• Soldering station with exchangable soldering tips and possibility to set the soldering temperature
• One fine soldering tip (0.8mm) and one large chisel type soldering tip (5mm) Lötspitze. Short tips are preferable, they conduct heat much better.
• Desoldering wick
• fine solder (0.5mm)
• Paaste-like solder flux, e.g. RMA-223 in syringe
• fine Tweezers, non-magnetic
• Magnifying glass / Magnifier Lamp / Stereomicroscope with 5x .. 10x magnification. With good eye sight a pair of strong reading glasses (+4 Dioptrien) cn serve well as magnifier glasses.
• Workplace needs to be well lit. Strong lighting results in the eye pupils getting smaller - this increases visual resolution additionally
• Digital multimeter
• Power supply with adjustable voltage and adjustable maximum current
• RF dummy load 50 Ohm 50 W or more
• usual tools (screw drivers, Schraubendreher, small pliers, small side cutter, ..)
• Shortwave transceiver to check RX and TX function of OVI40

Usefull but not strictly necessary:

• Oscilloscope
• Frequency counter upto 200 MHz or so
• RF voltmeter upto 200 MHz or so
• ST Micro test adapter “ST-Link V2”. Original adapter or low price clones
• Hot air soldering station. Low-cost gear such as “ZD-939L”, “ZJchao” oder similar are already very helpful for de-soldering. Known brands such as Weller WHA300 are occasionally apearing in on line auctions for low budget prices.

A hot air pistol may also be quite useful for de-soldering - if used with caution. Measure the true temperature with a thermometer or a PT100 / PT1000 resistor and an ohm-meter. Cover areas that shouldn't be de-soldered with heat resistant material such as aluminium or capton foil.

Hot air pistol used for de-soldering - see text

• A steady calm hand
• Ability to fight one's weaker self
• Patience (this is not a project finished in a few days)
• Perseverance