Actually I'm getting two different stations oddly enough. I picked up a brand new Weller WES50 which seems very nice, and I got a killer deal on a used Metcal SP200, and am currently waiting on it to arrive. I've not had time to actually do anything with the Weller other than plug it in and play for a couple minutes on a scrap board (worse I discovered I didn't have any of my Soldering stuff in the new apartement), but it seems very nice. Zane

Well, when the one it will be replacing is a 20 year old bottom of the line Radio Shack piece of junk.... What I've got is good enough for electrical wiring and such, but it really doesn't cut it for electronics :^) Zane

I've had a weller station for about 15 years, and for the last 15 it's been unused because it quit on me at a critical time. I replaced it with a sami-fancy solder/desoldering station with a pump and everything built in, but it used a glass tube in part of the solder-sucker, and one little slip was all it took to break that, so it's been shelved for 5-6 years as well. In the meantime, I've used a cheapo form Radio Shack, which I leave plugged in all the time and simple buy a pair of screw-on tips whenever they get a mite worn. The Weller, new, cost about $75, and the fancy solder/desolder station cost about $400, while the R/S iron cost about $5 and the tips still only cost about $3 for a pair. I've replaced the heating element once, for $4. The iron, meanwhile has gone up to about $10. This one is small enough that it doesn't burn the boards, but hot enough to melt solder on the heavy ground and power planes used today. For portable use, I've got one of those butane-fired numbers from Weller. It cost about $50 and I doubt I'll ever get enough use out of it to warrant the cost. It does have a torch and a hot air nozzle, though, and those have come in handy a time or two. Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Friday, September 01, 2000 1:10 PM Subject: Re: Semi-OT: Soldering Iron recommendations ancient line electrical

Kinda funny, you couldn't pry my weller away from me, but I do have a couple spare $15 butane units from Rat Shack that get used when a cord isn't practical. <the humor here being you have nice weller etc., and use a cheap RS with a expensive Weller butane, and I use a cheap Weller with a cheap RS butane.>

Mike Ford wrote: I've known Harold Fue for about 30 years or so as he came to Santa Barbara at the same time as we did. Among other things, he is also a ham. Sure makes it nice to have his stock of parts here!