Sigh.

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

In article ,
Robin .@. writes:
Sigh.

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

I wonder if you're trying to use lead-free solder with an iron
which wasn't designed for it and isn't up to it?

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

If that's the only thing you're going to use it for in the next
5 years, I would suggest buying another cheap one. I don't think
they normally fail very often -- you were just unlucky.

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?


Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for the
iron. Having a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows
me I need 350-400°C.

Thanks

Robin wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an
RS232 DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of
years back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin
solder when I try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?


Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for
the iron. Having a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows me I need
350-400°C.

Surely what you want is leaded solder? ;-)

Tim

In article ,
Robin .@. wrote:
Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

I'm surprised at that. Are you leaving it long enough to heat up? Have you
removed the bit to make sure it's not got crud insulating it? Is the
spring clip that grips it in place still present and positioned where it
does the job? Because it should cope with even lead free solder.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

Nowt wrong with Antex - it's my make of choice. But like any iron you need
one specified for the type of work you're doing. And the type of bit
fitted influences this as larger ones act as a heat store for the larger
jobs the iron is capable of. Your iron is for normal PCB work.

If you do decide on a new one the definitive type for all electronics will
be a temperature controlled 50 watt low voltage type. They were once
expensive, but can be bought on Ebay etc for about 30 quid these days.

--
*If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 09:53:42 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?


Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for the
iron. Having a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows
me I need 350-400°C.

Just get leaded solder! Easy to obtain if you are not 'commercial'.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Tim Downie wrote:
Robin wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an
RS232 DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of
years back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin
solder when I try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?
I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?

Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for
the iron. Having a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows me I need
350-400°C.

Surely what you want is leaded solder? ;-)

Tim


if you can still get it that is ,that's why I stocked up :-)

--
Kevin R
Reply address works

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for
the iron. Having a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows me I need 350-400°C.

Just get leaded solder! Easy to obtain if you are not 'commercial'.

I don't think it is in the small quantities the OP sounds like he'd use.
Sure you can buy it by the reel from the major suppliers - with a minimum
order cost - but I've not seen it recently in small quantities from a
retailer like Maplin.

--
*A nest isn't empty until all their stuff is out of the attic

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , Kevin
writes
Tim Downie wrote:
Robin wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an
RS232 DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of
years back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin
solder when I try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?
I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?

Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for
the iron. Having a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows me I need
350-400°C.
Surely what you want is leaded solder? ;-)
Tim
if you can still get it that is ,that's why I stocked up :-)

Of course you can - I bought 12 reels of it 2 months ago (from CPC)


--
geoff

dave wrote:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:21:18 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

I think Weller is the best you can get in terms of quality of
materials and they are excellent designs ergo-wise too. I've had my
tcp one for 25 years and it still works fine.
btw RS still sell leaded solder (at least they did about 3 months
ago). Interestingly the smaller diam resin cored stuff is more
expensive that the thicker stuff... well I suppose it's trickier to
pour the flux into those tiny little holes :-)
seconded or what ever count we are up to for a Weller, my last one went
on for 30 years before I blew up the electronics in the iron,now I have
a simple fixed temperature one, you just change the tips to change the
temperature and this one will probably out last me

--
Kevin R
Reply address works

In article ,
Kevin writes:
Tim Downie wrote:

Surely what you want is leaded solder? ;-)

if you can still get it that is ,that's why I stocked up :-)

So do I, but it's easily available from everywhere except Maplin,
and apparently will remain so.

Also, given my component stocks are all lead tinned, I'm not sure
what happens if you mix those with lead-free solder (or use leaded
solder with lead-free components, which are slowly starting to
appear in my stocks). I've not noticed any ill effects yet.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
dave wrote:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:21:18 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Err, you seem to have snipped everything I wrote...

I think Weller is the best you can get in terms of quality of
materials and they are excellent designs ergo-wise too. I've had my
tcp one for 25 years and it still works fine.
btw RS still sell leaded solder (at least they did about 3 months
ago). Interestingly the smaller diam resin cored stuff is more
expensive that the thicker stuff... well I suppose it's trickier to
pour the flux into those tiny little holes :-)

Been quite a few comments recently about Weller not being of the same
quality as once.

--
*Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
if you can still get it that is ,that's why I stocked up :-)

So do I, but it's easily available from everywhere except Maplin,
and apparently will remain so.

