GSL
n00b
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2005
- Posts
- 28
So I thought I'd finally try and ease into the world of arcade gaming at home (and get some use out of that MV-1F I bought on a whim years ago) and build my own supergun. I got all the parts I needed including a v.3 JROK encoder (don't have any TV more advanced than S-video for the time being) and managed to cut the proper holes--more or less--in the project box with my shitty store brand rotary tool. The holes aren't completely straight, nor are they the size they should be and no larger, but all in all it doesn't look too bad.
But then I got down to the soldering. I'm not sure if I'm doing something completely wrong, or if my soldering iron is somehow screwed up, but the whole process is not working the way people tell you proper soldering should go. The part about heat the component and then touch the solder to the hot component? Yeah, does nothing. The only way I can get the solder to melt is to touch it directly to the iron, which works, sometimes. Depends on which part of the tip I touch the solder to.
I got to trying to set up my JROK (I foolishly didn't have him solder the parts to the board when I ordered and instead requested panel-mount components, thinking it would give me more flexibility with my layout; not thinking that I'd have to do the solder work myself) when I realized I have no business attempting to do something like this by hand. Even considering the stupidly simple construction of a supergun, there's too many items to solder where I could make a crappy connection, I'm not entirely sure I've got the hang of crimping various connectors (using a terminal strip to split the power lines to the parts that need it; why the hell wouldn't a crimping tool explain how to properly use it on the package?) and basically have the overwhelming feeling that I'll probably royally cock this up if I go any further; the way things are looking this is most likely going to end in an expensive and time consuming failure. I wouldn't be surprised if I ruined the JROK already.
As much as I hate to admit I couldn't do something this simple on my own, I'm wondering if it would be more worthwhile just to enlist the services of someone much more competent than myself, just ship them the whole mess and see if they can't make something useful out of it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to companies or individuals who might fit this bill?
I suppose I could just sell all the parts as-is. It could be like a build-your-own-supergun kit. A shitty one.
But then I got down to the soldering. I'm not sure if I'm doing something completely wrong, or if my soldering iron is somehow screwed up, but the whole process is not working the way people tell you proper soldering should go. The part about heat the component and then touch the solder to the hot component? Yeah, does nothing. The only way I can get the solder to melt is to touch it directly to the iron, which works, sometimes. Depends on which part of the tip I touch the solder to.
I got to trying to set up my JROK (I foolishly didn't have him solder the parts to the board when I ordered and instead requested panel-mount components, thinking it would give me more flexibility with my layout; not thinking that I'd have to do the solder work myself) when I realized I have no business attempting to do something like this by hand. Even considering the stupidly simple construction of a supergun, there's too many items to solder where I could make a crappy connection, I'm not entirely sure I've got the hang of crimping various connectors (using a terminal strip to split the power lines to the parts that need it; why the hell wouldn't a crimping tool explain how to properly use it on the package?) and basically have the overwhelming feeling that I'll probably royally cock this up if I go any further; the way things are looking this is most likely going to end in an expensive and time consuming failure. I wouldn't be surprised if I ruined the JROK already.
As much as I hate to admit I couldn't do something this simple on my own, I'm wondering if it would be more worthwhile just to enlist the services of someone much more competent than myself, just ship them the whole mess and see if they can't make something useful out of it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to companies or individuals who might fit this bill?
I suppose I could just sell all the parts as-is. It could be like a build-your-own-supergun kit. A shitty one.