OT: An mp3 player in an altoids tin

[ryanscissorhands]

http://web.media.mit.edu/~ladyada/make/minty/

Now THAT is cool. Thought some might appreciate it. I was thinking someone could tweak it and make it into a mini DIY sampler of some sort. Or just make one, because it's very. . . what's the word. . . "want a mint? Oh, I don't have any! But I do have some sweet, sweet music in here!"

[Hal]

thats really hot - making an MP3 player :-D

and he totally stole my idea for the case :-D

[ethrbunny]

Sweet heavenly mother. That is amazing!

I have *got* to try programming a microcontroller.

EDIT - gag. I see now that he soldered SMD by hand.. ack... :shock:

[Greg Moss]

Not to be a stickler for pronouns but the project was exicuted by a "she."  The rest of her website has some pretty cool stuff as well...

[ethrbunny]

Mea culpa! I didn't see a gender reference. My house is full of women all of whom are more accomplished than I will ever be. I wouldn't knowingly diss one (and live to tell the tale).

[sir_modulus]

I agree there. Plus, my sister can pound the pulp outa me  :lol:

Now I am genuinely interested in making one of these, but I'm curious....how do you solder SMT components? can you use a normal iron? how do you hold them in place (no leads...)?

Cheers,

Nish

[lightningfingers]

I bought a teeny little tip for my iron, about 1mm long that I used to solder a smt 4558.
Heres a cool audio project that fits in a altoids tin:

Its an AM radio :wink: Not as cool as an MP3 player, but incredibly easy to build. Works too

[SaBer]

Soldering SMT parts is really not that difficult if you have enough magnification. A regular fine tipped soldering iron works fine.

The soldering process:
1. Melt a blob of solder on one pad.
2. Grab the component with tweezers
3. Melt that blob again, and push the component into place
4. solder the other side normally

I learned it in about half-an-hour.

[sir_modulus]

is that all!  :shock:  I thought that SMT soldering would require all sorts of special tools etc...and what about IC's? how would you go about soldering that?

Cheers,

Nish

P.S. ROTFL....I'm one of the 10 then....lets see how many more get it...

[ethrbunny]

Geesh. The pads / tips on those ICs look mighty small.  Its hard to imagine doing that all by hand.

[Hal]

...I wonder if she's single...

Ha jk I've been hanging around here too long, I forgot what a "she" is.  Either way, _very_ impressive stuff :-D

[The Tone God]

Unless your really good with soldering those are not the type of SMT that you could swing doing by hand. Parts like resistors, caps, diodes, transistors, etc. are all fairly large SMT wise and have few pins near each other. Unless you have the right tools and expereince I wouldn't attempt to solder the part sizes mentioned in that article by hand.

Just my opinion.

Andrew

[SaBer]

Unless your really good with soldering those are not the type of SMT that you could swing doing by hand. Parts like resistors, caps, diodes, transistors, etc. are all fairly large SMT wise and have few pins near each other. Unless you have the right tools and expereince I wouldn't attempt to solder the part sizes mentioned in that article by hand.

Just my opinion.

Andrew

I _have_ done that size of stuff by hand (well, I'm still young and my sight is good...).  Under a microscope it's not that hard after you get the hang of it, but I once had to resolder a IC just about that size (some atmel µ-processor) without any magnification. It took me over 5 minutes, but I got it done.

The way you do IC's and stuff, is that you first solder one corner (the "first end way") and then the opposite corner. After that you just go through each pin one at a time. When I had to do that with  no magnification it took me about 5 times before I got it straight and many fixes with soldering braid. (anyhow, it did work!)
A thin tip, thin solder, tweezers and LOTS of patience is all you need. But I would prefer some kind of magnification, or you might loose your nerve...

[downweverything]

yeah i use 18f452 all the time, if someone wants me to program one, give me a shout.

[The Tone God]

I _have_ done that size of stuff by hand (well, I'm still young and my sight is good...).  Under a microscope it's not that hard after you get the hang of it, but I once had to resolder a IC just about that size (some atmel µ-processor) without any magnification. It took me over 5 minutes, but I got it done.

Then I would say your good and have the experience. I was suggesting that the average pedal DIYer would have to seriously look at their skill level if they were to attempt that project or just about any kind of fine SMD work.

We have similar techniques. I usually tin the pads which provides enough solder for the part, then holding the part with a tweezer tack one corner pin, then the opposing pin, then run across the pins on one side while putting pressure on the IC to make sure its seated properly, then the other side. Follow that with continuity testing and fixing.

I have soldered SMD uC (both PICs and AVRs) by hand. The smallest package I've ever soldered by hand with a normal soldering iron was a TTSOP which is stupied small and without the aid of any kind of magnifier. I don't think you can solder by hand anything smaller. If I need to do anything like that I pull out the hot air.

Andrew

P.S. Dare I say that I've already built a MP3 player in a hammond box with a touch pad ?

[ethrbunny]

P.S. Dare I say that I've already built a MP3 player in a hammond box with a touch pad ?

Do tell!

[The Tone God]

Its just a silly thing I did for kicks. Plus I was starting to feel MP3 player inadiquite when compared to the ipod people but I didn't want to shell out for an ipod. Its a fairly simple circuit using an AVR and a compact flash memory card. The interface is really simple. No folders or menus. It doesn't even have uploading ability. Instead I upload to the card via an memory card adapter. I didn't want to use an hard drive for durabilty issues. I put it in a small hammond case so its built like a tank. I can even beat ipods and their owners with it.

I will say its not that much cheaper if at all if you factor in the time you spend on it when compared to buying a commercial unit.

Andrew

[ethrbunny]

whats an "AVR"?

[The Tone God]

whats an "AVR"?

Atmel's AVR microprocessor. Its like a PIC but better.

Andrew

[bwanasonic]

...I wonder if she's single...

I'm not sure you're the correct polarity...

Kerry M