Haven't seen it in the sheds. Or Halfords.

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance. *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

geoff wrote:
In message , Kevin
writes
Tim Downie wrote:
Robin wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:54:48 UTC, Robin .@. wrote:

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an
RS232 DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of
years back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin
solder when I try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?
I do these quite a bit, and have no trouble.

I use an Antex 16-18W soldering iron.

Do you have some of the new lead-free solder, I wonder?

Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for
the iron. Having a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows me I need
350-400°C.
Surely what you want is leaded solder? ;-)
Tim
if you can still get it that is ,that's why I stocked up :-)

Of course you can - I bought 12 reels of it 2 months ago (from CPC)


So you can I thought it had been banned as you could not sell an item
with lead in it any more

--
Kevin R
Reply address works

On Nov 2, 8:54*am, Robin .@. wrote:
Sigh.

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

If you get another iron go for a 25w rather than the piddly 15
watters. This'll make it usable for many more apps.

As for a decent iron, theres really no need. I've never come across an
iron that was working properly that couldnt make a decent joint.


NT

Kevin wrote:

Of course you can - I bought 12 reels of it 2 months ago (from CPC)


So you can I thought it had been banned as you could not sell an item
with lead in it any more

It will nee to remain available for some considerable time to allow
service and maintenance of existing equipment.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

wrote:
On Nov 2, 8:54 am, Robin .@. wrote:
Sigh.

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron that, er, works.

I have a small customer computer cable that I need to solder to an RS232
DE-9. (i.e. 4 small wires onto a mounting block.)

I've got a Antex 16-18w iron that I got from Maplin a couple of years
back, but rarely used. It doesn't even melt the flippin solder when I
try to tin the tip.

So, any recommendations for a decent iron?

If you get another iron go for a 25w rather than the piddly 15
watters. This'll make it usable for many more apps.

As for a decent iron, theres really no need. I've never come across an
iron that was working properly that couldnt make a decent joint.

as long a the wattage matches the job that is, you cannot expect a 5w
decent iron to be able to solder the same joint as a 200W
NT


--
Kevin R
Reply address works

In article , dave
scribeth thus
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:21:18 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

I think Weller is the best you can get in terms of quality of
materials and they are excellent designs ergo-wise too. I've had my
tcp one for 25 years and it still works fine.

Yep best Irons ever, hate to think what age ours actually are been
around since the 80's at least!)

btw RS still sell leaded solder (at least they did about 3 months
ago). Interestingly the smaller diam resin cored stuff is more
expensive that the thicker stuff... well I suppose it's trickier to
pour the flux into those tiny little holes :-)

Proper solder is around..
--
Tony Sayer

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).

No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students either ;-)

I had (still have) a TCP with a 12V element (very handy for use away from
mains) and for years had a spare element tucked away just in case.
Eventually had to fit it and found that the new one was a different
diameter so the sleeve which holds the bit on wouldn't fit :-(


--
John Stumbles

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus
and Pop Psychologists are from Uranus

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:50:56 +0000, tony sayer wrote:

Yep best Irons ever, hate to think what age ours actually are been
around since the 80's at least!)

Pah - Johnny-come-lately! ;-)

Was using the TCP in the early '70s, and the miniature high-output
versions with the curved bits for soldering thick-film stuff for jet enine
controllers, when I did a stint at Lucas Aerospace.

--
John Stumbles

What do you mean, talking about it isn't oral sex?

Kevin wrote:
wrote:
as long a the wattage matches the job that is, you cannot expect a 5w
decent iron to be able to solder the same joint as a 200W

5W and 200W are both strange examples to use in the context of general
electronics work.

--
Adrian C

Adrian C wrote:
Kevin wrote:
wrote:
as long a the wattage matches the job that is, you cannot expect a 5w
decent iron to be able to solder the same joint as a 200W

5W and 200W are both strange examples to use in the context of general
electronics work.

is was a reply to "any soldering iron will work it does not have to be
decent", it a bit like paint brushes or air brushes, one soldering iron
is not a 1 stop for all jobs shop

--
Kevin R
Reply address works

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
Yes, lead-free solder. Didn't realise I needed anything special for
the iron. Having a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron shows me I need 350-400°C.

Just get leaded solder! Easy to obtain if you are not 'commercial'.

