Practice removing and replacing parts on junk circuit boards, like a broken VCR or TV from the side of the road. I'm sure there are YouTube videos on how to do this. Bill Dudley sent from my Linux phone On Mon, Jun 4, 2018, 7:02 PM Thomas Fuchs via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
Hi everyone,
While I’ve been collecting (and using!) old computers for a while, and can do some repairs, I never learned to solder. Obviously that would be a useful skill… :)
What are your recommendations? I’m thinking this is something that you can probably learn best directly with another person but if there’s a good online tutorial or course, I’d be happy to hear about that as well.
I do have the equipment, but I don’t really know where to start, and I don’t want to mess with old hardware until I have somewhat of a grip on it. What’s a good beginner project? Maybe an arduino or something like that?
My main interests area is late 70s to early 90s, and I’d love to be able to identify and properly fix broken connections, weak solder points and (eventually) to recap boards; I’m located in Bucks county, PA.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Best, Thomas F.