DPScope - Build Your Own USB/PC-Based Oscilloscope

Step 23 Assembly Step 12: First Socket

Now comes the first socket – lets start with the 28-pin one, which goes into the outline labeled “dsPIC” and will later hold the microcontroller. Be careful with its installation because once soldered down it is almost impossible to remove. The best is to do it step by step:

 

(1) Place the socket on the board as shown in the big picture. Note the position of the notch on the left side of the silkscreen outline – make sure to orient the notch on the socket to the same side. This will make installing the chip less error-prone.
 

(2) Turn the board around an solder only two of the corner pins as shown in the zoomed-in picture below. The reasons is simple – two pins diagonally opposed will securely hold the socket in place, but still allow you to make corrections.

(3) Press the socket onto the board and re-heat both of these solder joint – this allows the socket to sit flush against the board. Visually inspect the socket to make sure this is really the case.

(4) Only now solder all the other pins.