I don't think it is in the small quantities the OP sounds like he'd use.
Sure you can buy it by the reel from the major suppliers - with a minimum
order cost - but I've not seen it recently in small quantities from a
retailer like Maplin.

Their mistake. Maplin still haven't realised that they jumped to the
wrong conclusions about 5 years ago. They are perfectly free to sell
tin/lead solder to anyone, and most DIYers are perfectly free to use it.

Unleaded solder is *not* compulsory for anything that is not "placed on
the market" within the specific legal definition of that term. See
sections 1.15 and 2.1 of:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/faq_weee.pdf

The only exception is in repairing recent equipment that has already
been placed on the market under these regulations, and therefore was
"born lead-free". In that case, unleaded solder must be used for
repairs. So even though a repair using tin/lead solder is easier, more
likely to be successful, more likely to be reliable and more likely to
save the item from going to landfill, I couldn't possibly advise you to
do that :-)

Leaded solder is easily available from a wide variety of electronics
suppliers in reasonably small quantities (for example, try
www.rapidelectronics.co.uk). It's just Maplin that is out of step.

Antex have uprated their more recent irons from 15W to 18W to work
better with unleaded solders. However, as a company they are still
unduly fond of the skinny pencil-type bits which have about the worst
possible heat transfer from the heating element to the work.


--
Ian White

In article ,
John Stumbles writes:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).

No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students either ;-)

It was 49p a pint.
Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did
occasionally serve it in a student bar.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
John Stumbles writes:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).
No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students either ;-)

It was 49p a pint.
Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did
occasionally serve it in a student bar.

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Ah - you did say beer... :-)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:06:23 +0000, Rod
wrote:

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
John Stumbles writes:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).
No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students either ;-)

It was 49p a pint.
Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did
occasionally serve it in a student bar.

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Youngster too - I used to pay 1/5d (ca. 7p) a pint when I (legally)
started drinking...

I was going to give it up when it became 2/- a pint, but you know how
it is.

;-)
--
Frank Erskine

In message , John Rumm
writes
Kevin wrote:

Of course you can - I bought 12 reels of it 2 months ago (from CPC)


So you can I thought it had been banned as you could not sell an item
with lead in it any more

It will nee to remain available for some considerable time to allow
service and maintenance of existing equipment.

As in what I do ...

--
geoff

In article ,
Ian White wrote:
Leaded solder is easily available from a wide variety of electronics
suppliers in reasonably small quantities (for example, try
www.rapidelectronics.co.uk). It's just Maplin that is out of step.

As I said before companies like Rapid have a minimum order value which is
far more than a reel of solder - and I guess the OP is far more likely to
just want a tube or card of the stuff. And I don't know of anywhere you
can get that non mail order - certainly not the sheds etc. Screwfix don't
sell it - although strangely they do still sell lead type for plumbing.

--
*I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't care.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Rod wrote:
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
John Stumbles writes:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).
No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students
either ;-)

It was 49p a pint. Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did
occasionally serve it in a student bar.

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Ah - you did say beer... :-)

I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under 10p.

--
*Virtual reality is its own reward *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , Frank Erskine
wrote
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:06:23 +0000, Rod
wrote:

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
John Stumbles writes:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).
No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were
students either ;-)

It was 49p a pint.
Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did
occasionally serve it in a student bar.

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Youngster too - I used to pay 1/5d (ca. 7p) a pint when I (legally)
started drinking...

http://www.amac.f2s.com/Beer_price/
In the days when breweries printed the list rather than a chalk board
which can be changed every 5 minutes

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Ian White wrote:
Leaded solder is easily available from a wide variety of electronics
suppliers in reasonably small quantities (for example, try
www.rapidelectronics.co.uk). It's just Maplin that is out of step.

As I said before companies like Rapid have a minimum order value which
is far more than a reel of solder - and I guess the OP is far more
likely to just want a tube or card of the stuff.

Fair point (and thanks for helping me notice that Rapid have increased
their small order charge into the more normal £4-5 band).

But there are still small firms that supply small quantities with
reasonable P&P charges. For example, see http://www.sycomcomp.co.uk and
select Hardware from the drop-down list.

