SMD Soldering Problem Lands At DEF CON

Strap on the jeweler’s loupe and lay off the caffeine for a couple of days. You’ll must be at your peak for the SMD Soldering Problem at this yr’s DEF CON (quantity 26 for these counting).

It’s thrilling to see {that a} Soldering Abilities Village has been added to the convention this yr. It is going to be in the identical room because the {Hardware} Hacking Village. In spite of everything, who doesn’t wish to solder at a convention? This soldering problem is a good way to ring within the new village, and can happen in eight heats of six individuals for a complete of 48 contestants. If you wish to compete, be sure to get to the village immediately and join a slot!

A well-known board is getting used for the competition. It’s the SMD Problem board which MakersBox developed. You may try the Hackaday.io venture web page and even order one from their Tindie retailer in case you like. The competition can be scored based mostly on time, completion, performance, exact orientation, and high quality of the joints.

The SOIC ATtiny85 is a snap to put on the board, however issues get tougher with every step. To efficiently full it it is advisable to solder each a resistor and an LED in 1206, 0805, 0603, 0402, and 0201 packages. These oh-two-oh-ones are mainly grains of sand… good luck with that! We’re actually excited that MakersBox rolled some customized Hackaday and Tindie boards (pictured above) for this contest which we’re honored to sponsor. It appears the winners can be introduced throughout Hackaday and Tindie’s conventional Breakfast at DEF CON which is going on at 10:30am on Sunday within the HHV.

We plan to spectate throughout a number of the heats and in case you’re on the con it's best to too! For these collaborating, right here’s our recommendation. Apply soldering the smallest of elements forward of time (watch some movies on it on the very least). Convey a multimeter to check the diode polarity since you gained’t be capable of see the symbols on the smallest elements. Chances are you'll even contemplate bringing some customized instruments; this floor mount “clamp” involves thoughts, you’ll simply want a a lot smaller model.

You probably have recommendation of your personal, we’d love to listen to it within the feedback beneath!