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Good how to on surface mounting with hand-soldering tools. "Integrated-circuit (IC) manufacturers produce fewer new designs in dual in-line package (DIP), shrink dual in-line package (SDIP), or other through-hole forms. These are the classic looking chips that have legs that extend through the circuit board and are soldered on the other side. They're easy to put into sockets and easy to use on solderless breadboards. Most of the new families appear only in surface-mount technology (SMT), surface mount device (Philips SMD), or surface mount component (SMC) packaging such as small outline integrated circuit (SOIC), small outline J-leaded (SOJ), small outline transistor (SOT), plastic leaded chip carrier (PLCC), quad flat pack (QFP), or thin small outline package (TSOP). Without special adapter (carrier) boards, surface-mounted components make breadboarding and hobbyist experimentation difficult." Thanks Greg! Link.
Related:
People can also take a look at my web pages showing a 4-channel
PID motor controller card I designed and built using some SMD processors.
http://www.sampson-jeff.com/rsoh/020329/
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Andy Green has a similar tutorial on soldering surface mount devices and how to "become a fearless soldering God." It's quite good, and highly recommended for anyone attempting a complex soldering job.
http://warmcat.com/milksop/soldering.html
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Soldering SMT devices is not as scary or difficult as one might think. The PCBs in the link look home made and don't have a solder mask. Spring for the extra few bucks and get PCBs fabbed with a solder mask. Soldering fine-pitch SMTs becomes a breeze -- use flux, a drag-hoof tip on your soldering tool (Metcal is the best) and basically flood the pins with solder. Clean it up with solder wick; the solder mask keeps prevents bridges between pins. Wash the board, inspect, and you're good to go.
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