Author Topic: How much has EEVblog cost you? (Read 29241 times)

robrenz · « **on:** March 04, 2012, 10:58:35 pm »

It is apparent that many like myself have had their interest in electronics rekindled by Dave's excellent video blog and forum. I will have been a forum member for a year on the 31st of this month. Then I thought about how much money I have spent in that year driven by this rekindled enthusiasm and great forum. I had a fluke 87 and a Weller WTCP when I joined the forum. In the year AD (after Dave) I have acquired: new Fluke 8846A, Rigol DS1052E, Rigol DG1022 AWG, lET DE5000 LCR, JBC soldering station Mastech triple power supply, Digital solder paste dispenser, Tek 2225, Panavise, vacuum tweezers, hand tools, shelves, tool boxes, Anti static mat, on and on ....... Dave has cost me a tremendous amount of money, but I am very, very greatfull, Anyone else in the same boat?

8086 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 04, 2012, 11:00:18 pm »

Unfortunately money is too tight for spending right now, but if I had more, I can say I would be just as broke as I am now

EEVblog · « **Reply #2 on:** March 04, 2012, 11:06:45 pm »

Perhaps I should change my tagline to "Helping the global economy, one video at a time."

Dave.

harnon · « **Reply #3 on:** March 04, 2012, 11:15:15 pm »

Haha, its probably done the opposite for me. I've seen all the cool gadgets Dave looks at which are well outside my student budget and I end up browsing ebay and other sites sighing a lot instead of actually buying anything!

Baliszoft · « **Reply #4 on:** March 04, 2012, 11:18:52 pm »

Agilent msox2k, Agilent 1252b (instead of fluke :-) )

McMonster · « **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2012, 11:58:41 pm »

DS1052E (as a set with a decent second DMM) and a chisel tip is all I bought based on Dave's videos. And I considered a frequency standard, but then I thought "what the hell would I use it for?"

By the way, that's a good questions, can someone tell some really practical examples of interesting things a hobbyist can do only if he has one of those?

Pentium100 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 05, 2012, 12:29:11 am »

Quote from: McMonster on March 04, 2012, 11:58:41 pm

By the way, that's a good questions, can someone tell some really practical examples of interesting things a hobbyist can do only if he has one of those?

You could measure (and make a graph) the frequency in the mains outlet and be sure that it is correct. I made something liek that, but with a regular 32kHz crystal instead of something more expensive.

As for the topic question - so far, nothing. I already had a DS1052E (and a really big and heavy analog 10MHz scope). Though maybe I'll buy a better multimeter and/or a soldering iron with the chisel tip.

By the way, can the Rigol DG1022 AWG make a sweep frequency sine wave (~11.5 - 13.5 MHz)? I bought one AWG that promised to do that but it turned out that it could only do it with lower frequencies (even though it can output a single frequency arbitrary wave at 20MHz).

sacherjj · « **Reply #7 on:** March 05, 2012, 01:23:52 am »

I think I found the Rigol video about 50 -> 100 hack on here. That got me to purchase a scope. It started to snowball from there. I've probably purchased around $1k in equipment and will be building my new lab area. I had missed electronics, and happy to get back into it. So it was a good thing.

Frenchie · « **Reply #8 on:** March 05, 2012, 02:50:52 am »

I'm in exactly the same position, I put a halt to my electronics when I was a broke student and found Dave's videos when I actually had money - dangerous combination. In the last 18 months I've bought:

Second hand:
Fluke 87-III (in an original box and as far as I can tell never used).
Tek TAS-220 analogue scope
Topwood 8110 function gen

New:
DS1052E
Hako FX-888
An ESD matt

I'm keeping my eye out now for a higher bandwidth analogue scope and I'll probably buy a new 87-V at some point.

bullet308 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 05, 2012, 03:11:35 am »

Its probably saved me money overall in that I am buying less junk and more better quality gear that actually suits my needs. I have an unfortunate tendency to accumulate gear and if I am not careful, I end up with six of everything and at best one of each that actually works the way I need it to.

BMF · « **Reply #10 on:** March 05, 2012, 04:05:52 am »

$50.00, I bought a Keithley 225 current source after seeing one on Dave's bench. If we could get a group buy discount on Altium I may have to part with some real cash.

T4P · « **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2012, 04:10:12 am »

Quote from: bullet308 on March 05, 2012, 03:11:35 am

Its probably saved me money overall in that I am buying less junk and more better quality gear that actually suits my needs. I have an unfortunate tendency to accumulate gear and if I am not careful, I end up with six of everything and at best one of each that actually works the way I need it to.

