MapleEngineer

I've posted videos of myself soldering a SOIC8, a QFP32, and header strips. Is there anything else that anyone wants to see? Want to see me solder a QFP with a chisel tip instead of a GW tip? How I solder 0805 SMDs with a regular soldering iron? Want to see me reflow bad solder joints using a regular soldering iron and liquid flux?

Post your suggestions here and I will see what I can do...or maybe someone else will make a video or how to photo essay and post it to the community.

In this video I solder two 16-pin header strips onto a QFP32 to DIP32 adapter board.

Hakko FM-203 with FM-2027 handpiece and T15-BCM2 2 mm cupped beveled tip

MG Chemicals 4884-227G Sn63/Pb37 solder

Kester 186 liquid flux

In this video I solder an ATMEGA328PB in a 32-pin QFP with 0.8mm pin pitch.

Hakko FM-203 with FM-2027 handpiece and T15-BCM2 2 mm cupped beveled tip

MG Chemicals 4884-227G Sn63/Pb37 solder

Kester 186 liquid flux

We live in a small town. My son plays hockey every year with a group of kids the same age as him. In the summer about half of the team play softball together.

Three years ago I was talking to their goalie before a game and he mentioned the he would like to score a goal. I told him that goalies do score goals and that if he scored a goal I would bake him a cake. He said, "Really?" and I said, "Yes, but don't take chances. If you're up by a couple and they've pulled their goalie and there's 30 seconds left and you have possession with time to take the shot, go for it, but if you flub it and get in trouble don't mention my name."

That summer they played softball for the first time. We were talking and the goalie said something about hitting the fence. I told him that if he hit the fence I would bake him a cake. The whole team found out and we talked about it on and off. When it became obvious that no one was going to hit the fence that year I added a home run to the list of things that would get them a cake. They made it through the entire year without getting a cake. In the year end tournament the girl who was my son's defense partner in hockey, hit a home run and good to my word I baked a couple of cakes (a blue one for our team and a red one for the other local team that we played the final game against.)

This year, at the start of the softball season, the kids who know me and I talked about some cake rules but we hadn't really settled on any. The discussions were ongoing. While I was sitting watching the practice a couple of parents walked up and said, "Hi, Mapleengineer." I said, "Hi." Then he asked, "Have you set the cake rules yet?" I said, "You want cake?" She said, "It's really good cake."

So, one of the players hit a grand slam two games ago and I baked cakes and took them to the next game, this past Monday. While the parents were sitting watching the game and eating cake he hit another. So...I owe them cake today, too.

I love watching the kids play and I love making cake so it's a win-win.

A video of me opening the chicken door and letting the flock out this morning. The most senior hens come out first. The bulk of the flock starts to trickle out until the Big Guy comes out then the hens pour out. No. 2 comes out with his girls toward the end of the video. The youngest hens hesitate in the door and No. 3 never makes it out in this video. He always sneaks out once everyone else is out and gathers up his small group of young hens.

The wood, fence, and plastic sheet structure you see here is an aluminum awning with wood walls we use to give the birds outdoor space sheltered from rain and show. It doubles the floor space of the main house.

They have a large, outdoor yard with a thick layer of wood chips for them to dig in and a 5' chain link fence. The fence keeps them out of the gardens and conflict with my wife and protects them from daytime predators. It also meets out obligations under the biosecurity regulations during the time of the bird flu outbreak.

These are working birds, livestock, not pets.

I went out and spent a few minutes trying to convince the chickens that they should go inside until this string of storms passes. The big rooster was telling them to ignore me. I finally cornered him and carried him around upside down for a couple of minutes and everyone else went inside.

The ducks and turkeys were far more cooperative.

The worst part of this is found to be trying to convince my 9 Kg (20 lb) plus cat to come out from under the stairs.

A basket full of chicken eggs and a duck egg.

My wife is away for the weeks. I made this for dinner tonight.

I picked about 500 ml (2 c) this morning. My wife is away for the next three weeks so I'm going to try my hand at making and canning black raspberry jam.