It’s time to try something new!

Sometimes, this DIY electronics stuff can be a bit daunting. Maybe you’ve never soldered microprocessor circuits before. Or maybe you’re worried about that RFM12B “SMD” module on the JeeNode. Or maybe you just want to get going fast, and not spend your time on the hardware side of things.

Meet the new Assembly service option:

For a small fee, I’m going to offer to assemble JeeNode kits for you, as well as soldering headers onto any of the plugs available from the shop.

This can help more people get started on this wireless and sensor hookup stuff. And it lowers your risk – you could get two kits, have one of them assembled, and build the other one yourself. Or if you don’t care about soldering at all, just get all the pieces you want to hook up in assembled form.

In fact, I’m going to extend this new service even further: if you get a kit to build yourself and it turns out that you can’t get it to work, then you can send it back and I’ll assemble / finish it for you. I can only do this if all the components are still undamaged, otherwise you’ll need to get a replacement kit. Since I don’t know whether this will work out, nor whether I can handle such a “return/repair” flow of items, I will only commit to do this until the end of November. If it works well enough, I’ll prolong this service.

The reason for doing this is not to add a massive amount of assembly to my workload, but to help people take the plunge with less risk. Especially if you’re new to all this physical computing stuff and electronics, I think you’ll find out that assembling kits can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. But hey, if you’re in doubt, just get a kit and some assembled parts so you don’t have to worry about everything at the same time.