OOPS ! I guess he really is helping me to save money , i nearly splashed money on a digital soldering station !
And good solder ( i have kester nowadays ) to avoid problems associated with nasty solder from some obscure factory in China .
Spending a little more for auto-ranging meters , but at least they are decent for a backup , nothing like a UT61E better then having the misery of buying a shitty manual ranging 20$ meter that does 200MOhms fine , but it's shite .
Certainly labelling my parts drawer saves me frustration and time .
and , certainly , i was never going to buy a oscilloscope , but he led me otherwise because in electronics if you don't have a oscilloscope , YOU ARE HOPELESS !
Certainly Dave's guidance is worthy of listening , helps you save money , trouble , time .
Because frustration is not worth it .
Though i am not quite a beginner but i'd just place myself there , for a beginner to remember a 555's pinouts and a 555 PWM controller is not bad . Oh and constructing a non-inverting amplifier and inverting amplifier without any papers and a 30W amp without looking anywhere ( Raw transistors not chipamps )

T4P · « **Reply #12 on:** March 05, 2012, 04:14:25 am »

Quote from: BMF on March 05, 2012, 04:05:52 am

$50.00, I bought a Keithley 225 current source after seeing one on Dave's bench. If we could get a group buy discount on Altium I may have to part with some real cash.

Sadly to say , i'm a e-pirate . Really . I have been torrenting a program with similar name to a bird and currently downloading Unobtainium ...

Joshua · « **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2012, 04:49:10 am »

Quote from: Dave.S on March 05, 2012, 04:14:25 am

Quote from: BMF on March 05, 2012, 04:05:52 am
$50.00, I bought a Keithley 225 current source after seeing one on Dave's bench. If we could get a group buy discount on Altium I may have to part with some real cash.
Sadly to say , i'm a e-pirate . Really . I have been torrenting Eagle 5.9 and currently downloading Altium ...

You're not the only one one, that's for sure. However, you might want to not advertise that fact in clear writing that will never go away. You never know what could happen when someone at element14 has a grudge to revenge and does a google search for your username... Just sayin

T4P · « **Reply #14 on:** March 05, 2012, 05:38:52 am »

Quote from: Joshua on March 05, 2012, 04:49:10 am

You're not the only one one, that's for sure. However, you might want to not advertise that fact in clear writing that will never go away. You never know what could happen when someone at element14 has a grudge to revenge and does a google search for your username... Just sayin

Edit your quote , i just edited mine .

Chet T16 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2012, 07:15:14 am »

Hmmm

Secondhand:
87V
Philips PM2521
Tek 2225

New:
Rigol 1052e
Rigol DG1022
Atten 938D soldering station
Atten 858 hot air station
Atten power supply (30v/5a)
Ucurrent

:/

robrenz · « **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2012, 01:26:03 pm »

Quote from: Pentium100 on March 05, 2012, 12:29:11 am

By the way, can the Rigol DG1022 AWG make a sweep frequency sine wave (~11.5 - 13.5 MHz)? I bought one AWG that promised to do that but it turned out that it could only do it with lower frequencies (even though it can output a single frequency arbitrary wave at 20MHz).

Yes it can but its output is not flat if that matters to you,
I know neither of these testing methods is super accurate but it gives you and idea.

I tweaked the output level from the 1022 to read the starting Vpp values shown on the 1052E readout. I am using a 50 Ohm pass thru terminator and the values were pretty close to begin with
A .15Vpp signal viewed on my 1052E goes from .15Vpp at 11.5MHz to .141Vpp at 13.5MHz. = -.54dB over 2MHz
A 1.5Vpp signal viewed on my 1052E goes from 1.50Vpp at 11.5MHz to 1.39Vpp at 13.5MHz. = -.66dB over 2MHz
A 7Vpp signal viewed on my 1052E goes from 7Vpp at 11.5MHz to 6.52Vpp at 13.5MHz. = -.62dB over 2MHz

Then I thought about feeding the signal into my 8846A and reading the Vrms flatness using that.
1.0004Vrms at 20Hz to .98994 at 20KHz = -.09dB relatively linear decrease.
1.0067Vrms at 20Hz to .99447Vrms at 300Khz = -.1dB at 100Khz not linear at all, sinusoidal with only -.05dB at 300KHz

nanofrog · « **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2012, 01:47:19 pm »

U1252B

Picked up other electronic goodies too, but not due to EEVblog (controlled cycle crimpers, plastic storage bins, misc. consumable supplies).

Pentium100 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2012, 03:07:59 pm »

Quote from: robrenz on March 05, 2012, 01:26:03 pm

Quote from: Pentium100 on March 05, 2012, 12:29:11 am
By the way, can the Rigol DG1022 AWG make a sweep frequency sine wave (~11.5 - 13.5 MHz)? I bought one AWG that promised to do that but it turned out that it could only do it with lower frequencies (even though it can output a single frequency arbitrary wave at 20MHz).
Yes it can but its output is not flat if that matters to you,
I know neither of these testing methods is super accurate but it gives you and idea.

