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Pinecil: Portable USB-C RISC-V soldering iron
- pablo1 6y agoHow does it compare to the TS100?
- lvturner 6y agoOr the TS80? (which also sports USB-C)
- linsomniac 6y agoI want to say the Pinecil, which I've been anxiously awaiting, is significantly less expensive... But shipping of $11 (though looks like I accidentally selected courier shipping so it's more like $50) brings it up closer to parity with the TS-100 kits you can get on Amazon for the TS100s. I'm still really excited about the Pinecil though! I don't solder a lot, so I'm looking forward to having a quick kit I can whip out instead of my whole toolbox of soldering tools with my ancient but trusty Weller.
- syntaxing 6y agoSame, super excited to have something on my desk rather than setting up my Weller! I would argue this is closer to a TS-80 than a TS-100, which cost usually around $75.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- walrus01 6y agoI think the TS100 has a big advantage that you can easily rig up a barrel DC connector to XT60/XT90 connector, and use it to solder directly from a charged portable lipo battery. https://www.google.com/search?q=ts100+lipo+cable&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk03ShsPzsb-PutXHTP2Bn31RzT0xsQ:1606205076511&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiO7JWY3JrtAhUCt54KHWTwBqQQ_AUoAXoECGUQAw&biw=1512&bih=858 https://www.google.com/search?q=ts100+lipo+cable&client=fire...
- syntaxing 6y agoThe Pinecil has a barrel jack as well (at least on the website, not sure if this holds true on the product)
- baybal2 6y agoNote, tips are the same!
- Squonk42 6y ago"Device Warranty: 30 Days" => Totally illegal in my country
- guipsp 6y ago(and in all of Europe I believe)
- cunidev 6y agoI think it may be legal, since saying it qualifies as a disclaimer. Basically the default is 24m (EU) or 12m (US), but it should be legal to explicitly state another term for warranty. Some shops have down to 1 week of warranty, some (e.g. wholesale items) may state to accept no returns, etc.
- mschuster91 6y ago> I think it may be legal, since saying it qualifies as a disclaimer. Basically the default is 24m (EU) or 12m (US), but it should be legal to explicitly state another term for warranty. No. While in the US people seem to be able to get away with anything as long as there is a disclaimer, EU law is strict - it's minimum 24 months per Art. 17 EU directive 1999/44/EC (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31999L0044&from=DE https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL...), with an exception for second-hand goods (Art. 16 of said directive, with the decision on the exact duration being left to the member states). B2B transactions, however, are pretty much unregulated wild west.
- emosenkis 6y agoIt may be illegal to sell locally but completely legal to import for personal use (e.g. because Pine64 isn't conducting business in your country at all, they have no obligation to comply with local regulations, only you, the importer of record, have those obligations and you probably aren't required to provide yourself with a warranty).
- jamesrr39 6y agoAcross the whole of the EU this isn't legal (the legal minimum warranty period is 2 years[1]). Legal aspects aside, it also isn't exactly a vote of confidence in the quality of the product. I mean, 30 days, really? 1: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/dealing-with-customers/consumer-contracts-guarantees/consumer-guarantees/index_en.htm https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/dealing-with-customers...
- syntaxing 6y agoBeen super eager to get one of these after reading the announcement last time on HN. Placed an order right away! $25 for a TS-100/80 like features with a RISC-V processor?! Sign me up! To be honest, I have no clue why I need a RISC-V chip on my soldering iron...but seems like it'll be worth the $40 (with shipping) worth of entertainment. Edit: Seems like this batch has a GPIO + JTag breakout board!
- dogma1138 6y agoIf it’s for actual use and not hacking it would wait... $25 for a high powered device that one holds in their hand and has a heating element would have me worried.
- mouldysammich 6y agoSoldering irons generally are not expensive. Antex which is a fairly reputable soldering iron brand (as far as i understand) sell them as low as 10$ on amazon
- spongeb00b 6y agoAntex irons don't seem to get enough love in my opinion. They are (at least partially, I think) made in the UK and I've always preferred them as the handle/body is much thinner than many of the other available irons which I find a lot easier to use.
- dogma1138 6y agoAntex have switched their production to China a while back, including their precision and soldering stations line. They are cheap but with the exception of a few product aren't that good of a value for money for what you get. Their soldering stations are rather anemic and getting bits is rather hard (they also have a very limited line of bits to begin with). Their gas powered portable soldering irons are quite good they don't overheat, have decent control and are well built but their electric ones are simply a miss these days.
- wheybags 6y agoFor the ignorant software only folks like me: why would a soldering iron need a CPU?
- detaro 6y agoTo control when/how it turns on and off, show status on a display, ... It being programmable is a bit of a gimmick for most, but the usual caveat applies: You might not need it, but if you want/need some customization it's very nice if your hardware actually allows you to add custom firmware. (E.g. for the TS100 there were some features that as far as I know first featured in custom firmwares, e.g. flipped display for left-handed users)
- voxadam 6y agoThe biggest application is probably closed-loop PID temperature control. Such a control loop doesn't take much of a CPU but it definitely exceeds the capabilities of something like a 555 timer.
