RTL-SDR R820T2 RTL2832U TCXO Dongle With A Cold Solder Joint

Status
Not open for further replies.

CanesFan95

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
3,006
Location
FL
Well, I had a nice little mishap today and found one of my 2 dongles had a cold solder joint on the SMA connector. While unscrewing coax off the connector, the SMA on the dongle literally slipped into my hand and fell completely out of the casing. Upon examining the connector, it was clear that it was never properly soldered in the first place. This is actually worse than a cold solder joint. 4 of the 5 pins on the connector hadn't even been soldered at all, including the middle pin. I guess this would explain why I was getting poor receive when I posted this thread last year.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0792.JPG
    IMG_0792.JPG
    178.2 KB · Views: 1,161

CanesFan95

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
3,006
Location
FL
You can see there wasn't even any solder at all on the board and pins. Actually, there's 1 of 5 pads on the board that had some solder on it. None on the others. Whoever made this thing didn't solder where they should have. Either that, or whatever machine assembles these messed up somehow. They only cost about $20, but this is a disappointment. Basically $20 bucks down the drain, right?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0796.jpg
    IMG_0796.jpg
    65.9 KB · Views: 1,126
  • IMG_0800.jpg
    IMG_0800.jpg
    87.2 KB · Views: 1,275
  • IMG_0803.jpg
    IMG_0803.jpg
    55.4 KB · Views: 1,046

CanesFan95

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
3,006
Location
FL
Well, before chucking it in the trash, I figured I might as well take a stab at it with the soldering iron. Figured, what do I have to lose? So here's a few before-and afters.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0806.JPG
    IMG_0806.JPG
    227.9 KB · Views: 1,141
  • IMG_0807.jpg
    IMG_0807.jpg
    47.7 KB · Views: 1,247
  • IMG_0804.jpg
    IMG_0804.jpg
    64.8 KB · Views: 974
  • IMG_0808.jpg
    IMG_0808.jpg
    64.6 KB · Views: 1,225

CanesFan95

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
3,006
Location
FL
That middle pin probably wasn't even touching the contact point on the board (until I soldered it). No wonder I was getting crappy receive! It was hard to solder to that little middle pin, but guess what? It's working now after the solder job!! All is not lost! Now it works like it's supposed to and DSDPlus is running fine off it. Good deal. $20 saved.
 

dave3825

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 17, 2003
Messages
7,360
Location
Suffolk County NY
That's the problem with mass produced stuff and poor quality control. When ever I have any reception issues I always check connecto9and solder joints. Good that your up an running again.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
FWIW - one of my two RTL-SDR blog Realteks is out of commission for this exact reason. A re-solder isn't a big deal, just inconvenient.

I have the older plastic case model (like the one pictured here). I may order a pair of the newer metal case models. I hope they're a bit more sturdy.
 

CanesFan95

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
3,006
Location
FL
Well at least they got part of 1 ground pin... :D

LOL. Yeah, really. It's like, what the heck? And I've never been great at soldering, so for me, it is a bit of a hassle.

But anyways, the company RTL-SDR.com sent me back a helpful reply (I forwarded them this thread in an e-mail as an FYI):

"Thanks for letting us know. We saw a small number of dongles with this fault in the earlier batches. For the newer batches we've asked the workers at the factory to take more care with their soldering, and this fault is much more rare now. Soon we hope to switch to an SMA connector that fits onto the PCB better, so the chances of this fault happening should be eliminated then. If you discover a fault like this, just let us know and we'll be happy to send out a replacement, or issue a refund."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top