@Bambam: I understand the usefulness of having a fully through-hole kit, but given the enclosure size it’s just not possible to fit all the through-hole components in it. Also, the circuit is now complex enough that an all through-hole kit would require a large amount of soldering, and even those who are experienced with soldering would find this tedious. I am in favor of the current hybrid approach: reduces the amount of soldering required while still leaving enough flexibility for hardware modification. Also, the surface mount components I used are pretty large and can be hand soldered or desoldered if needed.