@MisterX, thanks, was hoping that would be the case, that makes it super simple as I have a ton of them.
I still have an old Metcal SP200. It's a very good machine but it can be tricky to find tips for it (for example a knife i.e. SSC-673A or SSC-773A which even places like digikey and mouser don't stock).
This was another one of the reasons I was hesitant sourcing a used SP200, even though OKi has a MFR model which takes the SSC tips. I suspect it's because the range of tips when you combine both the OKi and Metcal stations is quite large and a lot of stock to keep on hand, still it's not a great situation. It seems to me OKi will kill production on equipment that takes the Metcal sizes eventually and standardize the SVF and SFP tips, which already cover the bulk of their stations (one Cartridge Tip size, one Standard Tip size). It would be most interesting to see if the Handpiece for the the PS800E could readily be adapted for the SP200, they run on the same frequency, I'm not so sure on the wattage, but I don't know if that is an issue as the coil itself isn't the heat source. If the Oki's are this interchangable, it seems like it may be doable.
In the meantime you can keep an eye on ebay as new SP200 tips come up quite a bit in various shapes from industry surplus.
You can also try.
http://www.hmcelectronics.comhttp://www.adtool.ca/ for tips.
I'd also suggest filling in Mouser feedback and letting them know you're disappointed in their range of OKi tips given they're an OKi distributor. (I have done the same, they have most all of them in the database but not in inventory).
@Mindfree, I actually got mine from Mouser, their prices sadly aren't competitive against US retailers, but the Australian dollar is very good now against the US dollar and Mouser had free Fedex shipping, which made up a lot of difference as even US Postal Service shipping would've been about $50-60US and taken much longer. There are some North American retailers with excellent prices but only shipping to US and Canada, those that I did find who would ship had run out of stock of the PS800E's.
While I'm here I'll round up what else I looked at and what info I've gathered so far, most should be verifiable with a little googling.
Hakko 936 - Recently obsolete and probably the most heaviily cloned station around. Genuine units are better build quality, the genuine Hakko elements last longer (some clones ship with Hakko elements), there are some clones which are very good and can be had very cheap, often with a spare element. The model is like the industry workhorse, perhaps less so on the assembly line but very common in smaller businesses and service departments, reliable, parts are easy to source, can be had at a real nice price and they seem to work forever, the iron itself is pretty comfy too. (The clones can be well worth a shot if you're on a tight budget, often available for less than $50US)
Hakko FX-888 - The 936's replacement, compact power supply, haven't had a hands on with it but the iron by appearances looks the typical modern Japanese design ceramic heater iron so should be comfortable. I would be surprised if the quality isn't up to Hakko's usual standards and it's Hakko, you can get anything you need for it fairly easily, Still ships with a tip. Silocon Chip did a small review (
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_111773/article.html) Issue 255.
Hakko FX-950 - Uses the new cartridge style tips with Hakko's new iron style, as the element is contained in the tip cartridge recovery and heat delivery is better but tips are about 25% pricier. Looks to be a real good station and was one I was considering. No tip included.
Hakko FX-951 - Same iron and power output as the FX-950 adds digital display to the PSU, temp display, push button temp adjust, temp offset. (I couldn't see a huge advantage in the digital features for the extra money over the 950, but at a good price I think it'd be a nice station. No tip included. This model is also heavily cloned by various chinese manufacturers, most clones don't use the cartridge style tip, performance is likely to highly vary from the originals.
Goot RX-711 Something I'm personally familiar with, light comfortable iron, the default tip it ships with is a little too fine to get heat into a lot of work but at least it does ship with a tip, which is a rarity these days. Quality and ergonomics is great across the board, to be expected as Goot/Taiyo Electric are about the last of the Japanese companies who still build their gear in Japan. Tips and elements are a little hard to source unfortunately but not too badly priced. It's a great unit to use, digital display and a rotary knob to adjust the temp, much better than push buttons found on a lot of new digital temp control irons, it recovers quickly but it does seem to lack a little in sustainable power. I'm not sure how well it'd go with lead free work (wasn't a concern for me personally) They do have more powerful lead-free models which use newer cartridge type tips but the price was getting a bit beyond what I wanted to spend, nonetheless I would expect them to be very good stations as every Goot product I've used has been first rate quality.
ERSA - German made, great quality (except their very bottom station RDS80, Which from what I can find is made in china to a lower standard). Used stations can be picked up on ebay for a great price but be warned the tips are extremely expensive.
JBC - By all accounts outstanding quality stations with good power delivery and fantastic ergonomics, but quite pricey, sometimes good bargains can be had but as with Ersa be warned the tips can be very pricey.
Weller: US/Australian (UK Also?) Cooper Tools built units are tanks, they go for ever, you can get tips and anything else you need easily, ergonomically they're lacking a little and feel dated but great stations. Newer Weller German designed units (ie WD1000) fix up most of these misgivings across the board, versions for 220-240Volt however, aren't currently competitively priced.
**Additional**
Received the PS800E in Monday (Go Fedex!), so far have just done a small amount of through hole work with it, but really impressed thus far, joints have been effortlessly consistent, leaving a mirror gloss finish every time and my work speed with it is very fast, it does seem that the RF system works very well and delivers as suggested so far. Construction quality overall is good but the casing of the PSU feels a little on the light side in my opinion, not bad, but it feels consumer electronics quality rather than industrial. The iron itself is quite nice, well balanced, comfy and quite compact, Oki have chosen to use a softer impact resistant plastic which I suspect is metal reinforced, it looks like it should be durable. The irons foregrip which also contains the coil assembly is made out of the same material and snaps into the handle by means of a pushbutton release. There's a textured rubberised area on the fore grip which provides good comfort and control of the iron, though I'll wait until I've soldered with sweaty hands before if I decided it it's superior to the foam grips used on many irons. Installing tips is straight forward they slide up up over the coil and into the foregrip, removing them requires just a gentle tug using the included silicon pad to hot swap to another tip and takes only a few seconds. The stand that ships with is solid, very stable, holds the iron in place firmly, yet the iron is easy to pull out when needed (personally I find it to be the best stand design I've used) .
Overall so far I'm real happy, but I still need to do more varied work with it and really put the iron through its paces.
