A lot of manufacturers are also realizing that we prefer to just solder directly. Some of the newer FC's just come with solder pads instead of holes for the pins. For anything that needs to be replaced or removed (cameras, vtx, transponder), I prefer to solder wires on the FC with servo leads on them. I like being able to disconnect components without having to take everything apart.

Actually i prefer the pin holes over the pads, idk why but i think they are more robust

so for me f303 is a blessing - holes everywhere

(30-Aug-2016, 09:14 PM)Grisha0 Wrote: i stared with pins as i had exactly 0 knowledge of soldering... soldering a pin to a hole was a dream.... soldering ANYTHING to a pad was a night mare (one of the reasons was sodering iron 60W)...

60 W is plenty, you just have to use a proper tip.

(01-Sep-2016, 12:53 PM)Mikk36 Wrote: 60 W is plenty, you just have to use a proper tip.

What Grisha means is this is way too much

Oh, well, then you just get one with controllable temperature, problem solved.
There's nothing worse for soldering electronics than a soldering iron that You don't know the temperature of and can't change it.

I really dislike having to solder because heat treatment on wire makes it brittle and eventually snaps off over time if it flexes. I much prefer receptacles / connectors soldered onto the PCB then you plug in a cable to the pcb. Good / most connectors have a clip that retains it in the socket and prevents it from falling out, like the microfit molex type