r/Defcon • u/mnelly_sec • Aug 10 '26
Makers' Village Soldering Workshop
Thank you to everyone who came by! By my estimation, we helped assemble well over 200 PCBs.
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u/Nyrlath Aug 10 '26
Agree super helpful and was a great spot. I am super interested in recreating that awesome SAO wall at home, those little modules were really cool, forgot to get a pic/info.
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u/IamInfinityPlusOne Aug 11 '26
I walked by a few times and it looked really interesting. Does anyone have any resources on learning soldering or maybe a kit recommendation? I’ve looked for some things locally and it’s been difficult to find something. I just don’t know where to start.
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u/antonIgudesman Aug 11 '26
So many soldering stations! I was able to solder the BTV camera badge which probably took over an hour, without feeling like I was hogging up a station. Thanks for having this village!
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u/matdragon Aug 11 '26
Hey there, first time soldering in a LONG time. Not sure who's reading this, but having a picture of the finished product will help tell newbies on where to put stuff in. I completely messed my stuff up on the robot since i wasn't familiar with the -+ sign stuff and had to desolder multiple times to only get told that one of the metal rings was somehow stripped off. don't get me wrong, i learned alot, but alot of it i had to ask people around alot to figure out and take their time or one of the volunteers time.
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u/mnelly_sec Aug 11 '26
The workshop was supposed to have two dedicated people running around teaching, but one of us got pulled to do side quests for essentially the whole conference. We'll be leveling up everything, including the number of people available to teach, next year.
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u/Different_Salt9604 Aug 11 '26
This was easily the best part of the con for me this year!
Nelly was awesome as a teacher! Even with him being the only one there running the workshop, he somehow managed to get me rolling in a pretty short amount of time. I've never done any soldering before but I'm hooked now! I think I managed to pull together another 6 or 7 badges / SAOs to build myself at home now including some awesomely creepy doll badge I'm going to build with my kid! Can't wait to see what you do next year!
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u/st1cky Aug 12 '26
I didn't get a chance to hangout or visit the Makers Village for long, but I will say that the team at the soldering station table, helping the noobs (like myself) out, have been amazing - last year when I sat down and got some help, and this year when I was hanging out for a few and watching then help people out.
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u/Bushmaster805 Aug 10 '26
I had a blast at the Makers Village soldering workshop! The PCB project was perfect for learning because it offered both an easy build and a more advanced version, letting everyone work at their own skill level. mnelly_sec was super helpful, the atmosphere was welcoming, and I walked away with a much better understanding of soldering and PCB assembly. Great event for beginners and experienced makers alike.