Proto-Hack Challenge: April

Let's break this BLE112 out!

< in progress >

How to solder small pins

If you're a maker like me who likes to test your ideas out with free samples (Texas Instruments, Microchip) then you'll want SMT & SMD soldering as a skill in your arsenal.

I'll be covering David Merrill's guide on soldering small pins, because I believe it's the best strategy with the resources many hobbyists have access too.


The tools I'm using in this demonstration are:

• BLE112 Bluetooth Smart Module
• BLE112 Bluetooth Low Energy Breakout
• SMT parts
• soldering iron
• solder
• flux

First thing you always need to do when soldering, is to find a open space where there is good airflow and sufficient lighting and of course a power supply for the soldering iron.  Basements are garages are usually good, and a fan can help if the area is on the smaller side.

Gather all your materials, and get settled in your workspace.

<workspace picture>

A great method for soldering small pins is to pre-solder all the pins on the SMDs and board.

<pre-soldered picture>

Once soldered, lay the parts down in their respective locations, and join the solder nodes together by gently touching the solder to the pins.

<soldered board>

It's as simple as that.  Now just interface your module and see if it gives you a good response!

I'm also going to write up a little guide for using conductive-glue pens, so stay tuned!

BLE112

The BLE112 module is a great option if you are looking to include the newest Bluetooth 4.0 (Low-Energy) functionality in a embedded system design.  The only downside (as you may be able to tell from above) is that the pins are fairly small, and are only suitable to be soldered to a final production design.

To solve this issue, I've ordered the breakout board below:

After soldering the BLE112 module to the breakout board (and the additional SMT components I recently found out are not included) the pins on the breakout should be easy enough  to access.  The final development set-up should look like the following:

Once broken-out, interfacing will be as simple as referencing this diagram:

Flywiring a Ball Grid Array (BGA)