Soldering station, scope, etc. recommendations?

[JamesG]

I just got out of a three-day soldering workshop and now feel much better about doing work on my Amigas.

I used a nice AmScope and JBC soldering station. I even got to experiment with soldering tweezers.

Using those nice tools was an eye opener, being able to see and being able to work cleanly are great. I'd like to invest in some new gear, but the JBC stuff is top-end and I wanted to check and see what might be equivalent.

What setup are you all using to do work?

[Ral-Clan]

I don't have great stuff, but I've been able to do a lot with it.

A standard Radio Shack 2-setting soldering iron. 15W / 30W I think.
A pretty standard digital multimeter - if you don't have one get one with continuity buzzer.  
A self-powered desoldering tool (heated tip) with the red-rubber bulb on it.  If I lost this I'd buy another right away as it works great for me for all but the very fine components. I've never had luck with desoldering braid or the pumps that are spring loaded.
A TekTronics oscilloscope from the 1970s.  I was given this for free and have to learn how to use it - might even need to be calibrated.
I also just ordered a logic probe which I will need to learn how to use.

I've been soldering for years now so am pretty comfortable/good at that.  Just need to advance my knowledge with the scope and probe.  Basically, I'm at the stage where I can replace components if it is obvious which ones are broken (i.e. burned components, dead LEDs) or someone tells me what needs replacing, but I don't know how to diagnose problems within a circuit path that are not obvious.

I'm fine with low voltage stuff (i.e. vintage computer circuit board) but working around anything AC or inside a CRT scares the pants off me (which is probably a healthy disposition).

[tonyvdb]

I use this Weller station for all my soldering work.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ARU9PO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468003473&sr=8-3&keywords=weller+soldering+iron

[ChuckT]

I don't have great stuff, but I've been able to do a lot with it.

A standard Radio Shack 2-setting soldering iron. 15W / 30W I think.

I found that the Radio Shack soldering irons were too big to do anything productive.

You also want a soldering iron that can do surface mount soldering so you want a small tip on your iron.  In other words, think of the future.

[billt]

Aoyue 968A+ solder station/hot air/fume sucker with tweezer solder addon
articulating arm (but need fitting adapter made for the hot air tool holder, need to visit a machine shop)
883 preheater
vacuum tweezer puller
Small shop vac for larger fume extraction (US 5-gallon bucket cap type would be great as well)
(I'm gearing up for some BGA work)

An old GC Electronics solder pencil station has served me well for many years, but it's hard to find tips for now.

I believe Weller is pretty good.

Metcal and Hakko are great but a bit pricey.

MSO-19 USB O-scope
Oscium iPad O-scope

Bus Pirate

Willem Flash programmer

[Ral-Clan]

I found that the Radio Shack soldering irons were too big to do anything productive.

You also want a soldering iron that can do surface mount soldering so you want a small tip on your iron.  In other words, think of the future.

You're right - it is a bit fat tipped for the smaller stuff, and I would like something where the handle is closer to the tip.  Can anyone recommend something under $100 like this (links)?  I don't do it enough to warrant a $200+ soldering station.

[JamesG]

I've never had luck with desoldering braid or the pumps that are spring loaded.

Flux the wick and area and apply iron to component and wick simultaneously. The solder will flow up the wick like magic. Also works beautifully cleaning pads.

I was so glad to finally be able to get this right on through hole connectors. A couple were still stubborn, and you can either add solder and wick again or try the suction.

[shaf]

I  use an Aoyue 738H Solder Station/Hot Air/Fume Sucker with SMT Tweezers, It's Cheaper than a Weller Station but good quality for Hobby work.
Ral-clan PM me I have an older Hot Air/Solder/Rework Station you can have for a reasonable price, You cannot use the Hot Air and Solder sections at the same time.

[Heiroglyph]

I'll second the Aoyue 768A+

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-968A-Digital-Rework-Station/dp/B006FA481G

I've been happy with it and we have several at work that have been working well.

[zylesea]

I like my Ersa Analog 60 for general soldering. Ersa does high class devices for a reasonable price. it's a good alternative to Weller.

For oscilloscopes. I once used a Tektronix digital oscilloscope (forgot the actual number) and it was, well, a bit "special". I know Tektronix builds very good oscilloscopes. But they also build kind of poor devices. I had a lot of wrong measures with the Tekronix which I originally trusted and was searching my software to death for the "error" I was measuring. Eventually it was the Tektronix and not my software. It actually costed me a serious couple of days of work and provided me quite some headaches. I prefer Hameg (Rohde & Schwarz), they never let me down.
I was able to work with the Tektronix later, but I didn't trusted that device too much and put only some monitoring data to it. I loved my Hameg oscilloscopes though.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Thanks to amazon keeping a record of my order history for forever, I can say I've bought the following items in the past couple years (after the 1980's era stuff my dad left me finally wore out):

Weller soldering station:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AS28UC/


Fine tip:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002BSP4K/


One of those cheap-o "Helping Hands" things:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RB38X8/


Desoldering braid:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019V5MAC/


Solder:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJNQ/


Flux:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ZIV85A/


I'd say that all of these things kind of suck, but I've successfully repaired a few items with them, including replacing a PoE module on an IP telephone which saved us around $300, so I guess it was worth it.  My lack of skill and shaky hands are probably more to blame than any failings on any of the above items.  

I've been curious about the tweezers and the sucker, but haven't gotten around to investigating them very much.  As such I'll be following this thread with interest, lol.  

[Ral-Clan]

I  use an Aoyue 738H Solder Station/Hot Air/Fume Sucker with SMT Tweezers, It's Cheaper than a Weller Station but good quality for Hobby work.
Ral-clan PM me I have an older Hot Air/Solder/Rework Station you can have for a reasonable price, You cannot use the Hot Air and Solder sections at the same time.

Hi Shaf.  You seem to have your option to receive PMs disabled.

[QuikSanz]

I use this Weller station for all my soldering work.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ARU9PO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468003473&sr=8-3&keywords=weller+soldering+iron

I use the next model down at work, no temp gauge but adjustable. All types of tips are made for them and they work well. One of those blue spring loaded solder suckers work well also.

[Acill]

Do yourself a favor and get good gear. If you dont have the money, save for it and get one thing at a time. The soldering tweezers are junk unless you get the $200+ Hako models, get a decent hot air station. The $100 Chinese ones are not bad. I used one for a long time and it served me very well. Get one of the GOOD solder suckers. The blue and yellow ones, not the crap metal small ones.

As for desoldering, get the hako gun. Its only $250 if you can find it on sale most of the time.

[Shamron]

For anyone interested, i've got a 20MHz Tektronic scope i no longer use in Trondheim, Norway.

I've treated myself to a Rigol 1054Z so the Tektronik is kinda redundant. Well, it got its uses ofc, there are times where an old analogue scope is better, but i'm not gonna go into that now, also i got no room for it.

Also i got a partly disassembled, but fully working Variac that's taking up space.