Thanks, the difference is pretty small, so should be OK. I want such a signal to align my FM tuner. While I am still looking for cheaper options, at least I will know that I do not need to look for more expensive devices than this Rigol.

Lightages · « **Reply #19 on:** March 07, 2012, 05:31:50 am »

Hmmmm, I made a post to this thread earlier but it has vanished!

I said that EEVblog has not cost me money but rather it has saved me money. By watching Dave's reviews and rants and instructional videos and from the input of things from the forum members I dare say that in the end I have saved money by not buying the wrong thing.

T4P · « **Reply #20 on:** March 07, 2012, 12:33:49 pm »

Quote from: Lightages on March 07, 2012, 05:31:50 am

Hmmmm, I made a post to this thread earlier but it has vanished!

I said that EEVblog has not cost me money but rather it has saved me money. By watching Dave's reviews and rants and instructional videos and from the input of things from the forum members I dare say that in the end I have saved money by not buying the wrong thing.

We're all in the same boat !

Armin_Balija · « **Reply #21 on:** March 07, 2012, 07:46:12 pm »

The most important buys I've had so far thanks to Dave and the people here at the blog are my 1052E and 'The Art of Electronics'. The book by far is the better investment in my opinion because I've learned so much from it. I try to read for about an hour before I go to sleep so I get into the rhythm of putting the stuff in my head. I love the book so far, I've learned more from it in just the few days I've been reading it than from an entire semester of class. It's great, love it!

I've spent a few hundred bucks, from my new multimeters to my oscilloscope and some passive / active components. It's nothing too serious though. I can't say it's really cost me anything because I've gotten a fair good use out of it. I picked up DIPTRACE on my own though and am glad to see that Dave had the same vibe from it as I did. I'd suggest to him to check out the video guide because I feel like a lot of the bad stuff he picked up on was just because of slight differences between altium and diptrace ( having to click the wire to delete it instead of just hovering over it.) All in all, all great investments in my opinion.

robrenz · « **Reply #22 on:** March 08, 2012, 12:52:06 pm »

More damage!

a new addition.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/ie/msg96311/#msg96311

Lawsen · « **Reply #23 on:** March 11, 2012, 09:51:40 pm »

I would write the average costs to have an EEVblog like electronics bench is around $580.00 or more. I have seen pictures of other participants benches. Mines costs around $580.00 and I use it to earn some money fixing HP Eagle Jet poster drawing plotters and home made microscope lamp power supply.

The Rigol 1052E oscilloscope $350.00
Fluke 117 about $110.00
Pocket signal generator $120.00

It can costs less, but Dave Jones's recommends for Gossen Metrahit and Agilent organo LED display multimeters are too costly for someone just starting out. Some members have expensive to repair Agilent/HP-34401A bench top multimeter. There are other tools like stereo zoom or Vision Engineering Mantis ocular-less magnifier are costly. There are special soldering and de-soldering for surface mounted components. There are costly circuit designing software. There is no end to expenses in electronics, that is why some firms went out of business as their products or inventions did not sell well enough to justify the costs. This is a hobby, not a business.

alm · « **Reply #24 on:** March 11, 2012, 10:05:03 pm »

Quote from: Lawsen on March 11, 2012, 09:51:40 pm

There is no end to expenses in electronics, that is why some firms went out of business as their products or inventions did not sell well enough to justify the costs. This is a hobby, not a business.

That's the important difference between business expenses and hobby expenses. Hobbies have by definition zero income or at least negative profits. Expenses are weighed against disposable income, and return on investment is measured in personal enjoyment and development. If you can afford a certain toy and have fun using it, why not? It's not like it has to save you X amount of time/money to pay for itself, since it likely never will. On the other hand, it's not like you lose money/opportunities buy not buying it either.

mariush · « **Reply #25 on:** March 11, 2012, 10:41:36 pm »

The excellent soldering tutorial videos convinced me to get a Hakko 936 off eBay... it is indeed A LOT easier to work with adjustable temperature soldering guns compared to those cheap 5-10$ crap tools.

I also got a hot air Atten station, the one reviewed by Dave, and it still works great, and later on I also got a Uni-T UT-61E multimeter, after viewing the 50$ and 100$ multimeter reviews. Very happy with the 61e multimeter, much better than the cheap 3 digit meter I had before.

