"If that's not exciting to you, you probably shouldn't be doing this kind of stuff" LOL This killed me, you could feel how passive aggressive that was.

the fact that you got so happy about a tin made me happy.

My wife can recognize you now :D She think it’s a TV channel which review boards every night.

"If this doesn't that doesn't excite you, you probably shouldn't be doing this stuff." Wise words brilliantly put! It's a pleasure to learn from you sir.

A few soldering "tips:" 1) constant temp soldering irons are wonderful 2) I use a spade tip for all soldering tasks. 3) for through the hole parts I hold the iron on the lead for a maximum of 2-3 seconds (usually 2 is enough) at 385 C. High temp and brief contact is the way. 4) to solder a row of attached pins I solder one pin at the end of the the row (or one at each end of the row) to start. If the line of pins is not straight and flat against the board, one can heat the soldered pin and readjust the pins position in the pcb.

Even if your videos weren't so bloody informative I would watch, because you are very entertaining. Thanks for the education!

Yes, Blu Tack is very useful for holding things in place. I used to have a girl friend to hold it firmly for me, but now I make do with reusable putty adhesive.

Videos like this elevate your show from informative about modern technology to educational on a whole other level. This makes an intro to Python way more digestible and more casual to take in; it works really well; the soldering part is great too; I was fairly sure I could pull it off, fingers crossed, but after double checking my mental practice with your demo it should be a no pressure situation, just pay attention and be careful.

Well that was a quick and easy soldering job! Makes me want to get a soldering iron and do this myself soon. Great video as usual.

I really enjoyed the video! I finally figured out what the bread board is used for!

This dude is the best at explaining things simply!!! Everyone else gets hard from trying to make things seem complicated.

Thank you! Just got my Raspberry Pi Zero today. Very excited to get working on a project I've had in mind for a long time.

It’s so easy to watch your videos thank you for helping beginners like me

Those Pimoroni cases are excellent. Each layer is numbered but also covered in a protective film, which has to be peeled off.

great video once again... I would have soldered the 2 pins on the left and right first though... that way you know everything stays in place. Right now I have no use for an RPi-Zero but I'm planning to build one into a keyboard so I have a portable emulator keyboard (like the A500/MSX) that is portable and easy to hook up to any screen.

I love your sense of humour!

so true. my wooden working table has so many black spots from all the times i accidentally put the soldering iron on it or pushed it on the table or missed/slipped and landed on the table( from my rookie days).

dude, blinking LEDS!!! i'm pumped thanks!

For soldering pins I would suggest a 15 watt iron is a little under powered. It was only just melting the solder when applied to the pins. A 25 watt would probably be a better choice. Although hotter it will complete the job faster, so no danger to the PCB or components and it will make a better joint.

Great introduction to the Pi Zero! I've ordered the Zero Wireless and am just beginning to get into DYI electronics with the eventual goal of making a portable gaming computer inside the shell of an older handheld and this is going to require electronics skills I do not have yet. But with the help of videos like these introducing the basics of working the Pi, I know I'll be able to do it soon. Thank you for this, and consider me subbed and passing the word around. :-)

Love the vids. Especially the combo of IT products/gadgets and the " tinkering " you do ... keep it up !

Thank you so much for sharing this video, I love the way you are clear and precise with instructions in all of your videos. I went back and watched all of your videos from the beginning, it took me a couple of weeks but I really enjoyed them.

Great channel. Also i like the way you explain things :)

Thanks for the tutorial! I dig the section where you're soldering. Kinda hilarious. 4:55

''if it's not exited for you, you should't do this kind of stuff''... well said!..thumbs up!

Thank you, just used your video(s) to start-up Zero and test by LED (just one) blinking

When i saw this in the sub box i was so happy nice job mate :-D

Sir, Your videos are just awesome. Thank u for everything!!

You are a very funny man.Thank you for your very useful videos.Got my raspberry pi 3 based on your videos.Learning loads of new stuff. Cheers.

"and isn't that exciting' LOL you are so funny but so intelligent ...I love your videos TY

Excellent tutorial. Keep blinding us with science!

