[Elecraft] Possible REALLY GOOD BUY on T/C Soldering Stn AND DE-Soldering Stn

[Tom Hammond]

Hi folks:

Thanks to Tim Raymer, KA0OUV, for first mentioning this to me...

FIRST - I have NO interest whatsoever in ANY of the companies referred to 
in the following comments.

It appears that Circuit Specialists, Scottsdale AZ, is be offering what 
kinda appear to be Hakko-made temperature-controlled soldering and 
DEsoldering stations for some really extraordinary prices right now.

At present, I know on no one who had bought and tried either of these 
particular devices, but they (physically) closely resemble Hakko-made 
products. So you're on your own at this point.  I'm hoping that Elecraft's 
Chief Tech, Gary Surrency, will have time next week to visit Circuit 
Specialists to check out these devices and report to the reflector on what 
he finds.

Here's what I now know... or have found... at Circuit Specialists...

T/C soldering station (analog)...

   http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7307

   at $34.95, this looks virtually identical to the Hakko 936-12 T/C
   soldering station. The one thing I have noted is that this device
   draws only 40W of power, implying that it probably offers a 40W
   heater, rather than the 60W heater available on the Hakko 936-x
   http://www.kiesub.com/hakko936.htm for $82.


T/C soldering station (digital)...

   http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7508

   at $49.95, and also 40W power consumption, this is not a bad buy,
   IF it truly is Hakko-made, and not a cheaply-made clone. This
   appears to be physically the same as the Hakko 937 T/C station,
   but with a 40W heater, rather than the standard 50W Hakko heater
   http://www.hakko.com/itnl/product.html?catID=1&prodID=4.


DESOLDERING STATION

   http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8013

   at $119.00, this device appears to be physically to an older model
   Hakko desoldering station I think I saw a while back (though I can
   longer find a reference to it). The handle of the desoldering tool
   appears to be virtually identical to that currently used by Hakko.
   If it is Hakko-made, then this price is excellent! This is a
   2-piece unit... power supply/vacuum pump, and hand-held tool.


Please don't shoot the messenger if this info is not totally accurate, I 
can only report what little I've been able to find on the web. But it 
certainly looks to be very much worth further investigation.

Finally, for what little it might be worth, Circuit Specialists is also 
offering tips for this line of products, and their nomenclature for the 
tips is (with the change of only letter in the nomenclature) virtually 
identical to that used by Hakko for their tips... not sure if this is just 
a fluke or not, but the tips also look like those sold by Hakko for their 
936-x series of T/C stations.


If anyone has further info, especially if it's first-hand info, on this 
line of  Circuit Specialists products, PLEASE post it here.

73,

Tom   N0SS