Applefritter - Other Computers

Review: Hakko FX-901 Cordless Soldering Iron

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:31:15 -0800

After reviewing and ultimately disliking the ColdHeat, I found myself still looking for a cordless soldering iron that I felt I could do quality work with. I have an excellent desktop iron, a Weller WLC-100, but that's hardly portable and is a pain to dig out and set up just to do a few quick solder joints. I figured I'd end up having to buy a butane-fueled iron, but then I found something much better. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, that much better something actually found [i]me[/i]. A few weeks after the ColdHeat review went online, I was e-mailed by Hakko USA and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing its cordless iron, the FX-901. I agreed, and shortly thereafter I received the iron with the price voided out on the invoice. [i]The Hakko FX-901 in its retail packaging.[/i] The packaging the FX-901 comes in is pretty straightforward. The iron and its accompanying safety cap are packed in a cardboard-backed blister pack. There's no instruction manual, no guidelines on how you need to solder with the iron -- in fact, right on the front of the package it instructs to "use standard soldering techniques." There's another interesting bit of information on the front of the packaging: "Safe! No spark! No flame!" After my [url=http://www.applefritter.com/node/9642]last review[/url], I know exactly what that info is referring to; I'll leave it to you to figure it out. There's some other useful info on the back of the package, such as instructions on how to replace the batteries and tip. The iron uses four AA-size batteries, which aren't included with the iron (but when was the last time you saw AA batteries included with a product anyway?). The tip that's included with the iron is of the pencil variety, with a nice sharp tip for precision work. There's a chart on the packaging that shows how long two types of batteries, alkaline and NiMH rechargeable, last and how the operating temperature of the iron decreases with their use. [i]The battery life-iron temperature chart printed on the back of the FX-901 packaging. Image courtesy Hakko USA.[/i] I was surprised to see that NiMH rechargeables were reported to last longer than alkaline batteries. Alkalines offer a higher voltage output, which one would assume would yield a longer operating time -- they generally do in other devices. But strangely, even though they output less voltage, NiMH rechargeables are reported to last almost twice as long as alkalines, 120 minutes vs. 70. I can only guess that NiMH rechargeables are much more linear in how their voltage output decreases over time, and that's what can make them last longer. The safety cap serves two purposes. First, it protects the tip (or protects other tools in your toolbox from the tip, depending on how you want to see it), and second, it keeps the power switch from inadvertently being turned on. The cap snaps on solidly and fits well. It provides a nice space around the tip internally, and is vented at the end; I was able to put the safety cap on the FX-901 while the tip was still hot, but this isn't endorsed or recommended by Hakko. [i]The FX-901 with safety cap attached.[/i] The yellow part towards the back of the iron is the battery cartridge. It's removed by sliding a locking tab at the end of the iron, and then pulling the cartridge out of the body. It's easy to load the four AAs, and there's a diagram printed on the side of the cartridge (hidden from view when the cartridge is installed in the iron body) that shows the polarity in which the batteries need to be installed. With the batteries installed, the iron is decently weighted, not too light but not too heavy. The iron is heavier towards the rear, but the balance isn't enough to make the iron difficult to hold or otherwise affect the ability to solder. The