As for how much it cost me, I'd have to say going to a school to learn all that I learned from the videos (and no only learning but solidifying what I already knew vaguely) would have been more expensive... the blog and videos are more valuable then what I've spent in actual hardware.

jyaan · « **Reply #26 on:** March 12, 2012, 04:01:39 am »

I think a little over $400 and I don't even have an oscilloscope or power supply yet.

Was really more than I should have, but I wanted at least a couple decent (and safe!) things. Been searching this forum, craigslist and e-bay, etc. for a scope, and I'll probably build a wall-wart-powered linear supply myself.

DavidJRobertson · « **Reply #27 on:** March 18, 2012, 06:38:59 pm »

Absolutely nothing because I have practically no money

Right now I have £0.82 in my bank account...

Ajahn Lambda · « **Reply #28 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:19:46 pm »

Quote from: DavidJRobertson on March 18, 2012, 06:38:59 pm

Absolutely nothing because I have practically no money
Right now I have £0.82 in my bank account...

Woohoo, join the club!

Broke and loving it.

Since I've been collecting electrical goodies long before I found the EEVblog, I've probably dumped thousands into projects and hardware over the years. I'd say Dave hasn't cost me money, but rather he's made me more aware of potentially better investments. Therefore, he may well have actually saved me money, over the past six months or so, over what I would've spent on things that may or may not have been beneficial to me.

A few things Dave has made me realize:

1. There is no substitute for good instrumentation.
2. The best designs are simple, elegant, and easy to use.
3. If you don't understand it, you don't understand it.

4. Your customers WILL pick up on how much you really care about them, by the quality of your products.
5. The importance of [thoughtfully] calling out bad designs, no matter how large or small the maker may be.

bingo600 · « **Reply #29 on:** April 04, 2012, 03:51:35 pm »

This site is killing me

Within the last month i have read about ... And gotten

New Soldering Iron : Quick-202D - 230€ with extra tips & shipping
www.ebay.de/itm/270617054171

2 new PSU's : HP 6632B - £300 w. shipping
www.ebay.de/itm/220975363992

1 new Multimeter : Agilent 34401A - $500 w. shipping
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Hewlett-Packard-HP-Agilent-34401A-6-5-Digit-Multimeter-/230746903002

I never thought i'd pay more for my Meter than my Scope's (Rigol DS1052E and DS1102E)
Well , i like my scope(s).

The 1052 were bought after Dave & co. did the 100MHz hack of the 1052E.
The 1102E was brought back by a friend from China (bought on TaoBao) , and was cheaper than the 1052E via Ebay.

So technically this blog also costed me those 2.

I can't afford to read on here ....

Edit: Well add 2 x uCurrent

/Bingo

david77 · « **Reply #30 on:** April 04, 2012, 07:15:04 pm »

Luckily I can control myself most of the time

.

Just a couple of old multimeters (they were cheap) and the BK Precision 2709 (nice meter but damn annoying beeping!).
Then a basic ESD setup for the workshop, better lighting, basic SMD tools & a few other tools, then the AVR-ISP II.

Oh well, I need my toys, still a big kid I suppose

.

Afrotechmods · « **Reply #31 on:** April 04, 2012, 10:04:00 pm »

Agilent got my money for a 2000-X series because of Dave. I think he should have gotten a cut of that!

Bored@Work · « **Reply #32 on:** April 04, 2012, 10:59:20 pm »

Quote from: Afrotechmods on April 04, 2012, 10:04:00 pm

Agilent got my money for a 2000-X series because of Dave. I think he should have gotten a cut of that!

He got a DSO.

rsjsouza · « **Reply #33 on:** April 05, 2012, 06:24:37 pm »

I found the blog when I was shopping for a DMM, therefore it made me spend more money that I would have originally spent, as it highlighted features/weaknesses that never bothered me...

It also surely opened several possibilities: a Rigol DS1052E, a BK Precision 879B, a uCurrent, fancy DMM probes (I am a big fan of alligator clips only)... Not only that but the blog also revamped old, long forgotten electronics interests...

Therefore I count these last two as money to be spent (a MBA guy would say "invested").

steve_w · « **Reply #34 on:** April 06, 2012, 04:13:03 am »

Its not what it cost me it's what it saved me, it saved my sanity by introducing me to diptrace; eagle was sending me around the twist, showed me how to buy smarter saved me from some mistakes by good equipment reviews. Introduced me to lots of good people who have helped me learn new things especially diptrace.

I say keep up the good work Dave.

regards

Steve W

vk6zgo · « **Reply #35 on:** April 06, 2012, 11:24:50 am »

Zilch!

