[Elecraft] soldering tip temperature sensor/calibration

Wed Apr 7 19:02:01 2004

Hi

Back in the mid 60's I worked in several TV shops (part time) and the =
only soldering equipment we had was the 140/275 watt guns. Weller made =
the best, Wen made the worst. The TV's in those days were "hand wired" =
with point it point terminal strips and a few PC boards. Big round blobs =
of solder was the norm. My day job was at Collins Radio and that is =
where I learned to solder the right way. There we used 40 or 60 watt =
Hexacon irons and every joint was inspected by QC. I never could =
convince the TV guy's to solder properly. The method there was the =
bigger the glob the better the job. When I was a teen I built several =
Heathkits using a Weller gun. For the small stuff I would wrap a couple =
of turns of 12 ga solid copper wire around the tip of the gun and use =
the end of the wire for a soldering tip. That worked fairly well on PC =
boards. I guess my first soldering iron was an old wood burning kit iron =
that I got in Boy Scouts.  I used it to build a couple of simple Heath =
or Knight kits when I was 10 or 11. When I was in Jr high school and =
high school I took electric shop as much as they would allow. There all =
you had to do to get an A was build a Heath kit of some sort. If it =
worked you got your A. So I guess I have been sniffing rosin and melting =
solder for about 45 years or so now.

Don Brown
KD5NDB=20
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Ron D'Eau Claire<mailto:[email protected]>=20
  To: 'Elecraft Reflector'<mailto:[email protected]>=20
  Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2004 5:24 PM
  Subject: RE: [Elecraft] soldering tip temperature sensor/calibration

  Hmmmm... Built a Viking Ranger transmitter using a Weller D-550 =
soldering
  gun. 275 watts of power with the trigger full in.=20

  Still have the Weller 'though not the Ranger... It's great for =
soldering
  antenna wires in a snowstorm or mounting PL-259's on RG/8 type coax or
  soldering copper sheet into a chassis.

  Ron AC7AC

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