Digital clock

[Nick]

Metcal uses do seem to be rather evangelical

They're just very very good - the market speaks volumes

I also have a Weller and an Antex for rough-n-tumble jobs, but once you've done fine work with a Metcal pen... sigh....

Being fair, the original MX-500s (the ones I use) use ordinary PTH components and the annotated schematics are readily available - none of the components are "exotic" - they're all off-the-shelf - the one repair I've had to do (one of the base stations stopped doing "auto turnoff") took all of about 10 minutes.

When setting these beasts up, you are supposed to use an in-line RF meter (my bases came with one) to make sure the RF power management is properly aligned - they are also inherently static-safe. I haven't had to re-align my units (I have two) for at least 5 years now.

Yup - they are expensive, but there are good reasons for that