Rerouter · « **Reply #36 on:** April 06, 2012, 11:32:12 am »

- $22,782.60

from a few of the little tid bits the blog introduced me to, i figured out how to repair some of beautiful pieces of test gear and control electronics, the dollar value is the amount i have made from selling things that were handed to me broken and repaired myself

dave, your making some of us richer rather than poorer

MBY · « **Reply #37 on:** April 06, 2012, 02:55:10 pm »

I have bought at least four things inspired by the blog or the forum:

Thanks to Dave:
* Atten 858D+ hot air rework station, works really well
* BK Precision 2709B, winner of the $100 DMM shootout. I really like it, but I'm a little bit unhappy about the calibration. Lacking duty cycle meas and autorange to 660 mV-range is a real bummer, but I can still recommend it.
Thanks to the forum:
* Model 2005 precision power source (hasn't arrived from the US yet)
* Pentaref

I also have made several attempts to buy the µCurrent, but I'm always too late.

And the Hakko FX-??? solder station is hard to get by here in Sweden to a decent price.

+ hours and hours of video-watching, of course!

Edit: I'm also trying to adopt KiCAD instead of Eagle, but curiously that transition accidentally started a few days _before_ KiCAD was mentioned in a Daves video blog.

steve_w · « **Reply #38 on:** April 07, 2012, 01:21:54 am »

Hey,

MBY I used to use eagle but tried diptrace, its worth a try.

regards

SW

MBY · « **Reply #39 on:** April 07, 2012, 09:53:50 am »

Yes, I may try out Diptrace some rainy day but I prefer open source. KiCAD runs on Linux and has no limitations (number of pins, commercial boards, etc), and I'm using Linux.

meffe · « **Reply #40 on:** April 07, 2012, 11:54:54 am »

So far, one µCurrent, and a pocket DMM - amprobe, it works when you don't want to lug a bench DMM around

I can not say that other purchases are thanks to Dave.
It has also cost me many hours of watching videos.

Ed.Kloonk · « **Reply #41 on:** April 07, 2012, 12:39:38 pm »

Well I might be the only one who can say the blog has -saved- me money!

Whenever my brother emails and asks if he can borrow my DMM, I just direct him to one of Dave's classic meter destruction videos and keep my meter to myself.

Since I adopted the new approach, I no longer get back a charred meter that's for sure. Thanks Dave!

SeanB · « **Reply #42 on:** April 08, 2012, 06:50:12 am »

I want a new scope............

Either that or a new vacuum pump, decisions are so hard. Buy online or via RS ( probably online, but RS has been doing some price reductions recently) or buy local ( really limited options there).

Kibi · « **Reply #43 on:** April 08, 2012, 01:53:59 pm »

Quote from: SeanB on April 08, 2012, 06:50:12 am

I want a new scope............
or buy local ( really limited options there).

Not as limited as Zimbabwe

SeanB · « **Reply #44 on:** April 08, 2012, 02:06:12 pm »

Shoot, but at least you can buy direct in US dollars............ Zimdollars are worth more as scrap paper than as currency, I found it hard to get them from Zimbabweans, they are literally worthless. I sent some to the USA, the postage cost more than the 5 million dollar notes did.

Zim was the only country where nobody stole cash, you would need the truckload you stole to buy fuel for the truck.

Kibi · « **Reply #45 on:** April 08, 2012, 05:42:27 pm »

How about this one then.

I had a 100 Trillion dollar note around somewhere, but I can't find it. In it's heyday, it could buy you some milk and perhaps some bread.

So, back on topic, Dave has cost me many Hundreds of Trillions of dollars

free_electron · « **Reply #46 on:** April 08, 2012, 05:48:40 pm »

Just a U1253B. All the other stuff i already had

. I 'recirculate' my machines'. Because of where i live and work i have reasonably easy access to test equipment. Most of my machines stay 3 to 4 years after which i get access to a 'newer version' and i shove the older one's on ebay.
The money is recycled to buy missing bits i don't have yet.

SeanB · « **Reply #47 on:** April 08, 2012, 07:04:30 pm »

Quote from: Kibi on April 08, 2012, 05:42:27 pm

How about this one then.

I had a 100 Trillion dollar note around somewhere, but I can't find it. In it's heyday, it could buy you some milk and perhaps some bread.

So, back on topic, Dave has cost me many Hundreds of Trillions of dollars

Thanks, nice to see a lovely sample. So you have spent the same as the US debt on your hobby then.

McMonster · « **Reply #48 on:** April 09, 2012, 03:42:31 am »

This won't beat hungarian pengo, they had a note of 1*10^18 pengo and they later recalculated this to their new currency, the forint, with 1*10^27 pengo equaling 1 forint.

