Don't get down. While not a pro, I have spent plenty of hours both mig and arc welding and will be the first to say that welding that thin sheet metal is a whole different ballgame. A lot of things you can just "burn it in there" and call it good. Stitching up those patch panels is no piece of cake. Another tool you may want to locate is a "welding calculator". It is a paper slide ruler sort of thing, I know Miller welding sells them (bought mine on ebay) and you can set the thickness of metal and it will help you with the settings. It at least gives you a starting point w/o as much trial and error.
