I'll absolutely keep all this in mind, thank you!!! I got 5 PCBs ordered today (with proper mounting), I'll post here again with any updates as soon as they're here, I'll send sound samples too assuming I didn't bork anything (which is rather unlikely despite how simple this board is)Very amendable. Slowly but surely, baby steps etc.
Let me help with these stages, I went through them myself:
1. Order a bunch of unpopulated PCBs from a supplier. With some to spare (read: destroy beyond recognition. Naah, not even this.)
Most probably extra 3 will do unless you've absolutely no manual abilities.
Similar OPIC circuit cost me $5 for 10 pcs. It's a whopping ¢0,5 apiece. Round ones may be a bit more. $1? Even a poor Pole can afford that
2. Order parts. Most expensive are 1G resistor and IC. All the rest is sold in minimum qts of 10 or 20 just to reach less than $1 in price. Dunno 'bout US, might be more expensive. $1,5 for 10? Get.... 3 IC extra (as above). OK - buy 5 more. Get wild and spendy!! YOLO etc. It's... les than 5 buck learning expense. Less then 10 buck total.
3) Now it gets nasty 'cos truly expensive - a soldering station..... I paid a whopping ~$20 for mine and were soldering AtMegas32. Not one a week... More. With ease. (No fancy tips, mind you!). Temperature control is of the "somewhere around here" type. No trendy digital displays.
Or, for a bit more you can buy a hot air station. It's even easier to solder ICs and SMDs. I guess I saw somewhere a combine: soldering iron plus hot air for... $35? 40?
Sure, one for $400 will serve you for ages and make your work fast and efficient.
If you're a pro. Soldering 8 hrs a day. 7 days a week. OK - 6. Like god.
(Mine works since ca 2010)
(Soldering station, not god)
4) Turn it on, don't be afraid, start soldering.
You'll ruin a board or two. So what? You'll fry an IC or two. So what? Still you spent +/- what you'd pay for couple of populated PCBs and you're left with a soldering station and a new skill for free.
And self made mic boards.
5) There's plethora of "how to solder" videos on YT. Watch a few and start experimenting.
You do not need another lenghty, boring and twisted write up.
But if you like reading ....
See? 5 easy stages. As promised.
If they work though, they're small enough to fit in virtually any mic body given you figure out or print mounting, which is SUPER nice, that also means I won't have a bunch of extras lying around if they work, and I can actually put them inside other mics instead of letting them sit around and be unused !!!
