A week ago I got super happy about my new soldering station:
https://social.0x520.eu/@finn/statuses/01KHCJEAX64J4GZPBK0M8RC3PK
Still I am really excited to use it! Soldering small things like and ESP32 on a low temperature works really well. Also it goes to standby if not being in use which is great.
But today I wanted to make another Meshtastic Antenna which means I need to solder RG402 coax cable to a N-connector. My previous soldering iron (65W but cheap) could not do that so I used a small gas torch which was quite annoying.
The Aifen-A9 Plus has just 120 Watt but seems to be able to heat up quickly. I was able to solder this coax cable and connector in a short time!
I just had some kind of "Wow-Moment" and I need to tell you about!
For many years I was soldering with some cheap soldering irons, the last one was a cheap soldering station I bought from Amazon (sorry) about 8 years ago. I was able to change the temperature with a knob and it worked quite okay-ish.
Some time ago I have ordered a AIFEN A9 Plus and today I finally have tried it.
Pardon me, but: It is FUCKING AWESOME!
Heats up very fast, cools down while not in use, has different channels or temperature settings, is quite stable and well built, and the soldering tip is like a wet kiss from the soldering god himself!
I just need a small amount of solder and it easily sticks to the parts I am soldering. Why didn't anyone tell me before that the difference between cheap and "medium-cheap" is that much big?
I really don't want to know about the "real" soldering station... that's enough for today. Awesome!