[TowerTalk] Cordless Soldering Irons

[Don]

Ian,

Yes, I believe the name Scope was on the soldering unit I saw.

The unit, however, was not black, more an orange. It was about the size of 
an old Weller soldering gun and had the typical pistol grip handle. Since it 
had its own built in battery pack, it obviously was rechargeable. I saw easy 
work made up the tower soldering without cords or cables in the way. He had 
purchased the unit in Australia. I'll have to go off an do some serious 
searching re the 'Scope' unit. I'd like to be able to work as unencumbered 
as possible, and the tower is a long way from the house and AC. And I for 
one am not enamored with working around a steel tower and aluminum antennas 
at the end of a long power cord.

I was aware of the butane torch guns with the solder tip add-on but really 
wanted to stay away from them if possible because of the constant winds we 
have here on the coast (and other reasons). However, should this be the only 
viable/available way to go I agree it will do the job and it may be the way 
I will have to go.

An aside, I have great faith in the technology that has brought crimp 
connectors into commoner use.  I just have greater faith in clean well 
soldered connections. If I lived in the desert like some, instead of here 
above the ocean, I might well consider this method. In the 11 years I've 
been here though, I have come to the conclusion that it is all but 
impossible to ensure that tape-wrapped connections can be fully waterproofed 
and will last forever like they used to when I was an "inlander". I am 
hoping that the use of lined heatshink and liquid sealant at the heatshink 
ends will be better than what I thought were well wrapped and sealed 'tape' 
coverings. We'll see.

An aside, I removed the BN-86 from my A3WS with which I was having SWR 
problems and took it apart. As all who are familiar with this piece of junk 
are aware, there are several large openings on the connector end. I found 
the enamel on the coil around the core corroded, and where the coil is (get 
this) SWAGED to the connector flange, the whole rivet was gone. The other 
issue I've had with these is attempting to tighten the shell and then get 
inside the overhanging plastic case surrounding the connector to seal it. 
Big fingers don't work here. I was also unable to save the poor spiders and 
other large insects which made their home inside as well!! Feel a little bad 
about this. I have decided to install a Balun Designs 1115t after careful 
review of user comments on available baluns. NO, I did not want to wind my 
own nor did I want a bunch of coax hanging up there, I'm old and lazy now 
after 60 years of hamming.

Sorry I brought this up on towertalk, but seemed appropriate since that is 
where it would be used.

I appreciate all the tips, suggestions and comments posted as well as links 
to brands that should be considered. Thanks folks.

Sorry I

Don W7WLL

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ian White
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 1:33 AM
To: 'Don ' ; 'Towertalk'
Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Some advice about crimp ;type coax connectors

Don W7WLL wrote:
>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.
>

Ah yes - the amazing, alarming 'Scope' soldering iron. Designed to
operate directly from a car battery, the heating element was a small
slug of carbon which could be pushed forward inside the barrel to make
direct contact with the rear of the copper tip. Temperature control
could best be summarized as: "When the tip starts to glow red, that
means she's too hot, Mate!" but the heat output was prodigious.

Soldering anything connected to the car itself could also be an
interesting experience, as the voltage drop in the cable meant that the
tip wasn't at the same potential as the car body.

Spares for the old black-handled Scope still seem to be available on
eBay, but the price for a complete unit is very high which may indicate
that it isn't actually being manufactured any more.


73 from Ian GM3SEK