EggTimer Quark… I've Stepped In It Now.

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Kruegon

Kruegon

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So I pulled the trigger and ordered an EggTimer Quark. Partially for its inexpensive price and partially to try my hand at soldering it.

I've never been the world's best at it. I want an EggFinder badly. I'd rather find out I can't do it on a 20.00 kit than on a 120.00 kit. Any good advice before it arrives and I screw it up?
 
Magnifier or great eyesight, a good soldering iron (even though I use a cheap Radio Shack 15W) an adjustable one is nice, well lit area, and some method of holding the board immobile while soldering. Follow the instructions carefully and remember that Cris has photo references of each step of the build on the Eggtimer website.
 
Magnification to work under (I used an old stereo microscope salvaged from the trash at an old job), and a set if tweezers ($2-4 off eBay). Something to hold the board while working on it is a nice luxury. I picked up a board holder off Amazon for $14. A meter to check for damaged or shorted components if it doesn't work.... I love the cheap $38 hot air soldering station I grabbed off eBay too. I can put together a quark in about 30 minutes with it and some solder paste. :)
 
I found this worked well for me when I assembled my Quark/Eggtimer/Eggfinder TX + LCD last month. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RB38X8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's not much, but it works and it's cheap. Just take care with the alligator clips not to damage any of the pads/circuit traces. For the quark I clipped right at the screw mounting holes. Honestly, I expected this item to be a piece of junk, but it actually appears to be pretty solid and the cast iron base has enough weight to hold any of the Eggtimer products easily without tipping. I did find the base was a bit uneven however, and tended to rock a touch. I cleaned that up with a piece of sand paper pretty easily though.
 
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MCriscione said:
I found this worked well for me when I assembled my Quark/Eggtimer/Eggfinder TX + LCD last month. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RB38X8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's not much, but it works and it's cheap. Just take care with the alligator clips not to damage any of the pads/circuit traces. For the quark I clipped right at the screw mounting holes. Honestly, I expected this item to be a piece of junk, but it actually appears to be pretty solid and the cast iron base has enough weight to hold any of the Eggtimer products easily without tipping. I did find the base was a bit uneven however, and tended to rock a touch. I cleaned that up with a piece of sand paper pretty easily though.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same one, and was similarly concerned about the clips damaging my boards. I ended up putting some heat shrink tubing on each side of each clip, and that has worked out quite well ...
 
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Kruegon said:
So I pulled the trigger and ordered an EggTimer Quark. Partially for its inexpensive price and partially to try my hand at soldering it.

I've never been the world's best at it. I want an EggFinder badly. I'd rather find out I can't do it on a 20.00 kit than on a 120.00 kit. Any good advice before it arrives and I screw it up?
Click to expand...
I see it uses surface mount devices. What you'd like to have:

Fairly fine soldering iron tip
Tweezers
Great lighting
Magnification
A clutter free work area (to find any SMD parts that might be flicked out of their tape carriers)

This is great, much nicer than the one Harbor Freight sells which I used before:

SE MH1047L Illuminated Multi-Power LED Head Magnifier

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UCODIA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

These or something similar. Forget where I got my set:

Tweezers Non-magnetic Anti-static

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DVIEJ14/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you don't have great lighting this is good for SMD work. It has a fairly narrow beam, so the low lumens figure is deceptive.:

Ikea Jansjo Desk Work LED Lamp

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055IVM1I/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Half that price at Ikea:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20169658/

Ideally, you want lighting from multiple angles to avoid shadows.
 
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MCriscione said:
I found this worked well for me when I assembled my Quark/Eggtimer/Eggfinder TX + LCD last month. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RB38X8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's not much, but it works and it's cheap. Just take care with the alligator clips not to damage any of the pads/circuit traces. For the quark I clipped right at the screw mounting holes. Honestly, I expected this item to be a piece of junk, but it actually appears to be pretty solid and the cast iron base has enough weight to hold any of the Eggtimer products easily without tipping. I did find the base was a bit uneven however, and tended to rock a touch. I cleaned that up with a piece of sand paper pretty easily though.
Click to expand...

I actually have one of these. Bought it years ago for painting miniatures. I've used it for soldering my wires to my e-match terminal blocks. It's nothing special, but it works. I just wish the clips could slide towards the center instead of being fixed to the end.
 