top-mounted power switch slides solidly, and a red LED illuminates when the iron is turned on. The FX-901 uses pretty conventional technology to heat the tip, so I figured the iron would take several minutes, like my desktop iron does, to heat to operational temperature. Surprisingly, it only takes a minute or so, much faster than I was expecting. The operational temperature of the iron was good too -- it's not adjustable, and won't get as hot as my desktop iron running full blast, but it gets plenty hot to melt solder and heat wires and terminals quickly. [i]The FX-901 without safety cap. The iron has a comfortable weight to it and is easy to hold.[/i] My primary test for the iron was with wiring and connectors. I tinned several ends of Belden PY balanced microphone cable, and I couldn't really tell the difference between tinning the leads with the FX-901 and my desktop iron. I then soldered on some Switchcraft and Neutrik XLR connectors and, again, couldn't see or feel a discernable difference in solder joint quality between the FX-901 and the desktop iron. Both irons heated the connection quickly and evenly, which made for smooth, defined solder joints. All of the joints I made with the FX-901 were solid and passed a clean signal.I didn't have a printed circuit board to test the FX-901 on, but I suspect it would work just as well as a desktop iron there too. The sharp pencil tip should make it easy to work on smaller components, and since the iron heats up the tip like conventional irons do, there should be no worry about killing ESD-sensitive components. I'm not sure I would do marathon PCB soldering sessions with the FX-901, nor would I solder under a microscope with it (leave that to a desktop iron with variable temperature control), but for routine repairs and mods, the Hakko should work just fine. Overall, I'm very impressed with the iron. It heats up quickly -- quicker than many desktop irons, even -- and feels natural to use. Because of its size, it's probably not appropriate for use on heavy-gauge wire, but neither would a comparable desktop iron. The back end of the iron is perfectly flat, so it will stand stably on a flat surface, and it will also lay on its side without the tip touching the work surface, so no soldering iron stand is necessary. It's probably a good idea to turn the iron off when you're not actually soldering, in order to maximize battery life. The FX-901's two drawbacks, as I see them, are rather trivial. First, though 70 and 120 minutes of runtime using alkaline and NiMH batteries, respectively, is quite decent, it would be nice to see that extended. Second, the FX-901 isn't as easy to find in stores as some of its competition; neither Digi-Key nor Mouser carry Hakko products. However, it's readily available online; just Google for it and you'll find a number of vendors who carry it. Hakko USA's Web site can also point you in the direction of a local reseller at [url]http://www.hakkousa.com/map.asp[/url]. Considering the price, which is commonly about $30, the Hakko FX-901 is a great value in my opinion -- it combines competent, solid soldering ability with good portability. It won't replace my desktop iron, but it's definitely earned a place in my toolbox. Here are my pros, cons and overall rating of the FX-901: [b]Pros:[/b] Good weighted feel and ergonomics Tip heats quickly Decent battery life, uses standard AA batteries Comes with solid metal pencil tip for precision work Heats up joints about as fast as a desktop iron Attractive price [b]Cons:[/b] Battery life good, but could be better Iron could be hard to find in some areas [b]Overall rating:[/b] Four-and-a-half out of five stars. [b]Additional info:[/b] Hakko USA product page: [url]http://www.hakkousa.com/products.asp?PID=FX-901/P&Page=1[/url] Froogle search for FX-901: [url]http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=fx-901&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=unknown[/url]

