Kevin B. G. Luxford
2004-01-05 09:53:00 UTC
Hi Guys,
At Tom Hammond's (N0SS) suggestion, I am telling you about another
soldering station that you may like to consider. (Tom is the guy who
wrote the great soldering tutorial available on the Elecraft Website
(http://www.elecraft.com/TechNotes/N0SS_SolderNotes/N0SS_SolderNotesV6.p
df). Don't even contemplate starting assembling a K2 without having
first read it. Why? Well old fossils like myself have not had to do
such fine soldering as is required with putting together the K2. My
experience is with glowbug stuff with large solder tags and tag strips.
The principles of soldering remain the same, but the tools required are
different and new techniques have to be acquired.
Anyway, I purchased a Duratech TS1400 station from Procon Technology in
Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Here is a link to the soldering
station details: http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/p8king/ts1400.htm.
The features that I like are:
1. The tip temperature is programmable.
2. When you switch on, the LCD panel displays the target tip
temperature for a few seconds.
3. From a few seconds after switch on, the LCD panel displays the
actual tip temperature.
4. Standby modes (running with a lower tip temperature) can be
programmed or available via a press of one of the keys on the panel.
5. The iron is a low mass pencil and heats quickly
6. There is a 4 mm socket on the panel where you can plug in a lead
to your anti-static mat and wrist strap.
The prices seem attractive at the moment.
73
Kevin
VK3DAP / ZL2DAP
At Tom Hammond's (N0SS) suggestion, I am telling you about another
soldering station that you may like to consider. (Tom is the guy who
wrote the great soldering tutorial available on the Elecraft Website
(http://www.elecraft.com/TechNotes/N0SS_SolderNotes/N0SS_SolderNotesV6.p
df). Don't even contemplate starting assembling a K2 without having
first read it. Why? Well old fossils like myself have not had to do
such fine soldering as is required with putting together the K2. My
experience is with glowbug stuff with large solder tags and tag strips.
The principles of soldering remain the same, but the tools required are
different and new techniques have to be acquired.
Anyway, I purchased a Duratech TS1400 station from Procon Technology in
Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Here is a link to the soldering
station details: http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/p8king/ts1400.htm.
The features that I like are:
1. The tip temperature is programmable.
2. When you switch on, the LCD panel displays the target tip
temperature for a few seconds.
3. From a few seconds after switch on, the LCD panel displays the
actual tip temperature.
4. Standby modes (running with a lower tip temperature) can be
programmed or available via a press of one of the keys on the panel.
5. The iron is a low mass pencil and heats quickly
6. There is a 4 mm socket on the panel where you can plug in a lead
to your anti-static mat and wrist strap.
The prices seem attractive at the moment.
73
Kevin
VK3DAP / ZL2DAP