That’s what I was saying when I first examined the soldering work ahead of me. In the picture is the USB adapter board where I will have to mount one of the XBee modules. This is the one that will be the Base or shore terminal. All I have to do is solder those teeny tiny pins into those equally teeny tiny holes in the board.

Solder flowing across between any of those holes is not allowed. My normal soldering irons look like 10 penny nails up close to those little babies.

Time to break down and order one of those Weller WM -120 12 watt micro irons to do the job. There are some really fancy commercial micro soldering stations units available but they can cost more than these boards. The Weller is in the $40.00 range. Find one cheaper, get it!

It has a grounded cord unlike cheaper (Weller) models I have and the lower wattage is perfect for this size project. The super fine rosin core solder I already have. I figure there will be hundreds of these connections I’ll have to solder on this project. This is some of the smaller components these old eyes have had to work with. I love my magnifying headband.

I received the package from Parallax last night. It contains the XBee 802.15.4 Starter Kit. Sure is a small package of parts for the money. Ha, good things (hopefully) come in small packages.

[Show slideshow]

This will provide the radio link between the boat and shore. Looks like a lot of options so I will be working on this communications link for some time.

I have a Basic Stamp computer to hook up to one of the transceivers and I will purchase a Propeller demo system very soon for the second transceiver. The third transceiver will be used for the  master  or base computer.

The Stamp computer will not be used in the actual RBB project but it will be a part of the learning process. Also a Stamp or another Propeller could become a part of the system later on.