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Winston said:
I see it uses surface mount devices. What you'd like to have:

Fairly fine soldering iron tip
Tweezers
Great lighting
Magnification
A clutter free work area (to find any SMD parts that might be flicked out of their tape carriers)
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to buy a new soldering iron. EggTimer recommends a 15w pencil iron. My lowest is 25w and it's not the sharpest tip. I don't want to damage the factory tin on the board by getting it too hot. But I could probably sharpen the tip. I'd really prefer a super fine point.

I have a nice set of tweezers. Brand new. Somewhere I have hemostats but I may hit harbor freight and get another pair or two.

The jeweler's magnifying visor is a really good idea. I wonder if harbor freight has those…

I can make the work space clutter free.

I am most worried about the steadiness of my hands. I'm afraid this may take me three weeks to build lol. I'm not worried about most parts, but the two multi-contact chips have me concerned.
 
I used a weller WLC100 soldering station (40 watt) on mine, with the variable power turned down about halfway. if you're looking for a new iron, I can highly recommend the weller.

I may be weird, but I soldered mine without magnification- I just get up close and squint at it. However, I do have one of those magnifying glass/lamp things that I use to inspect all soldering joints when I'm done.

Don't worry about it taking 3 weeks to build it- better be correct than fast.

As for the chips- do you know how to drag solder SMT parts?
 
The finer the tip the better. I use a pyrex rectangular baking dish to hold the board in and one can flip it around to different angles to get in the right position. I expect that Rich would do that in the #10 post too with his setup. Twist the jig around on the table to get it in the best position to solder the part.

It really is pretty easy. Tin the pad with a tiny bit of solder, place the part and "tack" it down. Hit the other side with solder and when cool, add a bit more on the side you just tacked. The finer the solder tip the better.

The other "VERY IMPORTANT" technique is break out the laptop. Download the build in instructions and all the build photos in a separate directory. Open the PDF in one window and a JPEG viewer in another and you can go back and forth very easily during the build. This makes it a piece of cake. You can "blow up" the pictures and make dern sure you have the chips placed correctly.

Kurt Savegnago
 
ksaves2 said:
The finer the tip the better. I use a pyrex rectangular baking dish to hold the board in and one can flip it around to different angles to get in the right position. I expect that Rich would do that in the #10 post too with his setup. Twist the jig around on the table to get it in the best position to solder the part.

It really is pretty easy. Tin the pad with a tiny bit of solder, place the part and "tack" it down. Hit the other side with solder and when cool, add a bit more on the side you just tacked. The finer the solder tip the better.

The other "VERY IMPORTANT" technique is break out the laptop. Download the build in instructions and all the build photos in a separate directory. Open the PDF in one window and a JPEG viewer in another and you can go back and forth very easily during the build. This makes it a piece of cake. You can "blow up" the pictures and make dern sure you have the chips placed correctly.

Kurt Savegnago
Click to expand...

Indeed Kurt that is exactly what I do, since the jig is large enough to rest my hands/wrist on it doesn't move and allows me to turn it for best angle. The laptop is another useful item or a second screen, in my case its a laptop too!
 
So I'm just about ready to start work on this thing. For those of you who have built one, where can I locate terminal blocks that will fit the spacing of the tinned holes? Also, I see the battery connection points, where does the switch get connected?

I have tweezers, hemostats, magnifying visor with lights, and "helping hands" with magnifier with light. I still need to grab some jeweler's needle nose pliers and jeweler's diagonal cutters. Harbor Freight carries some that are equivalent.

Do I want the needle nose with or without teeth? I also still need a low wattage soldering iron. My kit did not come with solder (must have been missed), so EggTimer is sending me some.

Any last minute suggestions or advice before I ruin the $20 kit and waste the money I spent on the tools?

Oh and what software do I use to download the data? I didn't see anything listed on the quark page.
 
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I didn't use a terminal block- i just soldered some pigtail wires onto it and used it that way

There is no switch connection points- I just put the switch in series with the V+ connection.

For needle nose- it doesn't really matter, as long as they have a fine-ish tip on them. I use harbor freight cheapo ones that work ok.

If you have any issues, PM me, and I'll help you get it sorted out.
 
