Just something to consider regarding soldering skills. I was right there with you until my wife bought me a better soldering iron (a Hakko FX-888 … example: Amazon has a FX-888D for $104… which is just a digital version). I was just using an inexpensive (about $10) soldering iron before and couldn’t solder worth a darn. But having a soldering iron that allows control of the temperature, gives access to easy tip cleaning (and even interchangeable tip options), plus making sure the right solder is used, along with some YouTube videos on how to properly solder, pretty much changed my soldering life. Will it still take some practice … you bet … but I’d bet you can get there.
