Soldering station recommendation

[bottlegardener]

Hi all,

I'd like a second soldering station as I'm getting tired of moving my beat-up Weller WES51 between two locations. I have a vague notion that much has changed technology-wise in the intervening 18-odd years since I bought the Weller. I'm a bit overwhelmed. I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for an inexpensive (under $200, cheaper is better) station?

I work on mostly old audio equipment and old cameras. Everything is through-hole. It nearly all uses lead solder. I sometimes have to work on flexible PBCs and primitive PCBs with traces that easily lift. On the other end, I sometimes need to solder wires to stainless steel battery contacts (for which I typically use Rubyfluid and thoroughly clean afterwards) or braided chassis ground wires on guitar amps. Other than that it's all pretty basic stuff (patchbays, cables, ordinary through-hole PCBs).

Any recommendations would be much appreciated. I'm particularly curious if any of the cheap Aliexpress would suffice.

[thm_w]

For your budget you are probably looking at a t245 clone station.
T12 clone would be cheaper still, but you'd give up a bit of performance.

https://www.youtube.com/@sdgelectronics/search?query=soldering
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/other-blog-specific/the-sdg-electronics-soldering-station-comparisonshootout-thread/