I saw JBC handle on ebay once or two times, everytime i loose :) 35€ for handle + one tip is a good price. Realy is
If you dont have transformer and enclosure box and most expensive parts, it will be ... ehm... close this price but you have right, it will worth any peny. JBC WELLER METCAL (or Thermaltronics) is the best on market.
industrial IPS or hires displays are out of my league, for soldering station is it overkill like hell. These displays may cost 100€ + (4K embeded or similar).Using hires IPS or other industrial display is best choice using STM32 with free STemWin and do magic. But why if is not necessary :D OLED is best choise for these projects.
low resolution is acceptable for number and few text. But contrast and visibility and view angle, ooooh when i saw it i told myself "i must have it" :D cost about 15€. I start work on my project after 11 june and i can post it here if you want.
[quote author="sparkybg"] I am using 0.96 inch because it is a perfect match for my enclosure - I did not had to make any modifications to it other than drilling a hole for the USB port on the front panel. [/quote]
i saw this display a few times. If i remember they was used in portable mp3 players. If you use it only for enclosure reason - then fine, why not. Most of us do same (me too). Personally i dont like small displays with lot of information so i made choose for this REG010016AYPP5N0. Check here for example : http://we.easyelectronics.ru/tag/WS0010/
precise temperature indicator is one part of problem i dont think the most important. Most important is HOW FAST you can respond to changing temperature of iron and how stable you can hold it. For example, you have 280°C tip temperature, you put it at copper and temperature drop will be probably 100°C (at shitty controller and slow regulator). JBC have temperature drop about 20°C (datasheet info.). So, in best way,you must read temperature to 0,1°C or better, then you get accurate indication of changing temperature on tip and you can fast respond to this and put more (or less) power to the tip. This tips are quite good and can transfer lot of power so speed is important.
this topick is juicy to information :)
sparkybg : i use msp430F5310 (1,8-3V ultra low power), 1,25Vref is one of build reference, but you have right, less Vref means less signal/noise ratio (i dont realize it).I was looking at lowes LSB voltage and i forgot check SNR :/ . Max Vref is supply, but i dont think it will be so stable, i must try it. Do you have in your controller some ADC nonlinearity calibration ? I try MSP a few times and it was necessary. I dont work with PIC or Atmel (MSP only).
last question : why are u using this stupid little display, they are not cheap and they are small. I like much 7 segment display for this, best visibility and brightness and easy controll. In my project i want to use REG010016AYPP5N0 from RAYSTAR OPTRONICS. Check professional soldering stations, they dont have microscopic display
yes i know about dual supply. I am not sure about that 25uV, datasheet is litle bit confusing because in main is written 25uV G>200, in table are 10-25uV per Gain and population graph shows offset about 5uV max...i want try it. Engineering is my hobby so... maybe i build your controller, i dont know ;)
edit :
very very nice amplifier have Linear, for example LTC2050 /2054 (high end) or 1052 (chopper) or low cost LTC1050.
EDIT 2: i do some research, in fact OP07 will be enought for this. You can simply measure offset and provide active correction in SW. I suspect using 12bit ADC with 1,25Vref (+/- 300uV per LSB) and opamp offset should be about 8,5mV. So... with mosfet you can short input to ground and then you measure offset... simply and cheap way and you can use cheap and easily avaible opamp. But, you get slightly less acurate temperature so it is disadvantage of this method but i think it will be OK for soldering iron.
check INA333 - precision instrumentation amplifier, is relative cheap (4$ ppcs) and parameters looks great.I want to use them to my regulator but i dont know when i finish them. For power supply i want try use switching current source - simple buck regulator with TPS2832 driver. I never use this method so i am courious how it will works.
I buy hakko FX9501. Maybe i try make controller myself. I think about use MSP430I2041 because it has four 24BIT Sigma-Delta ADC or try ADS1118. What you say is it good idea to try ? Are you use in our code some discrete signal filters for ADC samples ?