- buescher 6y agoI recall a Bob Pease column from years ago where he showed how to do full PID control with a single op-amp.
- voxadam 6y agoThat's something I'd enjoy reading.
- janzer 6y agoI'm guessing that it is this one https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21799232/whats-all-this-pid-stuff-anyhow https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article... Unfortunately it looks like all the figures are 404 on the article, fortunately IA seems to have them https://web.archive.org/web/20201112004309/https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21799232/whats-all-this-pid-stuff-anyhow https://web.archive.org/web/20201112004309/https://www.elect... Edit: Bit of a funny aside; the editor who wrote the subtitle incorrectly identifies the P in PID as "Peripheral" even though the article correctly states it is "Proportional" in the fourth paragraph.
- maeln 6y agoIsn't it just a rebranded TS80 ? EDIT: The tip and the base are %100 the TS100, so I guess they took the TS100 and added the USB QC of the TS80.
- cunidev 6y agoSeveral minor PINE64 products are mostly rebrands with a custom designed, open sourced PCB. See PineTime.
- josteink 6y agoNot sure about how well these works, but at this price I had to give it a shot. Oh. And this will be my first RISC-V device too :)
- londons_explore 6y agoIt's theoretically possible with USB-C to avoid the power MOSFET for the heater, and instead instruct the power supply to vary the voltage between 5v and 20v which should adjust the heat output by a factor of 16... Could be a neat way to make an ultra low cost iron...
- Nextgrid 6y agoWhat could be the max switching frequency of a USB-C power supply? I'm assuming the MOSFET allows fine-grained PWM of the heater which the power supply itself may not be able to replicate.
- dogma1138 6y agoUSB type-c power delivery is 5 or 20V it’s not a variable voltage supply. Switching between the modes isn’t fast enough and if you do try to pulse modulate it you more likely than not to kill your power supply as they weren’t designed for that.
- rektide 6y agothere is a Programmable Power Supply Mode (PPS) that was added[1] that lets a device dial in exactly what voltage it wants, as the parent comment said, no buck needed (assuming it's within current limit). it made sense to specify. variable output doesn't add much complexity, and it can reduce part count in the exact way we see herr- remove a voltage converter. on the other hand, just a guess, but I'd guess well under half of supplies (wall & battery) have PPS support. just last month I went out & bought the pro version of the battery back I had been using: same size, same capacity, more expensive but it had PPS, which I wanted to play with (as a hobbyist), and can supply more watts (honestly not that important to me atm). [1] https://www.pengohome.com/Learn_Detail.asp?LiD=D15D68D2FEB0FC44E732AA2EF5A01CFE https://www.pengohome.com/Learn_Detail.asp?LiD=D15D68D2FEB0F...
- dogma1138 6y ago>The PPS standard refers to the power supply can exchange data with the power supply every ten seconds, so that the power supply can dynamically adjust the output voltage and current according to the condition of the receiving product specifications. This isn't suitable for this. In general you do not do any high frequency modulation in the power supply, this is not the component for that. You put your capacitors and the switching required where it's needed more or less the supply can be constant.
- basicneo 6y agoWhat's the significance of it being RISC-V?
- mschuster91 6y agoSidenote if someone from Pine reads this - what is the difference between "courier shipping method" and "standard shipping method"?!
- emosenkis 6y agoI dunno, but my local postal service and/or their customs clearance procedures have a tendency to add a week or more of latency to delivery so I'm hoping that paying the extra $19 lets me avoid that...
- mschuster91 6y agoOh god. Just had a quick Google, looks like the EU has decided to make VAT payment mandatory without the previous up to 22€ exception (https://www.paketda.de/news-zollfreigrenze-22-euro-abgeschafft.html https://www.paketda.de/news-zollfreigrenze-22-euro-abgeschaf...). That's gonna be one of a nightmare, international shipping already takes ages...
- s5ma6n 6y agoUff this is really bad news. `After 2021-01-07 any purchase outside-EU will hit customs and taxed.` It was already a problem ordering from Pine and this also exceeds the 22 Euros.
- chrismorgan 6y agoI have given up on understanding the mess that is USB-C. It lists “USB type C: PD and QC 3.0 12V-20V 3A”. Would this work via a USB Type A port, with an A-to-C adapter/cable?
- antoinealb 6y agoNo. Type A ports are only capable of 5V delivery, and this requires 12V. USB-C is a mess.
- ctz 6y agoType-A ports are capable of USB-PD up to 100W (20V at 5A), however that's not backwards compatible with non-PD type-A ports or wires.
- voltagex_ 6y agoType A ports on motherboards are capable of 5V, 500mA usually but I've seen some laptops with 1A ports. Type A ports on wall chargers can support QuickCharge - and yes, this will work with an A to C cable. Having used the similarly spec'd TS100, you're better off getting yourself a 20V capable USB C brick for this.
- FeistySkink 6y agoThe body is plastic just like TS-100. I've changed 2 cases on TS-100 already because they crack around the tip socket even without tightening. Only because of that issues this is not interesting.
- diang 6y agoPlease don't plug heating elements into your computers.