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From: Paul van der Linden on 13 Mar 2006 11:26
Hi,
I'm very new to fpga, just came interrested in these things.
The only problem I think I will have is the soldering.
How to solder fpga's on the boards? I'm a student so I don't have money
for very expensive machines.
I want to be able to solder the whole range of packages of Xilinx
spartan 3e, will that be possible with not to expensive tools?

Package types:
Table 121: Xilinx Package Mechanical Drawings
Package Web Link (URL)
VQ100 / VQG100: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/vq100.pdf
CP132 / CPG132: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/cp132.pdf
TQ144 / TQG144: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/tq144.pdf
PQ208 / PQG208: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/pq208.pdf
FT256 / FTG256: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/ft256.pdf
FG320 / FGG320: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg320.pdf
FG400 / FGG400: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg400.pdf
FG484 / FGG484: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg484.pdf
From: Eli Hughes on 13 Mar 2006 11:54
Paul van der Linden wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm very new to fpga, just came interrested in these things.
> The only problem I think I will have is the soldering.
> How to solder fpga's on the boards? I'm a student so I don't have money
> for very expensive machines.
> I want to be able to solder the whole range of packages of Xilinx
> spartan 3e, will that be possible with not to expensive tools?
>
> Package types:
> Table 121: Xilinx Package Mechanical Drawings
> Package Web Link (URL)
> VQ100 / VQG100: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/vq100.pdf
> CP132 / CPG132: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/cp132.pdf
> TQ144 / TQG144: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/tq144.pdf
> PQ208 / PQG208: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/pq208.pdf
> FT256 / FTG256: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/ft256.pdf
> FG320 / FGG320: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg320.pdf
> FG400 / FGG400: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg400.pdf
> FG484 / FGG484: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg484.pdf


The QFP devices (VQ100, TQ144 and PQ208) are do-able with some practice
with a standard soldering iron and some wick. Occe you get the corners
soldered and all the pins aligned, you can solder the others easily.
Dont worry about solder bridges, they are easy to pull off with the
solder wick.

The BGA parts will probably not be within your capabilities. I have
baked my own chips on before, but be prepared to ruin a few chips.

Your best best is to get a development board to experiment. If you need
a standard alone module check out the Avnet Virtex 4 Mini module or the
devices from Xess.


-Eli

From: Markus Zingg on 13 Mar 2006 12:13
>The BGA parts will probably not be within your capabilities. I have
>baked my own chips on before, but be prepared to ruin a few chips.

May I ask wether you ruin a few chips "per run" or up until one get
used to the process? What kind of oven are you using?

Markus

From: Benjamin Todd on 13 Mar 2006 12:15
Hi Paul,

You might manage the flat pack stuff with a tiny soldering iron and a bit of
luck, but the bgas are a different story. Even the 'professionals' mess up
when soldering these.
- aligning the BGA almost perfectly to the grid on the PCB is tricky
- Soldering these needs an oven with a compatible heat-curve, which changes
from lead-free to leaded components.

Just last week I had two s2 200s that had to go to be x-rayed, turned out
they weren't soldered at the right temperature...

So I wonder what your motivation is for this? If you're starting out, try
and get your hands on some starter kits, they're really good value, and you
can learn loads from them.

If you're a student then go nag the electronics department, they should be
pleased you're taking an interest, and might have some stuff lying around,
plus if you could get some university-modules under your belt it would look
nice on your CV.

Mind you, there's so much to be said for just doing things as you become
interested.

I have to be honest and say that one of the big things that these Xilinx and
Altera chaps are missing out on is the hobbyist engineer-type. If only they
had that in mind when they built some of these starter kits, they'd sell
them by the shed-load.

Ok, just my 2p.
Ben

"Paul van der Linden" <msn(a)paultjuh.org> wrote in message
news:44159b38$0$2337$2e0edba0(a)news.tweakdsl.nl...
> Hi,
> I'm very new to fpga, just came interrested in these things.
> The only problem I think I will have is the soldering.
> How to solder fpga's on the boards? I'm a student so I don't have money
> for very expensive machines.
> I want to be able to solder the whole range of packages of Xilinx
> spartan 3e, will that be possible with not to expensive tools?
>
> Package types:
> Table 121: Xilinx Package Mechanical Drawings
> Package Web Link (URL)
> VQ100 / VQG100: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/vq100.pdf
> CP132 / CPG132: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/cp132.pdf
> TQ144 / TQG144: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/tq144.pdf
> PQ208 / PQG208: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/pq208.pdf
> FT256 / FTG256: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/ft256.pdf
> FG320 / FGG320: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg320.pdf
> FG400 / FGG400: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg400.pdf
> FG484 / FGG484: http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/packages/fg484.pdf


From: Paul van der Linden on 13 Mar 2006 13:32
Eli Hughes wrote:
> The QFP devices (VQ100, TQ144 and PQ208) are do-able with some practice
> with a standard soldering iron and some wick.
How thin should the soldering iron be?
> Your best best is to get a development board to experiment. If you need
> a standard alone module check out the Avnet Virtex 4 Mini module or the
> devices from Xess.
The problem with the standard development board, is that they are
expensive (starting from 150 dollar or something). But I think I will
buy one.

And I was also thinking of the feature, I want to be able to make my own
devices, and using start kits for a final devices isn't right.
Paul
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