Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

Look into getting a hot air rework station. Chinese will do.

You need small tips for the iron and multimeter.
I won't go into recommendations since I feel anything short of JBC is not worth my while and you did not want top of the line.

Steinel heat guns are good, I believe some Sears/Craftsman in the US are Steinel OEM.
Must have closed loop adjustable temperature control, not just two fixed power settings.

You may or may not need magnification, depending on eyesight.

ST

On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 12:43 AM, qz9090@... [Homebrew_PCBs] <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

First of all, I am a hobbiest so I am not looking to acquire top of this line equipment. With that said,

I would like to acquire some new soldering/desoldering/etc. equipment for electronic hobby purposes.

Obviously, whatever I get, I would like to be able to use it for a few years, so durability is key. Also, with more and more components being surface mounted, I would like to make sure the equipment provides me the ability to work with SMD components.

My first thoughts, just for starters, were:

1) a new soldering iron

2) new multimeter (but with what measurements other than the obvious)

3) heat gun (what kind and what temp range)

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Frank P.