Excellent video I love to see projects like this one. It was great to see the Pi Zero in action with it's GPIO pins and some Python scripting. I look forward to seeing similar videos in the future.

simple and well explained video for new users

Probably not important here but the resistors were 47ohms not 470ohms. I am going through all your SBC videos and learning a lot from them. These videos are probably the best tutorials one could find at least for someone like me who knows almost nothing about these boards yet. Thank you for the time you have invested on this subject!

great video as always

Another great video... This is what I like to see! I am a first time Raspberry pi owner.. I just got delivery of my Pi Zero few days ago. I can't believe how well constructed and inexpensive they are. Gold tracks no less. Everything was soldered on the both boards neat and tidy. Are these manufactured in the UK or EU? I've got stuff from AliExpress that was no where nearly as nicely done as the Pi Zero .. I am trying to make a 1541 pi disc drive emulator for A C64.

Great video as always!

your solderings are very nice, i tried it myself and it's not too hard but quite a challenge.

Hi EC, You can use Ohm's Law to calculate the proper resistor, etc.. V over I (current) x R. You can interpolate the formula to figure the prescribed value. R=V/I, I=V/R, V=I x R. This is DC, Direct Current Ohm's Law, there is one for AC, Alternating Current. Be good, C.

My OCD for soldering is killing me in this video. A little liquid flux would do wonders to get the solder to flow better and get 360* coverage with a nice fillet. Still a good little video for the zero though.

if you read this. are going to make video about the PiDrive? its the new WD harddrive but for the raspberry

Awesome video, THANKS!

Enjoyed this video..... even the soldering. But I wonder why Pimoroni have resorted to the use of "plasticated" screws in their Pi Zero case design rather than the more conventional plastic screws? ;-)

That damn hair lol was trying to blow it off my screen haha

Have you ever heard about and tried an USB soldering iron? It works surprisingly well and very useful for tiny things like this because of the very fine tip that is included. It can be powered by your computer, an USB adapter or a USB powerpack and heats up and cool down in about 15 seconds. I got two of these and very happy with those, easy and small, great stuff. I bought them around $5 each.

The UK have done a lot of things that they can be proud of but one that definitely no one can be proud is the ac prong connector. 😊

very usefull video ! im still waiting for the pi zero (still not in stock). im learning every week something onew on this channel !

love u sir ur channel very awesome teach us many think

Hi Christopher, Thanks for the great videos and for this nice soldering explanation. Could I suggest that you make a video in which you test the gpio pins? There is a software script for the unconnected pins, but a simple project that tests the pins work as designed when something is connected would be a great way to check if our soldering has worked. TIA

I didn't see smoke from your soldering, or is it because Lead-solder melting at lower temp that flux can't vapor yet ? Also, do you use any way to avoid flux fume ?

hi, your videos are awsome. I have a question, can you do the programing on a regular computer and then transfer that to the raspberry?

Can I hotglue the GPIO pins at the bottom of the raspberry pi if I dont have the hammer thing or a solder station?

Now you know why you need a higher wattage soldering iron and a better chisel bit to transfer heat more quickly.

hmmm, if i just wanted to test out something (temporary) could i just wrap a bit of wire through the hole so it touches the contact point to get a connection? would it work?

I bolted a couple of old hinges to bottom of that stand so it don't move so much

I was looking for as small keyboard as I can find, and smallest I found is 22cm wide. Can you tell me, where can I buy one, that you shown on video?

If you don't fancy the soldering then these hammer in pins from here shop.pimoroni.com/products/gpio-hammer-header seem to work well (you just have to be a bit careful when doing it). I've used a number of them on both pi zeros and some phats. Watch the video for a demo.

Oh, My Lordy! (Well, it is Easter Sunday!) you've brought back some wonderful memories of soldering in my younger days! Major credit for the close-up film-work. That's a tough deal and you made it look so simple - and it gives the viewer so much more confidence. I wish I had a Pi Zero to get cracking on with! Well done on the Blu Tack! Up to recently, as I understand it, the Zilog Z80 was the go-to processor for embedded applications such as washing machines, etc. It's been around so long there's no bugs in it and it is well supported. I'm beginning to wonder if chips like those used in the Pi and BBC Micro might just supplant the Z80. I wonder if it is possible to 'snip' one of the layers of the case so that access to the micro-sd card could be had via a pin-stick push?

when you started putting the connector on you had Little thermal contact between pin and iron so not much heat was transferring! always tin the tip before you start and you will have a easier time!

Another soldering detail which helps a bit on things like this is don't solder adjacent pins. Move to different spots, takes more time but prevents heat building up in 1 area of the board too much. The 470 ohm resistors would be good up to 9volts for most LED's that would operate at 20mA or less. Since the PI's gpio pins are lower voltages those are no problem.

