Yeah, I had a chuckle when just after posting about how rare they were, that popped up in my feed. Someone got it, but it wasn't me. I just couldn't bring myself to pay nearly what I did for the whole instrument for the input box. Maybe another will pop up in 2019.
-Pat
'Someone' had to spend some of his hard earned Doughnut dough somewhere so it might as well have gone on TEA
Only one more box to go
I started to cost up the bits to make them from scratch and $100USD was dissapearing quickly per box.
This is why Gixen.com is your friend. You can even get a 10-day sub to their mirror service for $1 now, which you guys in the UK may need for reliable service. I haven't needed it yet; I live in the US and rarely lose a snipe other than the item just going crazy high. I just won 4 iPod Nanos for $6 and change.
Cheers,
mnem
Level the playing field. Use Gixen.comLevel the playing field. Don't use Gixen. Sniping ruins the eBay fun.
I'll keep sniping (though I do it manually). Paying more than I have to for something is not my idea of eBay 'fun'.
-Pat
I agree, way pay more than necessary for something, especially with a lot of ebay sellers, it might turn out to be a turd with no return.
WTF just happened, I was watching a HP 3466A on fleabay and 10 seconds to go, put my bid in, away it went with 5 seconds to spare and then I got a message about more ways to get what I want, check the listing again and it went for over £5 LESS than what my bid was
Has some one found a way of slowing everyone's timer so that they bid after the event?
I started to cost up the bits to make them from scratch and $100USD was dissapearing quickly per box.
Dammit, why didn't *I* think to look at it that way?!?
WTF just happened, I was watching a HP 3466A on fleabay and 10 seconds to go, put my bid in, away it went with 5 seconds to spare and then I got a message about more ways to get what I want, check the listing again and it went for over £5 LESS than what my bid was
Has some one found a way of slowing everyone's timer so that they bid after the event?
Were you using the mobile app or the web site? It's just anecdotal, but I experienced clock sync issues that were similarly egregious when sniping via mobile app. Since then, I only bid via web site and haven't had problems within 3-4 seconds of closing. It is rather dangerous during the last few seconds as page loading can be very slow if there are many snipers.
I also have one of the new KSGER V2.1 1.3" OLED T12 controllers on the way; it's supposed to ALSO have Vacuum Desolder and Hot Air optional menus as well, plus coin-cell backup for your personal settings. I'll let you know what I think of the quality of the parts that come with this kit as well. I know... I have a problem.
In all honesty, I really like the looks of the KSGER aluminum shells; they scream quality with CNC recessed bezel and knob, stainless hex fasteners and flush lens... if they only weren't also completely Mentel. I mean... not that it isn't true... I just don't feel the need to advertise it.
mnem
There is always room for eye scream.
KSGER also makes not so Mentel front bezel in black color.
I have their station with STM32 2.1S OLED controller and can only recommend it
Unless you won't be awake or available then I don't see sniper bids as having any point. If it's something you want go hard go late and if you lose you weren't serious in the first place
KSGER also makes not so Mentel front bezel in black color.
I have their station with STM32 2.1S OLED controller and can only recommend it
Unless you won't be awake or available then I don't see sniper bids as having any point. If it's something you want go hard go late and if you lose you weren't serious in the first place
That's the whole point here, isn't it? We're all in the "saving boat anchors for posterity" boat, but a huge part of that is we can't justify the cost of state-of-the-art equipment for our home/hobbyist workbench. That is part being frugal, part being realistic, and part just plain being skint. Not having enough discretionary fundage to outbid a fleaBay feeding frenzy doesn't make one "not serious"; it just makes one not an imbecile who spends the house payment on broken gear.
Not that I've EVER done anything like THAT... *coughHomeTheatercough*
KSGER also makes not so Mentel front bezel in black color.
I have their station with STM32 2.1S OLED controller and can only recommend it
Yeah, I just don't like the brick-style case in general, that's all. I also notice they have the "Mentel case" in black and gold; as this is coming from AliEx, I have a sneaking suspicion that which one you get is a lot of the time a matter of what they have on hand rather than the content of the pictures. As evidenced by the fact that yours came with black shell and face, but silver knob.
I suspect that the KSGER Store is a spinoff of the Xiao Wu Tool Store ; the store has been around a lot longer, and everything about the layout is virtually identical. They were the vendor in one of my first purchases from Alibaba/AliEx years ago when I was testing the waters.
Something I discovered while looking over their store for the STM32 V2.01S controller was this little gem for only $16; seems like a LOT of bang for the buck if you want to build a portable version of this iron.