Cris sells the terminal blocks you want. Be leary of the ones on eBay.

No software for the Quark. Operates very similar to a RRC2. You set jumpers to desired apogee/altitude for drogue/main and it beeps out altidtude at end of flight. All the answers to your questions can be found in the Assembly/User guides.
 
I've done two Eggtimers, two Eggfinders, two Eggtimer TRS', and two Eggtimer Wifi Switches without magnification just by using a bright lamp over the work area and a high, flat table that is closer to my eyes while I'm sitting. It's not hard, just go slow.
 
No data to download with the Qwark. Just an economical deployment device. If you want data, you'll have to go with an EggTimer deployment altimeter. The interface isn't pretty and the software is simple serial communication.
Kurt
 
Best advise I can give, is, practice soldering before starting the Quark, especially if you are using a new iron. Be sure to keep the iron tip clean, and tinned. If you are headed to Harbor Freight, take a look at their swing arm magnifying lamp, I got one right before building my Eggtimer products, and love it. For securing the boards while I worked, I just used blue painters tape, and, taped it to my work surface. To hold the parts in place, I used one of the little helping hands with a jewelers pick to keep downward pressure on the components.

For the charge outputs, I used Digikey PN: 609-3920-ND. For a good fit, I had to lightly shave a bit off the backside of the blocks that were next to the transistors. They also carry the commonly used Schurter switches for the power switch.
 
Kruegon said:
So I'm just about ready to start work on this thing. For those of you who have built one, where can I locate terminal blocks that will fit the spacing of the tinned holes? Also, I see the battery connection points, where does the switch get connected?
Click to expand...

I posted several pictures of my Quark and switch wiring in this thread.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...ic-ports-are-very-small&p=1486580#post1486580

I also don't use terminal blocks. For stress relief I used a little hot glue to hold my wires in place. I find hot glue works better than zip ties. You can see some glue blobs in the photos.

An Eggtimer was my very first soldering project (not SMT). I've also built Quarks, a TRS and WiFi switch. Like others have said, take your time and follow the directions. Cris also has step by step photos on his website that I look at in addition to the directions. I hope you enjoy your Quark as much as I've enjoyed mine.
 
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I'm a very big fan of terminal blocks. If I could figure out how to use them for the battery connections, I would.

Would be nice to see a switch connection added to the next revision. But I think I have an idea for an easy way to wire the switch in and still have the sled easily removable. The low wattage soldering iron is all that I need to figure out now.

So many new aspects to my newest builds. Usually I only add one or two new things per build. This time I'm adding at least 7 new things. Either build style, components or setup. But still 7 new things I've never done before.
 
I put terminal blocks on the TRS I built. (But constantly burned out regulators, alas).

For the Quark, I used JST terminated whips, soldered in, for both battery and hit wire cutter. I wanted to fit in a BT50 based 'dongle', and terminal blocks are too tall for that.
 
astrowolf67 said:
Be sure to keep the iron tip clean, and tinned.
Click to expand...

Umm ok. I admit I am not the world's best solderer, but this is new to me. Tin the iron's tip? Could you explain? I've always been taught to keep the tip as clean as possible to the point of shiny bare metal.

I've also found a spot where it "appears" that two factory pre-tinned areas are making contact. I tried to get an image last night, but it wasn't very clear. I'll try again with my actual camera tonight. I believe it was between one of the header pins and a "103" connection.

Also, who is Cris that sells the proper terminal blocks?
 
Cris is Cris Erving owner of Eggtimer rocketry. To tinning the tip is cleaning it and coating it with a bit of solder.
 
Here is a quick video from youtube, and, there are many others that show various methods. https://youtu.be/j1ZnkTC5bps A tinned tip has a nice thin shiney coating of solder on it, that allows proper heat transfer from the iron (looks like bare metal, but, it's not). Youtube also has tons of videos with soldering tips and techniques that should be very helpful to watch before starting on the Quark. Once you get good at it, warning, it becomes addictive ;-)
 
I finally got a good clean shot. As you can see, +0S pre-tin is touching the 103 pre-tin. I also used my multi-meter to confirm it via a continuity test. Is it supposed to be like that? Should I send it back or attempt to separate the points?

I swear, everything on this rocket's build has turned out to be way more complicated than any rocket I've ever built before.
 

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