Electronics

The Making

Using a kit provided, my class made personal beeper-memorization games. Everything was provided, and all we had to do was solder. It was going well until I soldered a diode the wrong way. Because I could not move the solder with my iron, my teacher brought out a "solder-sucker" and allowed me to remove the solder. I cut the metal legs of the diode about half way with wire cutters and positioned the vacuum on top of it. I pressed down with a small amount of pressure and voila! I then repositioned the diode so that the black strip on the diode was facing the white stripe on the board. The position of this certain piece was important because it directed the flow of the current. If it was facing the wrong way, they whole machine would not function. Not only did I learn the importance of the diode, but also learned how to use a solder-sucker. (Video of game in action below and on homepage)