Simon · « **Reply #49 on:** April 09, 2012, 07:38:57 am »

Well I decided I wanted a digital scope and looked on ebay and found the Rigol 1052E and thought, hm good price, is it a good scope and so ran a google search on the model and came across daves site and video some months after the forum began and was small. I thought well he looks like he knows what he is talking about and likes it so I'll get it (so Dave rigol owe you for at least one sale). I then got an amprobe AM220 meter as it was all I could afford in the way of a decent and safe meter. After that as a consequence of my ongoing interest I spent £50 on a second hand 3-15V 25A power supply that I thin was a right bargain although I already had a 13.8V 5A fixed power supply I picked up at a car boot for £3.

I've not spent all I would want but I feel that my money was all spent wisely and all the gear is useful and not purely for show

rodcastler · « **Reply #50 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:00:07 pm »

I can assure you EEVblog has cost me an amount way different from zero, not to mention the austrlian accent I have adopted. oright mate!

robrenz · « **Reply #51 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:22:32 pm »

+1

I am afraid to add it all up.

But a big thanks to Dave for rekindling my love of electronics after many years. I think I am just one of many that the EEVblog/forum has done this to.

GK · « **Reply #52 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:36:28 pm »

Quote from: robrenz on January 05, 2013, 03:22:32 pm

+1

I am afraid to add it all up.

You should consider restoring and hot rodding cars for a hobby.

robrenz · « **Reply #53 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:44:35 pm »

Quote from: GK on January 05, 2013, 03:36:28 pm

Quote from: robrenz on January 05, 2013, 03:22:32 pm
+1

I am afraid to add it all up.

You should consider restoring and hot rodding cars for a hobby.

Your right, it's a mere pittance relative to my machine shop total

grenert · « **Reply #54 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:48:14 pm »

Quote from: GK on January 05, 2013, 03:36:28 pm

You should consider restoring and hot rodding cars for a hobby.

Or merely keeping a British sports car alive!

...where'd my headlamps go?

helloworld922 · « **Reply #55 on:** January 05, 2013, 04:01:57 pm »

Quote

I've seen all the cool gadgets Dave looks at which are well outside my student budget and I end up browsing ebay and other sites sighing a lot instead of actually buying anything!

Me too! I go onto the equipment manufacturing website and look at all the goodies they have. Spend part of my days reading the users manuals of stuff I will probably never use/own

I had an interest in electronics before I found the EEVblog, which has costed me ~$100 USD, but I can definitely blame Dave for convincing me to get a new DMM (marginally better than a complete cheapy cause of my budget).

Mechatrommer · « **Reply #56 on:** January 05, 2013, 04:18:35 pm »

it started with ds1052e and some retarded robotics when i came here. total damage... $4437, and thats only the reported cases, within these 2 or 3 years? dont remember.

N2IXK · « **Reply #57 on:** January 05, 2013, 04:57:30 pm »

Only about $50 so far, for one of those FE-5680A rubidium frequency standards. And another $75 or so to package it into a nice box with a power supply and adjustable divider. Now sitting in the lab as a master reference for my frequency counters.

The eBay prices on FE-5680s seemed to spike up shortly after the EEVblog covered them....were going for $100 or more at one point.

Stonent · « **Reply #58 on:** January 05, 2013, 08:12:00 pm »

Quote from: EEVblog on March 04, 2012, 11:06:45 pm

Perhaps I should change my tagline to "Helping the global economy, one video at a time."

Dave.

Rigol, Fluke, and Agilent should be paying you a commission.

andyturk · « **Reply #59 on:** January 05, 2013, 09:16:48 pm »

Quote from: robrenz on January 05, 2013, 03:22:32 pm

But a big thanks to Dave for rekindling my love of electronics after many years. I think I am just one of many that the EEVblog/forum has done this to.

Yup. Until about six months ago, the last time I'd used a breadboard was '79--not much difference between then and now. Of course, ARM chips are *way* more fun than Z80s.

Recently acquired due to Dave: Fluke 87-V, Rigol DS1102E, Rigol DG1022, BK Precision 1651, not to mention piles of stuff from Mouser and DigiKey.

peter.mitchell · « **Reply #60 on:** January 06, 2013, 02:51:30 am »

not a whole lot, just a new bench... a nice and expensive workbench though...

vk6zgo · « **Reply #61 on:** January 06, 2013, 09:22:17 am »

Quote from: grenert on January 05, 2013, 03:48:14 pm

Quote from: GK on January 05, 2013, 03:36:28 pm
You should consider restoring and hot rodding cars for a hobby.
Or merely keeping a British sports car alive!

...where'd my headlamps go?

Joseph Lucas--- The Prince of Darkness!

JeanF · « **Reply #62 on:** January 06, 2013, 07:09:17 pm »

Well, I already went for a Hakko 888, a UT-61D multimeter, a Bus Pirate, all three upon direct recommendation from the videos.

