[hpsdr] Alex and Pennywhistle questions

[Jean-Claude JCA. Abauzit]

I just got Alex and Pennywhistle from TAPR and have 2 questions for each.

Alex:
1. Before connecting Alex to Hermes I want to be sure that the red side of the flat cable goes to the pin 1 side of J15.
2. I also want to solder the 4 ground wires to the PCB and I am looking for a suggestion on how to ground the other side to the case.

Pennywhistle:
1. I built quite a few Softrocks using a hotplate and want to do the same with Pennywhistle. Contrary to the Softrocks Pennywhistle PCB did not come solder coated. Do I have to do some preparation before laying down the solder paste (flux, ...)?
2. The BNC have 2 ground posts (nickel?) plated. I hate to solder this stuff and usually use a file to remove the coating from the spot where I will apply the solder (ex: when soldering cable to 3.5mm audio jacks). Any recommendation? What wattage for the soldering iron?

Thanks,

Jean-Claude PJ2BVU

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