Is this an easier build than the A12?

[Guest]

I was planning on starting with 2 A12s but I'm interested in these as well and thought it might be an easier build for my first one.

Also, I haven't done many projects like this and was wondering how easy it is to damage components by over heating while soldering? My experience with soldering is mostly with computer parts and I have fried a chip before, ruining the project.

Thanks for your help.

[Guest]

I don't think anyone has any of these yet but they seem like they are going to be as easy or easier than the A12's. I soldered most of an N72 module together. I had very little soldering experience. I did buy a small practice kit and soldered that together. It helped but was like working with an axe compared to a kitchen knife with the N72. If you have a good soldering iron, are patient and detail oriented you should be OK. I didn't fry anything. The N72 works great and I did all the resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors. I guess you might want to be careful with the trannies. I didn't solder those but it looked pretty easy.

[cominginsecond]

Tim told me that the C84 is harder than the A12 and J99, but easier than the N72.

[tpryan]

The C84 has a lot of resistors, small ceramic caps, and discrete transistors. I'd say it's about as difficult as the J99, definitely harder than the A12. Instructions are up now, so you can have a look for yourself.

[nerve346]

I gotta run right now, but I will definatly look into it later - Hold that thought!

[dkatz42]

For what it's worth, I don't think a kit with more parts is significantly "harder." It may take a bit more time, but it's essentially more of the same. Stuffing and soldering parts onto a circuit board is pretty easy as long as your solder technique is decent and you take your time and are careful.

I haven't built a C84 yet, but of the other three I would consider the N72 to be the hardest due to the wiring of the transformers, both of which require a certain level of technique to do well, particularly the input transformer. (I found the mechanical mounting of the output transformer to be touchy as well on a couple of N72s due to the enamel and the length of the mounting hardware.)