SIM Reader - Anyone want to solder for $?

Talk about the videos and projects (SIM reader, payphones...)

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mrh2008
 
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Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:28 am

SIM Reader - Anyone want to solder for $?

Post by mrh2008 »

Hi everyone,

Well, my soldering skills are non-existent, thus I need to hire someone who can solder SIM reader kits for me.

Lady Ada, are you game? :) I read your post on /. where you mention the quality of your soldering, and I believe it.

Please post your offers here.

Thanks,

mrh

Superworms
 
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Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 4:58 pm

Post by Superworms »

mabey, depends on how much you are offering and also if i have time

mrh2008
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:28 am

Well . . .

Post by mrh2008 »

Superworms wrote:mabey, depends on how much you are offering and also if i have time
Ok - make me an offer.

Here's the deal: in the country where I live (a third world country) the devices are unheard of (like many things sadly) so I figure it would be a good idea to get a few kits (3) to start, and try to sell them at a halfway decent profit . . . from my research into the market, the market would bear around the equivalent of 125 US . . .

This is as you can see experimental (and yes amateurish) yet I am giving you the details hoping you will take that into account.

Obviously, I would order the kits, have them shipped to you, wire you the cash (Western Union and MoneyGram have offices here, I am sure there are some near you as well) for your fees plus the money required for shipping (we get DHL here) and THEN - once they are ready and you have tested them of course - you ship them to me. If all goes well, I will purchase several more.

About me: I am not exactly in the hardware business (and I don't even own a cell phone, they get on my nerves bigtime) but hey I think the sim readers are rather neat, and are unheard of here. I am a junior web developer/programmer, and I am sure that you have heard the "more dangerous than a programmer with a soldering iron" saying :) so I am not even going to try in a production setting. My email is [email protected]

uberscientist
 
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Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:49 pm

Post by uberscientist »

Or you could spend half an hour learning to solder!! Maximize your profits dude.

Think of the dollars :idea:

mrh2008
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:28 am

Right

Post by mrh2008 »

uberscientist wrote:Or you could spend half an hour learning to solder!! Maximize your profits dude.

Think of the dollars :idea:
Yeah, you are right, I just don't feel confident in my soldering ability (all I have ever successfully soldered were the wires for my earbuds, and those were ugly lol) and I don't want to ruin the kits, I want to buy them all set to go so I can sell them and make a buck or two.

can anyone point me to some soldering exercises or something? I have seen tutorials around the web, however, how the heck will I know I am doing it right? see what I mean . . .

why won't lady ada offer some prebuilt at a higher price? what with the already low price for the kits, an extra $25-50 or something for the soldering would not make them prohibitively expensive.

uberscientist
 
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:49 pm

Post by uberscientist »

Woah, I'd solder 'em for you for $25 each, do you have paypal?

And soldering the little wires in headphones is no easy task, the wires are usually covered in enamel which needs to be burned off before you can get the solder to stick, I would actually just recommend picking up a cheap kit that you find interesting and put it together, or a learn to solder kit: http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/p ... ?dept=1071

PCB soldering is a ton easier than soldering those little wires in headphones!!

Cheerio

lou
 
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:39 am

Post by lou »

Yeah, that's the thing.
Read one or more of the many soldering tutorials which I know you already know exist. If you've already done so, and remember everything (my memory is rubbish), all that's left is practice.

Practice technique on something that's already dead. That way, you can't make it deader. Buy one kit more than you need and practice on that. Chances are, by this point, you'll be able to finish it without killing it, but if you don't, it was an extra. You might even be able to resurrect it for personal use or reduced-price sale.

Soldering is a skill which will serve you well if you plan to continue in this field/hobby. If this is purely a money-making venture, and you don't care about the hobby, and you really don't want to learn how to solder, farming assembly out to a house might be your best bet.

Soldering on a board may even be easier (per connection) than soldering wires onto headphone plug terminals. Not that the latter is terribly hard, but on a board, you only have 2 dimensions of any significance to contend with. The only exception to that is assembly order (where one part might make it hard to solder another part). That's just planning.

mrh2008
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:28 am

I see

Post by mrh2008 »

uberscientist wrote:Woah, I'd solder 'em for you for $25 each, do you have paypal?

And soldering the little wires in headphones is no easy task, the wires are usually covered in enamel which needs to be burned off before you can get the solder to stick, I would actually just recommend picking up a cheap kit that you find interesting and put it together, or a learn to solder kit: http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/p ... ?dept=1071

PCB soldering is a ton easier than soldering those little wires in headphones!!

Cheerio
OK $25 isn't bad. I don't have paypal however.

Now I am torn :) because I love to do things myself. Thank you for the link to the kit . . . that's what I need.

The little wires were indeed tricky, yet I thought it was just my noobness at the task.

Allright, my cousin - who lives in Jersey - has paypal, so I will look into it.

Thank you for your encouragement uberscientist. And your site is WAY interesting man . . .

mrh2008
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:28 am

Post by mrh2008 »

lou wrote:Yeah, that's the thing.
Read one or more of the many soldering tutorials which I know you already know exist. If you've already done so, and remember everything (my memory is rubbish), all that's left is practice.

Practice technique on something that's already dead. That way, you can't make it deader. Buy one kit more than you need and practice on that. Chances are, by this point, you'll be able to finish it without killing it, but if you don't, it was an extra. You might even be able to resurrect it for personal use or reduced-price sale.

Soldering is a skill which will serve you well if you plan to continue in this field/hobby. If this is purely a money-making venture, and you don't care about the hobby, and you really don't want to learn how to solder, farming assembly out to a house might be your best bet.

Soldering on a board may even be easier (per connection) than soldering wires onto headphone plug terminals. Not that the latter is terribly hard, but on a board, you only have 2 dimensions of any significance to contend with. The only exception to that is assembly order (where one part might make it hard to solder another part). That's just planning.
Lou,

Thank you for the recommendations and encouragement, and you are right, what I need is practice at the task.

I do care about the hobby, and would love to be proficient at soldering, I mean, I am a software guy all the way, yet I realize that it would not hurt to become better acquainted with the hardware, and not just in the specifications-for-writing-drivers sense but in a more visceral :) manner - for both fun and profit. Tinkering with hardware at that level is alluring and promises to be both fun and fulfilling. I have built (and repaired/rebuilt/rescued) several PC workstations yet I have never done any component level work (other than those little wires on the headphones)

I am torn now :)

I will meditate on this for a day or two.

Cheers,

MrH

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