[Elecraft] Soldering station

[Mike S]

At 09:54 AM 12/2/2004, redmen1969 at optonline.net wrote...
>I'm wondering if anyone has ordered and received the Circuit Specialists soldering stations which looked like Hakko 936's ?  If so could they give us a similar report on that unit?  
>
>At $35.00 it is indeed a tempting buy, but with Mike's post...?

The 936 clone appears very close to the Hakko 936, they even copied the PC board layout: http://www.flatsurface.com/pics/Hakko-Aoyue936.JPG On the top is the Hakko 936 layout, courtesy Tom Hammond, on the bottom is a picture of the Aoyue station, from their web site. That doesn't, of course, address quality of construction.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. At $200 (vs. about $1000 for a real Hakko), the CSI710 rework station is a great deal. The soldering station is a bit less of a deal, since you can get a real Hakko for under $85. I used to use Weller WTCP*, then a Weller labelled Ungar 921ZX, but since Cooper Tools decided to discontinue the Ungar stuff shortly after taking my money for one, no more.