Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Sponsored by pcbway.com
Having long hated desoldering through-hole components even more than soldering them (often with comic or flame-filled results), a proper vacuum desoldering station has long been on the cards. The problem is I don't have much opportunity to use them and so splashing £80 or £90 on a 'nice to have' is hard to justify.
However I spotted a bit of a bargain on 'Amazon Warehouse' (a kind of returns resale outlet) and picked up the latest in the ZD-915 line: the ZD-8915.
How did I get on?
twitter.com/thetechnoshed
The product I bought: amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079ZC3WBC
(Please note, this is not an endorsement and I have no relationship with the manufacturer or seller)
I'm very happy to be sponsored by PCBWay. They offer PCB manufacture, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, 3D printing and injection moulding: https://www.pcbway.com. Check them out.
0:00 Introduction
1:17 Unboxing
4:50 Inspection & assembly
10:55 Filth
11:12 Experimenting
17:00 PCBWay.com
17:30 A big job: timelapse
19:05 Results
19:53 A simpler challenge
21:49 Conclusion
21:17 Bonus damage!
Sponsored by pcbway.com
Having long hated desoldering through-hole components even more than soldering them (often with comic or flame-filled results), a proper vacuum desoldering station has long been on the cards. The problem is I don't have much opportunity to use them and so splashing £80 or £90 on a 'nice to have' is hard to justify.
However I spotted a bit of a bargain on 'Amazon Warehouse' (a kind of returns resale outlet) and picked up the latest in the ZD-915 line: the ZD-8915.
How did I get on?
twitter.com/thetechnoshed
The product I bought: amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079ZC3WBC
(Please note, this is not an endorsement and I have no relationship with the manufacturer or seller)
I'm very happy to be sponsored by PCBWay. They offer PCB manufacture, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, 3D printing and injection moulding: https://www.pcbway.com. Check them out.
0:00 Introduction
1:17 Unboxing
4:50 Inspection & assembly
10:55 Filth
11:12 Experimenting
17:00 PCBWay.com
17:30 A big job: timelapse
19:05 Results
19:53 A simpler challenge
21:49 Conclusion
21:17 Bonus damage!






![PiStormSTE: a new PiStorm board that fits inside the STE
Kindly sponsored by PCBWay.com
PiStorm has come on leaps and bounds since I was last actively developing for the project. A new ST-specific repository has been set up by Cryptodad (on the Discord) and a lot of new work has gone in.
Weve got accelerated high-resolution, high-colour HDMI graphics, virtual hard discs, real-time clock pass-throughs and the biggest breakthrough of all, 100% ST-RAM access speeds at long last on the Pi 3+ (these have been available for a while on the Pi 4).
There are maybe some tweaks needed to firmware still, but this is getting very close to a viable daily driver.
BUT, open case machines, specialist motherboards, or relocator gymnastics have been required to use the two or three board stack.
So I thought Id do something about it. In this video I build a special STE-targetted version of the PiStorm hardware which allows a Pi3A+ or a modified (ethernet socket removed) Pi 4 to be fitted internally to the Atari STE.
Do have a look and join the PiStorm Discord if youd like in on project.
Made in KiCAD. Open source, as normal.
This project can be ordered from my PCBWay community page: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/PiStorm_STE_v1_0_df288de0.html
[[ Please note, I have specified latches rather than flipflops in this BOM as the lead time is much shorter. Through-hole components (1.27mm pin headers and 2.54mm receptacle) will need to be sourced separately and fitted yourself. ]]
PiStorm original (Amiga): https://github.com/captain-amygdala/pistorm
PiStorm-Atari (firmware & software for the Pi): https://github.com/gotaproblem/pistorm-atari
PiStormSTE (now under the PiStorm Atari repository): https://github.com/gotaproblem/pistorm-atari/tree/main/hardware/pistorm-ste
PiStorm Discord: https://discord.com/invite/j6rPtzxaNW
BBAN Solutions ST disc images: https://bbansolutions.co.uk/index.php/reviving-the-past/pistorm-atari/
~~~
PCBWay offer PCB manufacture, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, 3D printing and injection moulding.
Check out their community of makers here: https://www.pcbway.com/project/
~~~ PiStormSTE: a new PiStorm board that fits inside the STE](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xtQSo7G3DBo/mqdefault.jpg)



