soldering irons what kind is best?

Excellent Hero999 !

That is true. It is amazing how much electrical noise a human can pick up acting as an areal, especially in a dry environment and on a carpetted floor.

These new LED's are so sensitive and will glow a little, well below their normal operating voltage.

I use the radioshack 15w. I have fried a couple chips, but I do sockets now anyways. It makes you less nervous and you can do a good job without worrying about overheating the chip. So just use a cheap radioshack 15w and sockets. Helps

On a temporary trip to a different city, I didn't bring my "old faithful" 40 watt gold tipped Unger iron and was forced by need to buy and use a Radio Shack POS iron for a project. After using the thing for a few hours the tip degenerated. It was like trying to solder ICs with a hot railroad spike.

Bob ;-)

Yeah the tips are crap, but I bought a ton of them from a different site. so I was Ok

Well I learned a lot from this thread I posted... thank you everyone for your comments. I learned a lot and plan to put what I learned to use this winter when I get my little play room finished for all my toying around.

So with the ideas I have and new knowledge learned I should have fun deciding what to buy.

heh.. best wishes all,

Sincerely,

Kevin in Alaska

PS... Again thank you everyone.