Soldering Tips — Karen Douglass / 2004

PCBoard Soldering can be a kind of art form, when done properly. The result should be a perfect physical and electrical connection, between the part lead and the solder pad on the board. I recommend that you find some solder with low lead content, and rosin core. This can help reduce the amount of lead being dumped into our landfills. You should also have a good soldering iron. Be sure the tip size is appropriate for the job. I suggest a 1/8” 3mm screwdriver tip. Hold the iron tip on one side of the joint (where the part lead and… More...

Build The Amazing FET Circlotron — Michael Rothacher / 2008

Cue the Theremin music! This article is about building your own all-FET Circlotron. It smashes atoms. No, strike that. It won’t smash atoms like a cyclotron, but it has a really cool name and it is, technically speaking, powered by atoms and very, very good at amplifying music. Alpha M. Wiggins of Electro-Voice is generally recognized as the inventor of the Circlotron amplifier although other inventors developed similar circuits around the same time period in the 1950’s. The Circlotron’s transformer-coupled vacuum tube output circuit, a floating bridge, was often drawn in a circular fashion; hence the name. Later, Circlotron-type output… More...