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The most valuable piece of advice is: make your decisions based upon what you plan on using your workshop for rather than following generic advice. Analog diffe
by II2II 4y ago
The most valuable piece of advice is: make your decisions based upon what you plan on using your workshop for rather than following generic advice. Analog differs from digital, low frequencies from high frequencies, repair from construction. Even once you know your domain, how deep you plan on pursuing it is also a factor.
Advice like that provided in the article rubs me the wrong way since it both throws away nuance and deters people who are even mildly price sensitive. On the one hand they suggest that the equipment facilitates learning, on the other hand they are suggesting a $400 soldering iron. That iron will make things easier if you already know what your doing. It isn't going to protect the learner from destroying their first tip, even though the tip will cost as much as a cheap iron. It isn't going to protect the learner from applying heat improperly or for too long because, at best, the learner will only have book learning to guide their use.
But it isn't all about deterring price conscious learners, there is also the issue of encouraging them to succumb to temptation. I mean, who doesn't want a good oscilloscope? Oscilloscopes are awesome. That said, a logic analyzer is going to be more useful if you're working with digital circuits, even once you factor in the sophisticated triggering and (limited) decoding abilities of modern models. They also require a fair amount of experience before purchase or you will end up with one that does not meet your needs (unless you have extremely deep pockets).
- akiselev 4y agoRecommending a beginner buy a $400 Weller soldering iron is particularly egregious. If you’re spending that much money get a used Metcal or just don’t bother.
- buescher 4y agoBingo. If you can't afford a used Metcal, you can afford a Hakko clone and Hakko tips, and if you can't afford that, there's a pretty small gradient from a $5 Harbor Freight open-loop carpet-burner to whatever else is in-between.
- jacquesm 4y agoJust buy a used one. They pop up with great regularity on second hand sites. If the tip isn't usable then just get a fresh tip and you should be good for many years.
- khqc 4y agoI bought my Weller soldering iron and all the tips I needed for $200 CAD new on Amazon, not sure where these numbers are coming from.
- II2II 4y agoThe price I cited was from the article. While I didn't check the price of the soldering iron itself, I looked up the price of the tips and those were over $40. Personally, I used $10 irons for decades and only picked up a temperature controlled one (for about $150 CAD) a couple of years ago. While it was a very nice upgrade, I am firmly in the camp that you can do good work with a basic iron.
- badlucklottery 4y agoA "decent" iron makes soldering much, much easier. Decent in my eyes being: has a semi-accurate temperature setting, reasonable wattage, and quick temperature recovery. This lets beginners keep the heat "low" without having issues when using small tips or soldering to the ground plane. In the last few years though, the price for "decent" has dropped a lot. Like the Pinecil is honestly a solid option despite the awful ergonomics. And, if you're only soldering for 15-30m at a time, the ergos aren't going to be a huge issue.
- aix1 4y agoThere's also AiXun T3A for about $100. I've been using the T245 version as my main soldering iron for a while now and have been very impressed. Here's a discussion on EEVBlog forum: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-aixun-t3a/ https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-ai...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]