Weird Soldering Technique in Youtube Videos

[brockrwood]

Several times now I have gone looking for an electronic circuit and have found a youtube video of the circuit.

Instead of showing the circuit on a solderless breadboard or even being soldered onto a piece of perfboard, the videos show the leads of the components being soldered directly to each other. The circuit ends up looking like some sort of lattice with wires sticking out of it.

Is this a typical way to prototype a circuit? I have never done it that way.

Maybe it is just for the video to show you how the parts go together?

The guy in this video must have a hot soldering iron. All he does it barely touch the two leads together and they are soldered.

 

[Art Upton]

It is an adaptation of an old form of prototyping called "Dead Bug" hams have been using for decades long before solderless bread board.

Imagine those components just sitting on an insulated board and legs all up in the air tied together and that is where the name, "Dead Bug" came from.

 

[Lotronex]

I wouldn't be surprised if he was also using a solder w/ lead.

 

[Art Upton]

I wouldn't be surprised if he was also using a solder w/ lead.

I never use solder without lead. Leadless doesn't work well for point to point, Commercial SMT equipment was developed for ROHS compliance

Edit: with modern SMT I would not advocate younger folks to use Lead Solder. But I grew up in my pre-teens with a solder pencil on my desk building things, then 17 years using one on repair benches all with lead.

All that could be done to me already was. I did know to use ventilation.

 

[brockrwood]

Just FYI, the venerable TL431 shunt regulator is a versatile IC. I made a variable power supply with a Tl431 controlling a power transistor (darlington pair, actually) for the power output. Rock solid voltage regulation even under fairly heavy load. I guess then it is a series regulator.

Now it looks like it can be used as a comparator, too. At the same time. At least that is what “dead bug” soldering guy asserts.

 

[cerving]

Once upon a time they used to solder the components to terminal strips and run wires between them. That's how it was done back in the vacuum tube days... with the sockets and barrier strips screwed onto a metal chassis box (which was usually "hot", BTW... I discovered that very early in my electronics hobbyist career).

If you REALLY want to see something amazing, look at a wire-wrapped mainframe computer backplane... truly impressive. You wonder how they ever worked at all.

 

[tsmith1315]

If you REALLY want to see something amazing, look at a wire-wrapped mainframe computer backplane... truly impressive. You wonder how they ever worked at all.

Makes this Dolby prototype look like child's play

 

[Spacedog49Krell]

This is the proto soldering technique that I learned over 50 years ago. The circuit board on the left recorded data through a 900 G ground deceleration impact. This technique came from early computer backplane assemblers and two engineers that worked on WW2 artillery proximity fuses.

 

[cls]

The ARRL Handbook has a really nice chapter on different construction, layout, soldering techniques. Including point to point, terminal strip, dead bug, Manhattan, etc. other chapters cover basics of DC and AC electronics, components, etc. ha, buy the handbook, get your license.

 

[NTP2]

Makes this Dolby prototype look like child's play

View attachment 627850

Reminds me of CERN

That is all hand soldering.

 

[Banzai88]

Once upon a time they used to solder the components to terminal strips and run wires between them. That's how it was done back in the vacuum tube days... with the sockets and barrier strips screwed onto a metal chassis box (which was usually "hot", BTW... I discovered that very early in my electronics hobbyist career).

If you REALLY want to see something amazing, look at a wire-wrapped mainframe computer backplane... truly impressive. You wonder how they ever worked at all.

We STILL use wire wrap in quite a few defense applications.

 

[brockrwood]

Here is what the “latticework” circuit made by youtube man looks like:

 

[cerving]

And after you test that it works, you pot it in clear resin... makes a great conversation piece.

 

[tsmith1315]

And after you test that it works, you pot it in clear resin... makes a great conversation piece.

A little large to pot:





Or with more 3D styling:
https://www.neumeister.com/kunstwerksuche/kunstdatenbank/ergebnis/1033-260/Peter-Vogel/

 

[OverTheTop]

There is very little difference in hand-soldering leaded and lead-free solder. The only differences are you normally set 30*C hotter on the iron, you need to be patient getting it to melt, and don't expect nice shiny joints.

Just waiting for the melt puts a lot of people off using unleaded. Leaded melts almost instantly but lead-free has a 3-5 second pause. Otherwise same same.

 

[4regt4]

Here is what the “latticework” circuit made by youtube man looks like:

View attachment 627924

View attachment 627925

View attachment 627926

Back in junior high, I signed up for an art class. Big mistake, as my art abilities and imagination are not good. When tasked to make a sculpture, I soldered together an audio amplifier in a very 3D (i.e. not flat plane) manner. It was complete w/speaker, only lacking a microphone which was plugged into a phone jack.

Got an A.

Hans.

 

[NTP2]

Back in junior high, I signed up for an art class. Big mistake, as my art abilities and imagination are not good.

same here!

 

[cls]

Perhaps the most important thing in art, and creative writing, is: don't self edit. Don't say "I can't" or "that's no good". Keep producing. Look for that 5% nugget, it's in there...

 

[4regt4]

Perhaps the most important thing in art, and creative writing, is: don't self edit. Don't say "I can't" or "that's no good". Keep producing. Look for that 5% nugget, it's in there...

I found the nugget but it turned out to be a kidney stone.

Hans.