Arlet wrote:
The SOT pads still look a bit small. I would make them twice as long. You have plenty of room.
Don't make them wider, because you want to keep as much gap as possible, just sticking out further.
Also, if you're looking for solder wire, get some thin stuff. That makes it much easier to control how much you feed in.
In case you want to see better, forget the desk magnifier lamps. Instead, get a cheap pair of reading glasses with highest strength you can find (usually +3 or +3.5)
I have a 3rd hand with a magnifier, but it's a huge piece of ****, always falls over. I will say the magnifier has helped bofore (when pulling a MEGA2560 off a board and putting it on another).
I just used the footprint that was in the libraries for kicad, I'll see about lengthening the pads to help with soldering
As far as wire, the stuff I have is very thin, I'm just not exactly sure what's in it, I'll have to check it. I do have solder wick though, (and a solder sucker, which is completely useless for most things), and the hot air kit I have is actually pretty decent, even being a china direct sort of thing.
I'm still considering paste though, just because I want to get some time with it, and learn a bit about it. My biggest fear is that this chip will be exactly like some smd caps I've done before, that it just gets sucked up onto the tip of the iron.