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Re: [TowerTalk] Cordless solder irons

To: "'Towertalk'" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cordless solder irons
From: "Don " <w7wll@arrl.net>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 09:46:08 -0800
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Missed that one Ian. Serious looking tool and will probe a little more with them. From a first glance it seems to be the better of the lot. Saw the "•Heavy gauge wires and ground rods". Maybe I'll send 'em a PL-259 and some coax and let them try it on (kidding). See that they spec the temp at the solder tip, helpful to know this.

We don't have winters here like all the poor folk east of the Rockies (and Pacific Coast Range), just wetter rain and temps dipping way down in the 40's sometimes (kidding again - we had a couple of days when it got to freezing, but rare). But the rain brings salt, keeping windows clear of this spray which leaves crust-spots is a tough job. Hard on antennas and the associated stuff outside too!

Thanks for the tip Ian, hope it is useful to others as well.

Don W7WLL

-----Original Message----- From: Ian White
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 1:39 AM
To: 'Towertalk'
Cc: 'Jeff AC0C'
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cordless solder irons


THIS is a much more serious butane-fueled solder gun, with a chunky
copper tip that stores the heat well. There is a built-in igniter but
the heating element is catalytic so there is no naked flame after the
initial ignition/warmup sequence. The heating element is fully enclosed
within the barrel so it's pretty much windproof, and the tip can also be
removed for direct use as a hot-gas gun.

<http://www.pro-iroda.com/pro180.htm>

It still won't solder a PL259 body outdoors in winter, but the answer to
that one is simple - don't even try. Use either a crimp or a
compression-sleeve type.

73 from Ian GM3SEK


-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
Jeff AC0C
Sent: 20 November 2014 04:47
To: AB2E Darrell; Jim Thomson; towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cordless solder irons

Harbor freight has a very handy butane unit.  It's got a soldering tip
and
(importantly) a built-in igniter.

http://www.harborfreight.com/butane-pencil-torch-41169.html

73/jeff/ac0c
www.ac0c.com
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie

-----Original Message-----
From: AB2E Darrell
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 11:14 AM
To: Jim Thomson ; towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cordless solder irons

I had a hand-held butane soldering iron that worked well out of the
house.
A quick search on eBay shows both butane and also some battery powered
soldering irons.
73 Darrell AB2E


From: jim.thom@telus.net
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 06:43:55 -0800
Subject: [TowerTalk] Cordless solder irons

Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 19:10:23 -0800
From: "Don " <w7wll@arrl.net>
To: "Towertalk" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Some advice about crimp ;type coax
connectors

Which brings a question to mind. Why is there not available for sale
a
decent battery powered soldering iron. Sure would be nice when in the
air
not to be tied to an AC power cord. I did a search (probably not very
deep)
and found some battery powered irons but nothing that would deal with
a
few
UHF connectors out and away from the 'house'. A friend from Australia
who
was in the 2-way radio business had a couple he brought when he
immigrated
from Oz but I've been unable to find that they are made anymore.

Anyone have information on such a tool for use whilst up in the air??

Don W7WLL

##  from 1979-1989...in the telco I worked in 400 miles north of
here, we
had
a cordless, rechargeable soldering iron.  Think it was a weller...was
orange in colour.
Worked superb.... but never tried it outside.. only inside.  They
were
real small, light weight,
fit in your pocket. A lot smaller than a normal pencil iron.    I
believe
they would work fine
outside.  A comment here. Silver plated PL-259s  are a LOT easier to
solder vs
the nickel plated types.   I gave up on amphenol nickel plated
/teflon
PL-259s.

##  I picked up 2  dozen van gordon silver /teflon  PL-259 years ago.
They solder
real easy.

##  Id check out cordless types 1st.   You can probably get em with
spare,
quick swap out
lithium batteries no doubt.   The propane /butane types would also
work,
but are more cumbersome
heavy etc... esp up a tower.   In good wx... Id run an extension cord
up
the tower..and use my
american beauty 100 w iron, with the .375 inch chisel tip.   We used
dozens of those irons in the telco,
back when a lot of wiring was still being soldered.   I have a few of
them.   You can also get the bigger
ones, like 150w and up to 600 watt.   The 100 w version... used to
solder
a silver plated coax connector,
is super fast.   The bigger ones like the 500-600w are used for
plumbing..where a blow torch cant be used.
The bigger ones work great for stuff like tubing type tank coils,
large
wide cu strap, etc.

Jim   VE7RF
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