I may have been a horse trader in another life, who knows?
My thing is that disposable income has never been in excess so I always want to make smart choices on how I spend it. If there is no dire need, I research things to death and then go on the hunt for the best pricing. I don't want to be an 'instant gratification' buyer. I have done it a couple of times and ended up regretting the decision. What I don't understand, and it may be because I am old school, is why people don't simply do some research instead of the "ready, fire, aim'. There are so many soldering iron threads on the forum, maybe Dave needs to start another catagory
. No one seems to go back and read them, so it's new threads with the same questions, the same sage advice, the same purchase of fakes or clones and the same moaning and groaning down the road of the purchase of the fakes or clones and the purchase of something better that should have been done in the first place. It's like a soldering iron Mobius Loop. no beginning or ending.
On my last job, some of us had a saying about some of the contract technicians, there was never enough time to do it right but always enough time to do it over.
Anyway, I was happy to find a NOS RM3E for $72 shipped. I just listed a modified Astron 35A power supply on my ham club website to pay for it and get a proper auto sleep cradle. In the meantime, I found a cheap metal coil stand for a firestick in a box that will serve to hold the wand for now. I might do a limited comparison review of the MX-500 and the 951 to see if there are really major differences that would justify the price difference for a hobbyist or a "1 man band" looking for a quality tool that won't be in a multi shift production environment which is where the Metcal really shines.