Soldering is an art....but proper prep will make things 1000% easier. preclean both elements to be soldered, wear clean neoprene gloves to handle the elements and always pretreat the element with a liquid flux just prior to soldering. I'm a NASA Certified flight harness fabricator. This includes some of the most stringent soldering procedural certifications on the planet.

Perfect little cones of solder. :)

I love these videos.

Very helfull, would this case fits Pi Zero W as well considering the new camera connection socket ? THANKS

Did you say 15 watt soldering iron? Lower wattage means it heats up slower. That means the tip starts to cool down when you apply to a contact to be soldered in effect cooling it down. For the next soldering point, you have to wait for it to heat up again. For a lot of soldering a higher wattage is better. At least 50w is ideal as it is less prone to losing heat when going point to point.

Hi, just a question.. I'm looking for a pi zero W, and I've seen there are a lot of gamepad board ready to be placed on top of this Pi, but I need 2 of them (to have dual pad and buttons) and I don't want to mount them up each other. Can I use normal Dupon cable, male-to-male to connect every working pin on gamepad board to the Pi Zero? Total of 12/14 buttons. Is it needed something to program the Pi or keys will work by itself just by connecting it to every gpio input?

It's amazing!)))

You produce some the very best presentations on the web. Much appreciated 👍👍👍👍👍 and consumed by me as a very good brain/grey matter exercise. However, and I'm laughing, please stop referring to Nylon hardware as "plasticated". Brass screws are not "brassticated", nor are steel screws "steelsticated" 😄 If, in the unlikely case, you had plastic coated brass or steel hardware....then, and only then would they be "plasticated" LOL Love your work Bro💕

Gracias ❤️

I've a few old tips about from the same style iron. 20 years. Not bad.

Great vid

The Pi Zero interests me for its small size and LOW COST; great for robotics. Can the Pi Zero run code from books written for Pi 2/3? I assume yes, but Pi Zero has different processor.

geeky, BIG LIKE!

Wow, that's cool and looks like the learning curve of GPIO programming isn't that hard. BTW, what is this "glue stuff" that looks like bubble gum? And if I may add my 2 cents: whenever soldering delicate stuff such as a Pi, it's better to go it as "crossing", meaning starting by pin #1, than #40, back to #2, than #39, so avoiding overheating the board. Keep up these cool videos!

That "blue tack" you use is an AWESOME idea Chris! What is that product? We have Play-Doh stuff here in the states, but what is the product you're using here?

What's the blue gummy stuff? I have seen in another videos but I don't know what to look for.

learning about comp engineering is so interesting. Wish I got a degree in that instead of Comp Sci

Awesome 👍

Would be nice if you could include the links to the kits you mention in the description. And I've used rosin lead free for electrical stuff for ham radio and had good results but nothing that small. I dread doing that by hand because I know i'd mess up the last GPIO... and then have a difficult time fixing it :/ Thanks for the video ! Wish I could find the zero locally for anywhere near the 5 dollar price.

Do I have to solder them? Dang it. Is soldering important? Could they be molded to the board with clay, or even a tight fitting rubber?

that was cool

Just came upon this video again and noticed that your resistors appear to be 47-Ohm (yel-pur-black) and not 470 (yel-pur-brown). Missed that on the first pass, several months ago...

I'd imagine the separate strips are so you can cut them down for just the parts you need, and the RUN and TV connections.

The Notixed make the Pi Zero very useful. It will allow you to access the Pi Zero from your computer.

Noob comment here. Is the breadboard used just for testing? IE if lets say your final project was just to blink those two LED's like you did. Would you solder the resistors and LEDS directly to the GPIO pins or would you solder them to the breadboard?

nice video, GPIO can run as multitasking?

can i ask for the link to the pi zero kit you bought

You could also use an eraser to clean those pads before you solder.

great video, but what would happen if I didn't connect the resistors??

I need programs to get started USB to SATA DVD. How do I fix it? No operating system just a program that launches the DVD reader on micro SD

How do you record your screen when using the Pi Zero ?

In the video at 11:21, you show a keyboard made by Rii but there is no mention of the model number. Would you please add that to your comment section? Thank you.

i love the *intro music*

Old video, hopefully your soldering skills have improved. Love your video's so don't take that comment to heart.

In the Python code (at 13:24), how precise is the time.sleep() function?

If you just put the pins without soldiering would it still work I know it would be kinda shaky thought

Can you updo this without soldering?

Im like as novice as one could possibly be when it comes to soldering, but I do believe that first one is called a "cold joint". frostly, cloudy (not shiny), and not touching the board.

thank you

I hope he makes a book, I really think he should get paid for his tutorials,