Soldering Irons/Stations in Australia
In Australia the two most likely places to buy a good soldering iron or soldering station will be either Dick Smith Electronics or Jaycar.
Soldering Irons
A soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip and an insulated handle. Heating is achieved electrically, by passing a current, supplied through an electrical cord or a battery, through a heating element.
Soldering irons range from a basic $13 special to $60 ESD safe units for working on CMOS bits. The most common figure seen on a soldering iron is the wattage of the heating element. Some examples are: Goot 13w - 240v: Jaycar TS-1446 this is a little soldering pencil suitable for SMT and very light duty PCB work, not really recommended for a newbie unless your going to do SMT work. Goot 46w - 240v: Jaycar TS-1430 This is a really nice soldering iron that is suitable for light to medium PCB work. At $60 it's not a cheap option but is a high quality unit from Japan.
Both the Goot irons have replaceable tips available in different sizes to cater for small SMT type work and more general PCB work.
25w Hobbyist iron for Jaycar: Jaycar TS-1465 This is a cheap general purpose soldering iron that is really unsuitable for the PCB's we use but does make a great unit for soldering all those various christmas light wires and power cables that we work with.
Jaycar also have a new 50w temperature controlled soldering iron in the 2008 catalogue that is not on the website at this time (April 08), at $25 this looks to be a good buy for a general purpose iron. The temperature control may make it suitable for PCB work.
Soldering Stations
A temperature-controlled soldering station is a complete unit usually used for soldering electronic components, and consisting of an electrical power supply, a soldering iron, and may be used for lead-based and lead-free solders. Lead-based solder uses 250°C to 280°C or 300°C while lead-free soldering needs a higher temperature, about 350°C to 400°C.
Jaycar carry a range of soldering stations from a $50 cheapie to $500 dollar Goot station.
Do you need the $500 unit, the answer probably can best be put this way, "if you have to ask this question then you don't need the $500 unit"
Can i get away with the $50 cheapie? You would most likely be better served with the 46w Goot soldering iron.
The $145 dollar Duratech TS-1380 ESD Safe soldering station would have been a good starting point but it would appear that Jaycar will replace it with TS-1390 a $150 ESD safe unit with full digital display. This unit is in the 2008 catalogue but is not one the website yet. The new TS-1390 would appear to be an ideal unit for someone looking for their first soldering station or wanting a bit more than a soldering iron.
The other option from Jaycar is the GOOT RX-711AS soldering station, a precision Japanese manufactured instrument with excellent temperature stability and anti-static characteristics. This one will cost a princely sum of $229, but is a well built station that comes with a .5mm tip suitable for general PCB work, an optional .2mm tip is available for SMT work.
The options from DSE are not included at the moment as a catalogue is not lying around to refer to.
