I ordered the Adafruit.com Ice Cube Tube Clock for a fun project to complete between semesters. The kit uses an old vacuum tube as a display, beside is a picture where I’m testing it to make sure it’s real ;). Well, I couldn’t resist getting into it the other weekend and so I started methodically soldering. Then I came upon the capacitor/pad from heck! It just wouldn’t solder. The solder kept blobbing up on top of the pad and I tried everything to make it work. I asked around on Twitter and the consensus was to clean the leads and the pads, apply some flux and then try again. I have my final in signals this week and then I’m going to be on vacation, but when I get back, I’m going to conquer this beast.
In the meantime, Fourier series and transforms are my new best friends. We’re getting to know each other quite well.