I also bought a Fenix LD01 for my father for Christmas, and I got.... a MiniChamp (too bad I don't get as much mail as Dave

) and a PoKeys 56E, because my brother wanted to see it in action too !

A scope (which would be my very first) is tempting... but I must resist... no... don't...click...here...aaaaughhh

Not directly related to the blog, but all this enthusiasm made me buy an AVR kit (from Freetronics in Oz %-B ) and a usbtinyisp.

JoannaK · « **Reply #63 on:** January 06, 2013, 08:21:33 pm »

Well.. The electronics has not cost much, biggest ones have been ESR meter and one of those cheapo handheld hotair guns. But I also got the way-so-crazy idea of makign video blogs.. so I'd have to add the price of camera, mics, and editin sw into the list.

Not to mention humiliation of seeing me at the video.

justanothercanuck · « **Reply #64 on:** January 06, 2013, 11:13:11 pm »

Things I've bought recently in the re-pursuit of EE...

a table and chair to work on, because my computer table is full.

a new multimeter because the 20 year old analog cheapie I had couldn't measure worth crap.
wire strippers, no idea where mine went over the years.
parts (obviously)
Looking to buy a cheap bench supply and an oscilloscope. Maybe a decent soldering-desoldering station.

steve30 · « **Reply #65 on:** January 07, 2013, 03:12:41 am »

Just a Hakko FX-888 I suppose.

But Dave's videos and this forum did give me the inspiration to restart some old project and start some new ones, so I suppose the numerous recent Farnell orders count

.

Fsck · « **Reply #66 on:** January 07, 2013, 09:30:44 am »

I don't really want to find out. I'm sure it's at least 5000. Not all of it comes directly from Dave though. Actually most of it is from the forum I think.
Shahriar (Hugoneus) cost me >500 because I *HAD* to get a Keithley 220 after seeing it opened up and of course more for neat accessories like a funky 2-knob triax -> BNC converter.

bearman · « **Reply #67 on:** January 07, 2013, 11:09:10 am »

Interesting thread for sure. I was laid off on January 9th of 2009. 4 years ago this coming Tueasday. I decided to rekindle my electronics interest. I saw these things called micro controllers or Basic Stamps at Radio Shack. I thought I should finally learn about these things and looked into gettting one of the Radio Shack starter kits. No big deal it was $95.00 USD. Then I found out I needed a serial interface cable to my PC. Turns out they didn't come with a cable and I had to buy one seperately. It was another $60.00 just for a stupid cable. I did a little rant in the store to myself and decided I wasn't going to pay that much for a serial to USB conversion cable. The young man working at the store overheard me and called me over. He kind of whispered to me, "Look up Arduino on the internet." I said a what?, He then said, " You can find them at Adafruit". I said "what the hell is that". I asked him to "just write these names down for me" and I will look into them at home on my PC.

Well I got home, found the Arduino site and read about the Arduinos and about the command set and ordered a Duemilanove and was on my way to learning about microcontrollers for $30.00. Well I have thanked that young man several times and showd him some of the projects I have built in the last 4 years.

I also discovered Daves site around the same time. I think he only had 7 or 8 videos out when I found the site. I got into immediately and viewed all his previous Vlogs so I was hooked and up to date and poised for more.

Well. I have really spent a lot in the last 4 years. Between Dave talking about gear and me wanting to try all the sensors that connect to Arduinos I have regularly bought gear or componets for working with or constructing things with the new found power and flexibility of the microcontroller. Building things years ago with TTL or CMOS discrete componets are okay but too costly to make things on a regular basis because most of my fun was derived from making things. Once it was built I lost interest in the device.

Well the above history I have spent lots. I got the following. Rigol 1052E DSO, Fluke 87 V, Hako 936D, Duemilanove, Full compliment of sensors for interfacing to Arduino.

torch · « **Reply #68 on:** January 07, 2013, 03:17:33 pm »

It's amazing how many times the Rigol DS1052E gets mentioned in this thread. In my case, I was already looking for a scope and looking at the Rigol. Googling for user reviews led me to EEVblog. Same sort of thing happened when I started eyeing signal generators and was looking at the Hantek. Most recently I was shopping for a soldering station, and Dave's review helped me settle on the Hakko 888. So I can't really say that Dave has cost me any money, but this forum has helped me make intelligent decisions, perhaps keeping me from wasting money or buying more than I need.

And I second the comments on machining. If you think a hobbyist electronics bench is expensive, you should try setting up a home machine shop!

ivan747 · « **Reply #69 on:** January 07, 2013, 03:25:15 pm »

Quote from: rodcastler on January 05, 2013, 03:00:07 pm

I can assure you EEVblog has cost me an amount way different from zero, not to mention the austrlian accent I have adopted. oright mate!

