For once, Im not asking how to do something Picked up one of these kits for my 18th birthday as a little treat to myself, and it came in this morning, so I put it together after work.

Pics:




A tip I found really helpful, that hopefully helps someone else: I found it a great help to tack one lead of any through-hole component before flipping the board over to solder the legs (ex. resistors, diodes, etc) - just enough to hold it in place. This allowed me to put all the resistors in place, tack them, flip it over, and solder them all at once (while working through a sea of legs ).

Also, what is a good brand of flux? The stuff I have is hard to get off, even with a brush and alcohol (as you can see from the picture).

And just to gloat, I think I did a pretty good job soldering the SOIC chips with my terrible Radioshack 15w iron

EDIT Sorry about the picture quality, I'm still learning to use my new digicam.

 

Nice work, looks excellent. When I saw the blue PCBs I thought it was one of my kits

Tell us how it works on your car.

__________________
Bill
Smart Kits build Smart People
http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

 

I like to start out by trimming the legs so that less than 1 cm will stick through when I insert them. But how do you choose the first pin to solder so nothing falls out?

 

Does it store the OBD codes or is a PC with the software needed in the vicinity of the vehicle

 

I just stick the resistor in the designated spot, and from the top, where the leg goes through the board, I tack it to the plating with a tiny bit of solder, just enough to keep it in place.

It needs a PC/Laptop to connect to, but besides just reading codes, it can also read live data from the sensors, and datalog any important information.