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 ![Evil >:D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xevil.gif.pagespeed.ic.tdrs7Uj5gu.png)
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*
![Laughing :-DD](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/smiley_laughing.gif.pagespeed.ce._hfWAz_QHO.gif)
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=388585;image)
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 ![Wink ;)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xwink.gif.pagespeed.ic.cldandycH0.png)
![](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB10XgVSpXXXXa9XpXXq6xXFXXXJ.jpg)
Yeah, I just don't like the brick-style case in general, that's all. I also notice they have the "Mentel case"
![Shocked :o](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xshocked.gif.pagespeed.ic.CrwtrNUjLO.png)
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.
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=388648;image)
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.
![](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1h1n4SpXXXXXAaXXXq6xXFXXX0.jpg)
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.
![Wink ;)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xwink.gif.pagespeed.ic.cldandycH0.png)
Cheers,
mnem
How do I get this thing out of second gear?!?