Bloody right, mate!

c4757p · « **Reply #70 on:** January 07, 2013, 03:35:26 pm »

Quote from: rodcastler on January 05, 2013, 03:00:07 pm

I can assure you EEVblog has cost me an amount way different from zero, not to mention the austrlian accent I have adopted. oright mate!

I've just adopted a self-consciousness of how stupid I sound when I say "sodder".

We Americans sure do have a way with language...

WV1800es · « **Reply #71 on:** January 07, 2013, 03:52:46 pm »

Quote from: vk6zgo on January 06, 2013, 09:22:17 am

Quote from: grenert on January 05, 2013, 03:48:14 pm
Quote from: GK on January 05, 2013, 03:36:28 pm
You should consider restoring and hot rodding cars for a hobby.
Or merely keeping a British sports car alive!

...where'd my headlamps go?
O, yeah I'm waiting for my HP 8825A (thanks to all in the function generator discussions)to show up this week. Spent Sunday putting new brake hoses and calipers on the front of my '72 Volvo 1800es. I still got a bug for one of those Hantek 8060 Scope/FuncGen/MM/Tricorder rigs. Has anyone got any feedback on THEM yet?? Glad I still got a job with the Phone Company!!

mianchen · « **Reply #72 on:** January 07, 2013, 03:54:26 pm »

I was sharing a big computer desk with my wife in a bigger office. Then I built myself a lab in the smallest room of the house after watching Dave's EE lab video. I got myself a desktop PC, a Fluke 87 III, a UT61E, an HP3468A, a Rigol DS1102E, a Hameg HM504-2 scope, 2 PSUs, a hot air gun+soldering station, a dremel, a set of lindstrom cutters and other hand tools + lots and lots of components and junks...well my ebay feedback score (registered 2002) has jumped from 80 to over 300 just from buying and selling EE gear and components in the last 6 months...

Rick · « **Reply #73 on:** January 07, 2013, 04:24:55 pm »

I tried to replicate Dave benches (the only difference being the 2 longitudinal planks to avoid sagging in the middle) and I got ripped off by the carpenter so I built my second bench myself for 1/3 of the price of the first one. Besides that 90 cm height is too much for me may be Dave is tall I don't know. So the second bench is only 80 cm high. Everything included I spent $3500 so far... and I still have no oscilloscope, no frequency counter, no signal generator, no antistatic mat, no desoldering station. This is to say I am not working yet... I must say I paid may be 1/3 of that amount for shipping stuff from USA. Too many multimeters, and at least 5 of them (bench ones) bought for repairs.

quarks · « **Reply #74 on:** January 07, 2013, 04:29:22 pm »

I joined (two years ago) and bought quite a few things directly inspired/influenced by EEVblog. Right now I look for more Calibration/Reference components. If I can get what would like to have, it will sure do a lot of damage to my bank account. But I do not really count the $, because I discover so many interesting aspects, learn new things and finally have a lot fun with it.

jeroen74 · « **Reply #75 on:** January 07, 2013, 04:30:48 pm »

Nothing financially. Loads in time though... watched most of the episodes.

psycho0815 · « **Reply #76 on:** February 16, 2013, 06:04:03 pm »

When i got back into electronics, thanks to dave, all i had was a crap multimeter and a weller soldering station, so the list is rather long:

Rigol DS1052E
El Cheapo 15V variable Powersupply
Salae Logic
ELV DM9199 Multimeter (Same Specs as Extech EX530, 1/3rd of the Price)
Agilent 1241B
Fluke 87V used
DDS FunctionGen Kit
Lots of Breadboards, Components and other stuff

Also a Solidoodle 3D-Printer, which technically is not really electronics-related, but since i'm already at it i might as well blame it on dave, too.

lapm · « **Reply #77 on:** February 16, 2013, 11:04:52 pm »

Personally maybe couple hundred euros... Mainly things like components, programmers for atmels microcontrollers and pickit2 for microchip ones... And cheap soldering station with extra tips. Yeah going to use that next week to fix my moms 2 terabyte external hardrive (mini usb connector got loose, pcb is fine tought...)

And yes i have plans to spend some more... Need decent osciloscope and one good multimeter, maybe a pcb etching bath...

Stiege · « **Reply #78 on:** February 16, 2013, 11:09:10 pm »

Yeah, literally most of my equipment and books have come from videos and forum topics. But I've also saved a lot of money. I mean the whole Rigol hack saves a bit of coin, and only recently getting a Byteblaster clone rather than the real deal saves on what would otherwise be a necessary expense to get the skills that I need.


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Author Topic: How much has EEVblog cost you? (Read 29241 times)

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