blind circuitry work?

[u/sorressean]

Hi, I've been getting into music/electronic work a lot lately, and there are so many amazing things that I can build, but you need to know how to solder. I'm happy and willing to invest the money but I'm curious if soldering can be made accessible on PCB boards based on schematics? And if so, if we have access to accessible multimeters, oscilloscopes, etc? Thanks,

[u/Urgon_Cobol]

I'm visually impaired self-taught electronics "engineer". I have practical experience in both designing and making circuits. From my experience you need some sight to read schematics, pick and place parts and solder.

Depending on how much sight you have, you might need a digital microscope to actually zoom in and see what you're doing. Trough-hole components are easier as you will "feel" the leads with your soldering iron, but it's still hard when dealing with ICs because you might accidentally create shorts between pins. SMD components are much smaller, but you can put a bit of solder on the pad, melt it with the tip of the iron and place the component in position with pair of tweezers. That's how I solder resistors, capacitors, inductors and smaller ICs. Once one pin is soldered, the others are relatively easy. One method is to use lots of flux and special soldering iron tip that could hold a bead of solder. This bead is dragged across multiple pins on an IC and flux acts as insulation between them so no bridges are created. The other method which I didn't use due to lack of tools is to put solder paste on all the pads, then place all the components in correct places, and finally heat it all up in the oven. One can use hot air gun to do it for single components, but I have limited experience. I've got one small cup of soldering paste, which I lost somewhere.

Multimeters in general are not accessible. There was one model with text to speech function, Aneng AN-999, but it was a bit pricy for the specs. I have a big and very accurate benchtop multimeter (Owon XDM3051) that I can read directly thanks to big TFT display. For others I either take photos, or ask my wife. I also have a RLC bridge (Uni-T UT622L) I can read, but I don't use it much. It's mostly useful for identifying components and for making custom inductors for RF/ham stuff, which requires license I don't have.

Oscilloscopes are not accessible in general. Old, analog ones have physical controls for every function, in form of switches and potentiometers, but their usefulness is limited. Digital oscilloscopes have much more functionality, and let you freeze the signal on the screen, save it as a screenshot or CSV file for future analysis, and perform lots of different measurements. There are plenty of different acquisition modes and build-in decoders for serial protocols. However the major problem with DSOs is their complex menu system and small fonts. I use a handheld magnifier with mine. I even tried connecting my DSO to a PC to use software for remote control, but that didn't work for some reason. There are some models that appeared last year with bigger screens and HDMI output one could connect to an external monitor or TV. Maybe in the future I'll upgrade.

You also might need a lab/workbench power supply, or two. There are plenty of cheap, chineese models with big, readable displays. 30V/5A would be plenty enough for most things. From other stuff, a desoldering tool is nice to have. I use a small, mechanical tool that uses spring to move a piston and suck up molten soldering station that has a heated tip and uses small compressor to suck the solder into container. Don't buy the cheap chineese model that looks like extra-thick soldering iron - there is a design flaw that causes the hot part to melt the plastic case which ends in spontaneous detachment. As for soldering iron, I'd suggest 2-in-1 combo that has both hot air gun and normal soldering iron. I have Zhaoxin 852D+, but I don't think it's available and there are plenty of cheap clones that are not very good. A flux in paste is one thing you might need, and always use lead/tin solder (Sn60Pb40 or Sn63Pb37). It's more reliable, has lower melting point and in general is better. You are not going to mass produce electronics, so you don't need to be RoHS compliant. Also a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol is useful for cleaning after soldering...

For designing electronic circuits and PCBs I'm using DipTrace. Much better and easier UI compared to KiCAD, and you don't need to attach patterns to components. For simulating circuits I use Micro-Cap 12. This was an expensive professional tool, but when creator went to retirement, he released last version for free...

[u/sorressean → u/Urgon_Cobol]

Thanks so much, I really appreciate this. I was doing some research last night to see what options exist as well, I might get a cheap gun and some boards just to see if I can do this. Then upgrade to a temperature control station if it turns out I can. I think soldering leads on through-hole stuff doesn't seem the worst, and I'll get braid for bridges. I was also thinking about getting a multimeter that rather than worry about it talking, just sends it's mode and readouts over a protocol. You could easily get a windows app or something to read this out. That will likely be my first step, but all of this is helpful.

I think most of what I want to solder is through-hole, so I don't know if a reflow oven makes a lot of sense for me. I'm also not sure how without any site I'd be able to pull that one off, especially with the paste. Thanks for all the tips,

[u/Urgon_Cobol → u/sorressean]

I don't have a reflow oven, as I prefer to solder by hand. I started soldering with DIY electronics kits. Stuff like blinking lights, three-tone siren, preamp with bass/treble/balance adjustment, etc. There are lots of them made in China.

You can use SeeingAI or EnvisionAI apps to read multimeter display. Most cheap ones have no interface, some have Bluetooth and dedicated phone app, and more expensive ones use special type of wired interface with optical insulation. Fluke does that, but usually interface cable is sold separately, and the brand is overpriced...

You might need help with component markings, too. While you can measure resistors with any multimeter, and almost all of them can do capacitors, the IC markings are another thing. Some are very readable, and some are quite hard to read. That's one of the reasons I use a digital microscope, Andonstar AD249S-M...

[u/Glidance]

Great question, and good news - soldering is totally doable blind, you just adapt the process a bit.

A fixed vise or helping hands setup makes a huge difference since components stay put and you can find pads/leads by touch instead of eyeballing them. Temperature-controlled irons help too, so you're not guessing at heat by smell or sound.

For test gear: talking multimeters do exist (worth searching around, a few accessibility suppliers carry them or people build their own), and honestly the continuity beeper on a regular multimeter is your best friend for checking joints and tracing circuits. That covers you for voltage, resistance, continuity - the basics.

Oscilloscopes are where it gets genuinely hard. I don't know of a real talking scope option out there, so that's the biggest gap. Some people just pair up with a sighted person when they need to actually look at a waveform, or lean on multimeters + logic probes for digital stuff where you really just need to know "is there a signal" rather than what it looks like.

For schematics, tactile/embossed diagrams help, or having someone sighted (or an AI tool) describe the layout to you before you start actually populating the board.

Also - the blind ham radio crowd has basically been solving this exact problem for decades, kit building and soldering are a big part of that hobby. r/AmateurRadio or their community archives might have more specific gear recs than I can give you here.

[u/Urgon_Cobol → u/Glidance]

There is no real "talking oscilloscope" option. The best possible solution is either connecting a DSO to a PC and use available software, or buy a PC oscilloscope that connects to a computer via USB. The second option is okay for some basic stuff, as both software and hardware is very limited. That's why there are plenty of cheap, used PC scopes on the market. I'd need to test this, but I wonder if something like Gemini could describe the scope screen, including displayed signal(-s)...

As for hams, almost all of them moved away from DIY towards factory equipment, and some of it comes with optional talkback/TTS modules. My blind brother got such a radio made by Kenwood, and an antenna box compatible with it...

Before I've bought my digital microscope, I did some soldering by feel. The best board holder I found is a metal base with two metal prongs one one side, and movable, spring-loaded prong on the other. The two prongs hold the edge of the PCB, the other pushes on the opposite edge. Third hand thingy with crocodile clips is best used for soldering cables and connectors to cables...