Hi Pete, That's good to hear, as reading your website, one could easily get a very different impression.
Hand soldering SMD components, as you know is really all just a matter of confidence and technique. I often have to replace components ranging from standard 0402 through to 100 pin LQFP MSP430 series controllers. Just use hot air to remove the multi legged devices, then hand soldering and solder wick to rework. The first time is scary, but after that, its really quite simple, just needs some patience. For most current amateur kits, I have not seen much used smaller than the 28 pin SSOP package AD9851 DDS chip on the AMQRP DDS-60 module. Those certainly are not too difficult to cope with. Good luck with your project. Going by the demand and popularity of the SoftRock kits, there certainly appears to be a hole in the market to satisfy those wanting a ready built SDR solution. 73, Bob G8VOI