WANG Computer

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 06:02:52 -0700

This historical curiosity I picked up at a school. I'm not entirely sure what it does or how it does it. It sports 3 racks of 2 boards each, labelled KILL, UNISYS-ASYNC-9600, and PROGS. It has 4 RS232C ports, 3 of which are connected. It has 4 proprietary WANG terminal interfaces. On powering it up, I get the lights on the front blinking. I've taken to calling it a "mainframe" but I have no idea what it really is. Any extra information (model numbers, processors etc....) would be appreciated. [b]Photo gallery:[/b] [thumb:1709][thumb:1710][thumb:1707][thumb:1708][thumb:1704][thumb:1705][thumb:1706][thumb:1702][thumb:1703][thumb:1701][thumb:1699][thumb:1700][thumb:1698]

The Luggage

Mon, 07 Jun 2004 11:51:03 -0700

by Volker Mohr [center][image:936][/center] The computer in the pictures is an Amiga 1200, the last ever built and the only Amiga that is still available. This machine originally had an Motorola 68EC020 running at 14 MHz and only 2 MB RAM, called "chip-mem" for the Amiga's custom chips. The internal IDE controller is used for a 4.3 GB hard drive. (Originally it was an 170 MB HD). Of course, this is not enough nowadays, so it has an accelerator board with an Motorola 68060, running at 50 MHz. And compared to a Mac Quadra 840 that is indeed running :-) [center][image:940][/center] Some other extras are 48 MB of "fast-ram" (for non Amigans, that is RAM which is not shared with the custom chips) and a SCSI controller for an external CD-ROM. And most importantly: the 10.4" TFT color-display. It is connected to the standard Amiga video outlet, using the "Multiscan Productivity" mode of the Amiga's custom chips. This mode is compatible with the normal VGA mode. Unfortunally I can use in this mode only in 256 colors. A scandoubler will work only with NTSC mode, not with our European PAL modes. But in NTSC I could have up to 307,200 (= 640 x 480, the number of pixels of the LCD) different colors. [center][image:937][/center] The case for the LCD is made of aluminium; it is used as a lid for the A 1200. That sounds more difficult than it is. With a jigsaw you can work with aluminium like with wood. This was my third Amiga "laptop" after an experiment with an A 600 and a second-hand b/w LCD in a wooden case, and a completely new made case for the same Amiga 1200 I use now. (I have pictures of the earlier experiments. The A 600 was bigger than an A 3000. The black A 1200 case seems to be smaller, but it is not. The trick was that it is lateral to the original direction of the motherboard. There is a large part behind the LCD.) [center][image:933] [image:934] [image:935][/center] The operating systems running on the A 1200 are AmigaOS 3.5 and MacOS 8.1 (using the emulator Fusion from Microcode-solutions). So it is not only a portable Amiga, it is a 68k-Powerbook clone as well, and at the same time the fastest 68k Powerbook ever made :-) [center][image:938][/center] One thing many people ask me is if I can use a battery. Maybe this would be possible, but I don`t thing it would make any sense. Even without the CD-ROM, the Amiga needs 20 Watts. This would empty a battery much to fast. The Amiga is portable, but not really notebook-sized. I have no need to use it in a train (I have a car), it is too big for using in a plane, and I don`t know anybody without electricity in their home. So I`ve connected a cable to the PSU of a flat SCSI-case (which houses the CD-ROM for the Amiga) which I can plug into the Amiga. If I don`t need the CD-ROM, I can use the original Amiga PSU, which has only 30 W, but is much smaller than the SCSI case.

Review: Nerds 2.0.1

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 15:02:44 -0800

Like [i]Where Wizards Stay Up Late[/i], [i]Nerds 2.0.1[/i] attempted to provide a history of the internet. It was filled with interviews, information, and stories. As a referance source its not the best because it goes off on multiple tangents, making little to no effort (in my opinion) to keep the story continuous. The general story is continuous, however the author had the habit of telling a story, skipping to somewhere else, going back to the original story and then telling yet something else, expecting you to relate it all together. If this was on the Internet I'd have no problem with it, but he does a poor job of keeping the book together in a linear fashion. Almost completly ignoring the contributions of other nations and people, the author, Stephen Segaller, focused primarily on the deveolpment of the Internet in the United States. When he did mention another country, it was on a tangent. An example would be how in the second last chapter he goes off on a large tangent about the number of programmers available in India. While reading books like [i]Where Wizards Stay Up Late[/i], or [i]Soul Of A New Machine[/i] I was genuinely touched by the story and wished the book hadn't ended. In this book I spent the latter half counting the pages until it was done. Keep in mind that my conflict with the book is with Mr. Segallers writing style. You might enjoy it. One of the redeeming features of this book was how it told many more "people stories" than other books I've read. Almost ignoring the technical aspects, it concentrated on telling everything from the garages companies started in, to the difference in tech companies management styles. A good read, but only if you've nothing else to read. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1575001063/applefritter-20]Nerds 2.0.1[/url]

Where Wizards Stay Up Late

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 14:32:34 -0700

[b]Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet Authored by Katie Hafner And Matthew Lyon[/b] Reviewed by Robert Warwick These days we take networks for granted. Who needs to transfer files via disk when a quick Appletalk connection will do the job? All machines can talk to each other. The Internet is there and works quickly, reliably, and is easy to hook up to. Yet as little as forty years ago, networks were nowhere to be found. Not in the home, the office, or the country. They were just a concept by a group of scientists in a then emerging field. Digital computers. In those days, only research organizations, universities, and large companies could even afford to have a computer. Resources were being wasted because each of the computers was isolated from one another. Not only were they not hooked together, they didn't even speak the same language! "Where Wizards Stay Up Late - The Origins of the Internet" tells the story of the men and woman who were involved in building the first wide scale computer network. From designers, to companies, to programmers, including my personal hero, Willy Crowther. This book doesn't merely list the technical details, nor does it sweep them aside in favor of the story. "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" weaves the two components together and transparently. Anyone who enjoys a good story or a good history will enjoy this book. Don't expect the details to be missing. It tells everything from Crowthers sneakers to the head funding offices in the US Department of Defense. As a Canadian, I expected this story to be completely concentrated on the US part of the project, however other country's and peoples contributions are mentioned for what they were. This is one of the books that I am truly sorry to read the last page, because that means its all over. Luckily it isn't. The internet is still in its youth, and there is still a lot of story to be written. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684832674/applefritter-20]Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet[/url]