Soldering basics workshop


We had our first Soldering basics workshop on Sunday 5th February, 2017.
The hands-on session was conducted by Pooja.

I was eager to meet all the participants. As we were setting the place for the workshop, Brinda walked in with her kids. She had trouble registering her son Arjun for the workshop, however, she was driven enough to actually come to the space and register on the spot. I was told later that Arjun was persistent about joining the workshop 🙂 This was a big morale booster to all of us who were involved in setting the workshop. Vivaan, Arjun’s younger brother, stayed till the session got over.

The other participants were Rudra (9 year old geek-in-making), Ishan (silent precision-cutter), Sayan (Programmer, Artist) and Anwesha (lawyer,programmer)

Session began with me introducing electricity and electronics basics. While I was explaining what a breadboard is, Sid suggested we strip the adhesive open to show what the breadboard actually looks like. Everyone, especially Pravin and Sid, had a great time ripping the board apart.
Very quickly we moved on to soldering basics and Pooja took over. We should have rehearsed the entire presentation through and through at least once, something we will work on for the future sessions. Pooja was very comfortable and confident, the topic was her forte.

The participants worked on soldering a basic circuit – glow an LED on press of a switch. They made the circuit on a breadboard first and then soldered it on a PCB. Once this was over we moved on to a slightly more complex circuit involving a capacitor.

Veer and Vartika, tired of waiting for Rudra, came over. Veer, with his cute antics was the entertainer-in-chief for everyone 🙂

The session went on till 2PM and everyone was engrossed in the world of circuits. My initial disappointment at few turnouts was overshadowed by the enthusiasm of those present.

We have a tentative plan for “Soldering Sundays” – a soldering basics session every first Sunday of the month for those interested. The ones who have attended the basics can skip the theory and move on to more complex circuits using the hardware at the space.

Until next time. Happy making!

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