I'm eyeing it to either go with some reclaimed 2600mAH laptop 18650 cells or one of the 1.5AH/6S packs for my Lowes/Kobalt drill set that only costs $10; I've busted up a half-dozen of them and they have decent quality 18A discharge rated 18650 cells inside. You get almost 2000mAH out of them if you keep the discharge rate below 2C as well; I even modded a socket under the dash of my kids' Power Wheels to run it off of these packs, as they have built-in ODC/LVC protection.
Something else I noticed that I recall folks asking about is the GX12 mini-aircraft style connectors these use... they have them in 2-pin to 7-pin variants for ~$1.00 each pair, but you have to buy Qty 5 to get them for that price. I know... just heartbreaking.
Cheers,
mnem
How do I get this thing out of second gear?!?
Hmmm... AliEx sent me a eMail telling me I had a $4 coupon on my primary account, so I went looking for a couple of the better 907 adapter PCBs as shown by Specmaster earlier in the thread. I found them at JimBonStore for $1.99 and while I was there I got another ILS tip. Total for 2 PCBs and 1 T12-ILS tip even after I sprung for the ePacket shipping, was $6.11. Not too bad.
I figure I'll build up two of the horrible 907 handles I have as leftover parts to keep as spares or for use in cases where the slightly longer reach is an asset rather than an annoyance.
mnem
Press [button] to drop back & punt.
Speaking of expensive boat anchors this has some appeal to go with the recent DC HP toy
Speaking of expensive boat anchors this has some appeal to go with the recent DC HP toy
(SNIP)
Cheers,
mnem
How do I get this thing out of second gear?!?
Haha, don’t tell me that you have a bubble car! I had one back in the 80’s, quite good fun to drive it was too.
You know the more I look, the more I think that the T12 in the hands of the Chinese is a good thing because they do seems to be have been for more innovative then Hakko have been and are pushing it into the hands of more and more people and developing it even further and with a little bit more attention to the finer details they could really become a major competitor to the top brands.
I mean take a look at the picture of the 3 face plates, they are so obviously using at least 2 types of controllers because the control and display locations on the top 2 are different to the bottom one and that the “Mental Soldering Station” has different spacing’s on each of the faceplates. The bottom plate also has a far larger display window.
As for those GX12’s, well I might be forced into getting some of those for other uses as well, certainly can’t grumble about those prices.
Hmmm... AliEx sent me a eMail telling me I had a $4 coupon on my primary account, so I went looking for a couple of the better 907 adapter PCBs as shown by Specmaster earlier in the thread. I found them at JimBonStore for $1.99 and while I was there I got another ILS tip. Total for 2 PCBs and 1 T12-ILS tip even after I sprung for the ePacket shipping, was $6.11. Not too bad.
I figure I'll build up two of the horrible 907 handles I have as leftover parts to keep as spares or for use in cases where the slightly longer reach is an asset rather than an annoyance.
mnem
Press [button] to drop back & punt.
Precisely my thoughts and as I have been using a 907 handle on my other station before you introduced me to the T12, I'm quite happy to use them anyway. So I had already ordered a further 907 handle with a 5 pin GX12 fitted so that I'll have a 907 handle set for both the 4 and 5 pin stations for as you put it, "where the slightly longer reach is an asset rather than an annoyance" occasions . Hmm having a slightly longer reach has never caused me any problems on occasions, that extra reach comes in rather handy cough
I had a '63 Rambler in powder blue (I think they ALL were made in that color that year) as a teen... I wish mine was anywhere near as nice as Hollywood Bob's example there. Then several of the Japanese "Bubble car", the first-gen Honda Civic in yellow, green and blue. Both had similar performance characteristics, with the Hondas having something that could actually be called "handling". The Rambler was like driving a wet noodle at highway speeds.
Not sure about what you're saying with the faceplates... looks like the same faceplate only appearing slightly different due to parallax and vanishing point perspective. KSGER DOES appear to make a number of different custom faceplates for their various boards, yes. But you can for sure use the larger bezel for pretty much any of them; the display can be relocated with the addition of just 4 wires.
Longer reach is a good start, but diameter is important too... you know, for a snug fit.
We used to have a sporty Honda N360 in the family 0-80km/hr with 2 people in quite a while
I needed a DC load so I brought this because my current four variable power supplies are not sufficient
AC calibrator will have to wait for more doughnuts........
I needed a DC load so I brought this because my current four variable power supplies are not sufficient