Nick, I looked into a couple irons recently, I'm currently using a simple $8 15-watt iron from Radio Shack and its been able to cover breadboard work, the smallest I've done with it has been connecting a 12 conductor cable to 15-pin VGA male/female connector pair. It was basically a sub-in until I could get myself to drop some cash on something better, though I have been impressed with its function, as long as the tips are kept clean. The investment I'm planning on when I have the cash is probably this Weller model (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BRC2XU), the biggest selling point (aside from simple temp control) is the size of the actual iron, much easier to handle for long periods of time. As for wattage I am not as experienced in that area, like I said the small iron I bought has been more than enough so far. The Weller model I mentioned wont cover the power supply side of things but it seems to be a pretty solid iron at least. I have seen something about using computer power supplies for hobby work as well (you'd be able to get 12v, 5v DC etc pretty easily...), they are all over the place too, and quite possibly free. I would check Instructables.com for the guide, I'm pretty sure thats where I found it... Hope this helps a little,
Cheers, -Matt On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 12:20 AM, Nick Floersch <[email protected]> wrote: > Does anyone have any thoughts on this set of tools? > > > http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=LAB1U > > It looks mighty convenient... but not having played with this stuff much, > it is hard to know if the temperature ranges on the soldering iron, or the > output of the power supply are too limited to cover a wide variety of > projects? Or more likely, it is over-kill? > > Certainly, with respect to Matthew's post it is obvious that this item is > not needed just to start goofing off with Arduino... > > -Nick > ________________________________________ > From: Vermont Area Group of Unix Enthusiasts [[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Nick Floersch [[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 12:15 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Freeduino suggestions from Brian or others? > > Since we got such a great show and tell last night, I suspect there is a > fair amount of interest in purchasing some hardware to hack. Brian is a new > and obvious local supplier of the goods. Are there others that are local, or > fairly local? > > More importantly, perhaps Brian, Matthew, or others could post a few links > or suggestions to good "startup kits" or sets of important tools and parts > for those of us with super meager collections to get started. > > Example... the last time I physically touched a breadboard was in > university... and then Brian gave me one last night which was awesome. From > fooling around in university with this stuff, I recall needing lots of bits > and pieces to go with the bread board (capacitors, diodes, LEDs, wires and > wires and wires, resistors, etc.), a multimeter, and a power supply. At > least. Soldering is not required with the breadboards, obviously, but as we > go further down the road, a good soldering iron would probably not hurt > either. I have a single temperature soldering iron, and a multimeter ... and > now a small breadboard. What other items should I be investing in? I've seen > this ad on the back page of Make for a "Does-everything" power supply which > looks good, but I don't really know for certain that it is the best choice > without spending a lot of time researching... > > So what suggestions are there from those already experienced with this > topic? > > -Nick > > This communication, including any attachments, is solely for the > confidential use of the person(s) named above. If you have received this > communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and > delete/destroy the original. Any reader other than the intended recipient is > hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of > this message is strictly prohibited. > > > This communication, including any attachments, is solely for the > confidential use of the person(s) named above. If you have received this > communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and > delete/destroy the original. Any reader other than the intended recipient is > hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of > this message is strictly prohibited. >
