[Elecraft] Off Topic Soldering/Desoldering station

[Sam Morgan]

Mike Short wrote:
> I am looking for a desoldering station. I have been currently using a 
> combination of solder wick and solder sucker as appropriate,
> but after 18 years in avionics, miss the Pace station. 
 >
I was recently looking for the same....
Google's Shopping came up with this for the Hakko 808
http://www.google.com/products?q=Hakko+808
$165 or even $175 looks pretty reasonable for my budget.
Most places I have seen it listed for well over $200 or even $250

That said, being impatient and wanting to go ahead and do the K2KSB2XTLS mod

I fell back on my home brewed contraption.
I use one of these 45w irons from RS:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062731
add a couple of foot of plastic hose to replace the rubber bulb
then add the (popper) desoldering tool on the other end of the hose:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062745

sure make it much easier to handle the iron and initiate the sucker without 
messing up the location of the tip, and the popper has way more suction power 
than the rubber bulb did.

yea I will probably buy one of those Hakko's one day,
but for now, this contraption is filling my needs just fine.

-- 
GB & 73
KA5OAI
Sam Morgan
Linux, the lifetime learning experience.