Building Alert: Construction Issues
Sam is sensitive, and so are some of the issues
you’ll encounter when building him. For example, the motor lugs
used in this project are made of thin metal and will break off
if you put too much stress on them. By using stranded wire,
rather than solid wire, you can minimize the stress on the lugs.
Throughout the construction instructions that follow, we
indicate when to use stranded wire.
Another construction issue to be aware of is the
antenna. You solder antenna wire to one lead on both the
transmitter and receiver modules. A 12" 20 gauge wire makes a
dandy antenna; unlike 22 gauge wire, 20 gauge wire is stiff
enough to stay upright. The only complication is in soldering
the wire to the
leads on the modules, so here are a few tips:
Keep the soldering time to a few seconds to avoid damaging some
of the solder joints in the module.
Leave 1⁄4"
of lead below the solder joint to allow you to insert the
adjacent leads fully into the
breadboard.
Soldering the 20 gauge solid wire directly to the lead is
acceptable; however, soldering a
few inches of stranded wire to the end of the antenna,
covering that joint with heat shrink tubing, and
soldering the stranded wire to the
module lead prevents the leads from being twisted while you
work with them.
Twisting can put too much stress on the lead and
break it off, which is more likely to happen if you solder solid
wire directly to the lead.