpie, so instead I drew a dark box across an entire row of pins then used a type of dental pick to scratch a fine line between adjacent pads. Seemed to work pretty well!
 
I had bought a syringe of solder paste for the occasion, but ultimately I couldn't make it cooperate--globs kept bridging pins. Eventually I just put down solder on all the pads, put some flux on the pins and reflowed that way.
 
Anyhow, it was a somewhat messy learning experience, but hopefully next I'll print/mount the whole module. Will keep you posted!

Recently had my first go at printing a board and soldering surface-mount components. It's a straight-forward breakout for an FT230XS.
 
Technique:
On the etching side, I used a 2:1 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide solution and Muratic Acid. Initially clear, it turned a lovely neon green when the copper started reacting! Etch took maybe 5-6 minutes.
I used an "ultra fine tip" Sharpie as the resist; learned the hard way that the 'Micron' brand of super fine tip pens doesn't work for this application  :-( . I was struggling to mark the pads with the sharpie, so instead I drew a dark box across an entire row of pins then used a type of dental pick to scratch a fine line between adjacent pads. Seemed to work pretty well!
 
I had bought a syringe of solder paste for the occasion, but ultimately I couldn't make it cooperate--globs kept bridging pins. Eventually I just put down solder on all the pads, put some flux on the pins and reflowed that way.
 
Anyhow, it was a somewhat messy learning experience, but hopefully next I'll print/mount the whole module. Will keep you posted!

Recently had my first go at printing a board and soldering surface-mount components. It's a straight-forward breakout for an FT230XS.
 
Technique:
On the etching side, I used a 2:1 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide solution and Muratic Acid. Initially clear, it turned a lovely neon green when the copper started reacting! Etch took maybe 5-6 minutes.
I used an "ultra fine tip" Sharpie as the resist; learned the hard way that the 'Micron' brand of super fine tip pens doesn't work for this application  :-( . I was struggling to mark the pads with the sharpie, so instead I drew a dark box across an entire row of pins then used a type of dental pick to scratch a fine line between adjacent pads. Seemed to work pretty well!
 
I had bought a syringe of solder paste for the occasion, but ultimately I couldn't make it cooperate--globs kept bridging pins. Eventually I just put down solder on all the pads, put some flux on the pins and reflowed that way.
 
Anyhow, it was a somewhat messy learning experience, but hopefully next I'll print/mount the whole module. Will keep you posted!

Recently had my first go at printing a board and soldering surface-mount components. It's a straight-forward breakout for an FT230XS.
 
Technique:
On the etching side, I used a 2:1 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide solution and Muratic Acid. Initially clear, it turned a lovely neon green when the copper started reacting! Etch took maybe 5-6 minutes.
I used an "ultra fine tip" Sharpie as the resist; learned the hard way that the 'Micron' brand of super fine tip pens doesn't work for this application  :-( . I was struggling to mark the pads with the sharpie, so instead I drew a dark box across an entire row of pins then used a type of dental pick to scratch a fine line between adjacent pads. Seemed to work pretty well!
 
I had bought a syringe of solder paste for the occasion, but ultimately I couldn't make it cooperate--globs kept bridging pins. Eventually I just put down solder on all the pads, put some flux on the pins and reflowed that way.
 
Anyhow, it was a somewhat messy learning experience, but hopefully next I'll print/mount the whole module. Will keep you posted!

Recently had my first go at printing a board and soldering surface-mount components. It's a straight-forward breakout for an FT230XS.
 
Technique:
On the etching side, I used a 2:1 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide solution and Muratic Acid. Initially clear, it turned a lovely neon green when the copper started reacting! Etch took maybe 5-6 minutes.
I used an "ultra fine tip" Sharpie as the resist; learned the hard way that the 'Micron' brand of super fine tip pens doesn't work for this application  :-( . I was struggling to mark the pads with the sharpie, so instead I drew a dark box across an entire row of pins then used a type of dental pick to scratch a fine line between adjacent pads. Seemed to work pretty well!
 
I had bought a syringe of solder paste for the occasion, but ultimately I couldn't make it cooperate--globs kept bridging pins. Eventually I just put down solder on all the pads, put some flux on the pins and reflowed that way.
 
Anyhow, it was a somewhat messy learning experience, but hopefully next I'll print/mount the whole module. Will keep you posted!

I was never a huge fan of images as text, myself. I feel like good graphics and good font should coexist.
Or maybe 43oh needs a mascot  ;-)  

Or a curious 'coon, because why not.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fam980m7xvn8xbs/43oh%20Racoon%20Polka.png

Perhaps something that sleeps a lot.

Maybe try this guy on for size?
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1t9e04y6oxvkgl/43oh%20Polka.png
 
Sorry for the link, but couldn't put it in the post. Also ignore that weird black stuff..

Thanks guys!
 
roadrunner, there's a HiRel version of most of their big product lines, I was working with a bunch of DACs and ADCs--catalog stuff. 

Hello forum world.
I actually interned with TI last year, though in HiRel not anything to do with MSP.
I'm an RF grad student by day, mainly working with antennas. But by night I'm interested in trying to simplify (and make cheaper!) wireless connectivity for simple devices. So I look forward to learning, and contributing where I can