SOLDER 5 CORE FLUX 60% TIN, 40% LEAD
18SWG Approx. 5 mtrs £1.50
22SWG Approx. 10 mtrs £1.50

OK, that's expensive per metre, but such very small quantities always
are. Alternatively:

500g reels
18SWG Approx. 60 mtrs £8.50
20SWG Approx. 106 mtrs £8.75
22SWG Approx. 170 mtrs £9.25

P&P £1.00 on the small quantity, £2.00 on a reel.

If the OP's Antex is well and truly bust, they sell those too.


And I don't know of anywhere you can get that non mail order -
certainly not the sheds etc. Screwfix don't sell it - although
strangely they do still sell lead type for plumbing.

It isn't reasonable to expect them to know about the right kinds of
solder for DIY electronic construction or repair, as it's well outside
their core business.


--
Ian White

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under 10p.

Just under _5_p, I would have thought.

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Seconded.

Yes, I have exactly the same, from the same era.

I bought it after doing a few weeks student's apprentice work at Ferranti in
Edinburgh, before my 1st year uni. This was standard-issue there. They
were so good compared to my previous one that I had one bought for me for
xmas! It was around £50 at the time, as I recall, and quite a big ask!

I still have it, it's still my main soldering iron.
I've got the usual bag of tips, for different temperatures, and different
sizes.
( At my work, we use a lot of HMP solder. )

It's an older one who's transformer base station is wider than it is deep,
with the iron connected by a 2-core cable to a pair of screw terminals, not
one of the fancy 'cube with a sloping front' ones with a plug-in pencil.
Nor does it have any digital fancyness. Just curie-effect magnetic
thermostat.

It's probably my longest-serving piece of electronic kit, and I expect it to
continue indefinately.

( Second is my AVO-8, but I don't use that much. I keep it as a museum
piece. My work-a-day meter is my Fluke 87. )

--
Ron

Rod wrote:
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
John Stumbles writes:
On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:20:33 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

If you really want a good one, they cost. I have a Weller TCP
which I bought when I was at University, and over 25 years
later, it's still brilliant. You can still buy it -- over £50
when I last looked (was nothing like that much when I was a
student!).
No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students
either ;-)

It was 49p a pint.
Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did
occasionally serve it in a student bar.

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Ah - you did say beer... :-)

5 pints of real ale, a packet of crisps, a stripper and change from a £1
- what better way for a group of lads spending Sunday lunch time when
you are 18......

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Frank Erskine
saying something like:

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Youngster too - I used to pay 1/5d (ca. 7p) a pint when I (legally)
started drinking...

I was going to give it up when it became 2/- a pint, but you know how
it is.

Shortly after I started, it went from 1/6d to 1/10d a pint and that was
bad enough, then in a couple of years it rose through two bob and hit 2
and a tanner. Calamity, on apprentice pay.

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 20:15:26 UTC, S Viemeister
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under 10p.

Just under _5_p, I would have thought.

How do you work that out? 10p was 'two shillings'...
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 20:15:26 UTC, S Viemeister
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under 10p.

Just under _5_p, I would have thought.

How do you work that out? 10p was 'two shillings'...

Perhaps my brain is tired - but 11d (eleven old pence)is 1d less than a
shilling (12 old pence), and 5 New Pence was one shilling, wasn't it? So
- eleven old pence is just a bit less than 5 new pence.

S Viemeister wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 20:15:26 UTC, S Viemeister
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under
10p.

Just under _5_p, I would have thought.

How do you work that out? 10p was 'two shillings'...

Perhaps my brain is tired - but 11d (eleven old pence)is 1d less than a
shilling (12 old pence), and 5 New Pence was one shilling, wasn't it? So
- eleven old pence is just a bit less than 5 new pence.

Correct. Plus the 1s - makes 5p plus just a bit less than 5 new pence -
which is almost 10p. N'est pas?

(Are your eyes reading it as 'First pint I bought cost is 11d."? Not
good grammar bit a quick scan read could skip past that.)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:16:49 UTC, S Viemeister
wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 20:15:26 UTC, S Viemeister
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under 10p.

Just under _5_p, I would have thought.

How do you work that out? 10p was 'two shillings'...

Perhaps my brain is tired - but 11d (eleven old pence)is 1d less than a
shilling (12 old pence), and 5 New Pence was one shilling, wasn't it? So
- eleven old pence is just a bit less than 5 new pence.

If he'd said '11d' that would be true. But he said '1s 11d' - one
shilling and elevenpence.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com