RE: Re: TI UC2710 vs. Microchip TC4422 FET drivers

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <rob-at-pythonemproject-dot-com>



>Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz
><twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>
>
>Well.. consumer electronics IS where the volume is,
>and while the latest
>whiz-bang state of the art chips are nice, for
>tesla coiling, pushing that
>sort of highpower stuff into the consumer regime is
>very interesting because
>a) it has to be cheaper to be consumer, and b)
>higher odds that useful
>subsystems become available as part of "junked
>equipment".  I'm thinking of
>switching HV power supplies in microwave ovens to
>replace heavy MOTs.
>
>And, as far as surface mount goes, once you make
>the commitment to figuring
>out how to prototype effectively with SMT devices,
>you'll find they work a
>LOT better.  PC boards beat haywired prototypes any
>day.

I spend much of my day over a miscroscope using SMT parts for microwave/RF
circuits.  Have you ever manually soldered in a 0201 size inductor :)  I
find it a relief to use old fashioned leaded parts in hobby work.  

Doing SMT right requires a decent investment, $1000 for a good microscope
(unless you enjoy headaches every day), $2000 and up for a hot-air rework
station, solder paste dispensers, etc.  Now with low frequency Tesla type
work, you could get away with large pads and use regular solder and iron.
For me, low freq is anything below 500Mhz :)

Rob.