Whole-known-network
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@whitequark" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>whitequark</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://chaos.social/@gsuberland" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>gsuberland</span></a></span> I’m a dummy but could you use painter’s tape or kapton to block the rows not in use?</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@whitequark" class="u-url mention">@<span>whitequark</span></a></span> you missed a spot (already pointed out - this is a shitpost or a shit post take your pick)</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@whitequark" class="u-url mention">@<span>whitequark</span></a></span> doing the solder balls by hand is an extreme headache, but you can get BGA reballing frames reasonably cheaply where you clamp the part in the lower section after applying a little flux, clamp the stencil in the upper section, they're spring loaded so it presses the stencil down, then you pour a ton of solder balls into the top and roll them around, then it has a little channel in the corner where you can tip the excess balls back into the container. pretty painless.</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@whitequark" class="u-url mention">@<span>whitequark</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://astronomy.city/@hendric" class="u-url mention">@<span>hendric</span></a></span> It's the packaging the parts are shipped in. The packaging holds and positions the parts precisely so they can be taken out and assembled using pick-and-place automation . ("Vac" for "vacuum-formed" perhaps?)</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@whitequark" class="u-url mention">@<span>whitequark</span></a></span> start with a stack of trays holding parts. You put a couple of dessicant packs on top and seal it within an electrostatic bag. Its not really vacuum sealed, but thats what I always call it.</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://astronomy.city/@hendric" class="u-url mention">@<span>hendric</span></a></span> what's a vac pack?</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://chaos.social/@gsuberland" class="u-url mention">@<span>gsuberland</span></a></span> the key lesson i learned to get it to be this good was that (a) you use a stencil with paste, not loose balls that are fuckin impossible to get to stay in place and (b) you have to get the IC to be *really* level and flat wrt the stencil in the jig, or you'll push paste underneath it and end up with a mess of shorts and blobs</p>
<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://chaos.social/@gsuberland" class="u-url mention">@<span>gsuberland</span></a></span> oh holy shit, eagle eye! thank you, i took it off the preheater and removed, there was indeed a solder ball</p><p>the ones which have low solder quantity (esp the right one) aren't doing anything according to the bitstream disassembly, so i decided to leave them as-is</p>
<p>Self hosting your own media considered harmful (according to YouTube...). <a href="https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/self-hosting-your-own-media-considered-harmful" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/sel</span><span class="invisible">f-hosting-your-own-media-considered-harmful</span></a></p>
