Author Topic: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)  (Read 6204 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline rhb

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3516
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #25 on: November 23, 2018, 02:14:14 pm »
That construction will hold up just fine.  It was not apparent from the other photo.  But very well thought out design.

Keep an eye out of someone throwing away a door.  Build insulated walls, sheetrock is cheap and easy if you know how.  And easy to learn.  I've taught a couple of people in the past couple of years.  Even without the door you'll be a lot more comfortable and a wall of shelving 6-7 feet behind you will provide very convenient storage.

Then the heater will do a much better job of keeping you warm.  On the outside walls, mount thin furring strips and put some reflective barrier insulation on with the foil facing the airgap.  A reflective Mylar sheet is about 98% efficient *if and only if* the reflective surface is facing a dead air space.
 

Offline vinitoTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 25
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #26 on: November 23, 2018, 09:43:14 pm »
Some days are better than others. Today is starting out pretty gooder.

The post just dropped off both my SDM3055 (complete with most current firmware) and a Seek Reveal Pro I ordered last weekend. Woohoo! I must say that compared to the noob hacky stuff I'm used to owning, that DM is awfully nice. The leads alone, while I'm sure are pretty run-of-the-mill of the decent quality range equipment, are extremely high quality compared to what I'm used to fondling.

Also, found a can of paint in the corner which will be perfect for the bench top as opposed to the crap I was probably going to end up dragging home from the big box store today. Kind of an afterthought to remember I had it so I got lucky.

So just soaking up all the good luck today without having to leave the house.
 

Offline bitseeker

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9057
  • Country: us
  • Lots of engineer-tweakable parts inside!
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #27 on: November 24, 2018, 02:47:22 am »
Sounds like a great way to spend a holiday weekend. Let us know your impressions of the new gear after you've had some quality time with them.
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Offline Old Printer

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 796
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #28 on: November 24, 2018, 03:13:16 am »
Again I will echo the value of the Analog Discovery as a learning tool. YouTube poster TomTekTest has many videos about the value and use of this device. A couple years ago the price of this unit skyrocketed, but for a long time the original AD was sold to students for $99 and many of those units come to market on ebay. A lot of them sell for close to $200 but if you are persistent they can be had for much less. I recently got one for $50 shipped. The difference between the AD1 & AD2 is only in the power supply section and is actually not that important. Don't pass up on a deal for one of these because it is not the later AD2, 98% of the functionality is the same.
 

Offline vinitoTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 25
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #29 on: November 29, 2018, 11:08:08 pm »
Well since I already have a good scope, a basic function generator and a clone logic analyzer, the Discovery would be extra money for nothin' in my case.

Anyways, I'm slowly closing in on a functional bench. Just have to add some shelves and some power and I can use it. I'll build some simple shelf boxes this weekend and for now a power strip will do until I get a slicker power arrangement up & running.
 

Offline rhb

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3516
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #30 on: November 30, 2018, 12:21:25 am »
Looks very nice, but you may have issues if you buy older gear.  I had to move my bench a full 20" from the wall to accommodate my HP gear.
 

Offline bitseeker

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9057
  • Country: us
  • Lots of engineer-tweakable parts inside!
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #31 on: November 30, 2018, 03:26:52 am »
Beautiful benchtop, that is. :-+
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Offline Bud

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7276
  • Country: ca
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #32 on: November 30, 2018, 04:36:38 am »
Well since I already have a good scope, a basic function generator and a clone logic analyzer, the Discovery would be extra money for nothin' in my case.

Anyways, I'm slowly closing in on a functional bench. Just have to add some shelves and some power and I can use it. I'll build some simple shelf boxes this weekend and for now a power strip will do until I get a slicker power arrangement up & running.

Don't you have a problem with dust in this place?
Facebook-free life and Rigol-free shack.
 

Offline Brumby

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 12413
  • Country: au
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #33 on: December 02, 2018, 12:05:59 am »
I figure it will maybe see maximum 50lbs or so on it total... ever.

If you're saying a 12' bench will maybe see a maximum of 50lbs on it in total - my reaction is to say "You're dreaming."

I have no qualms that your bench will support much more than that, especially having seen the bracing you put in place (and the studs are up to it), but it doesn't take a lot of stuff to crack 50lbs.

However, if you are saying that will be 50lbs per support arm, then I view your numbers as realistic and moderately conservative.
 

Offline vinitoTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 25
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #34 on: December 02, 2018, 08:59:16 am »
Quote
If you're saying a 12' bench will maybe see a maximum of 50lbs on it in total - my reaction is to say "You're dreaming."
Meh, maybe. It'll have a PC, soldering stuff and maybe 2 or 3 instruments and some hand tools on it most of the time - depends on how clean I'm able to keep it. :-//
I'm hoping to keep the bench itself open for actual elbow room and work-in-progress space.
But yeah, I weigh over 200lbs. (90Kg) and my full weight sagged one support down 1/16" (1-2mm) on the outside end. Put 'em all together and the bench should support a small orgy or at least a short nap.

I'm chomping at the bit to start setting it up but I'm having a pretty busy weekend and starting to run out of time. I'm thinking of settling on mounting my old shelves to the wall for now until I get some deeper ones constructed. The old shelves are no more than 12" (300mm) deep and for me that's just not enough, but better than nuthin'.

You metric fanboys make these posts more complicated than they have to be. Base 10 is way overrated!
 

Offline Brumby

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 12413
  • Country: au
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #35 on: December 02, 2018, 11:51:16 am »
... depends on how clean I'm able to keep it. :-//
..... and the truth comes out.   ;)

You metric fanboys make these posts more complicated than they have to be. Base 10 is way overrated!
Once you get over the "resistance to change" barrier, it is actually easier.  Been there, done that.  I don't expect you to appreciate that until you get there - if you ever do.
 

Offline GreyWoolfe

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 3652
  • Country: us
  • NW0LF
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #36 on: December 02, 2018, 01:02:19 pm »
depends on how clean I'm able to keep it.

 :-DD :-DD :-DD :-DD :-DD :-DD :-DD :-DD
"Heaven has been described as the place that once you get there all the dogs you ever loved run up to greet you."
 

Offline vinitoTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 25
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #37 on: December 09, 2018, 07:51:35 pm »
Quote
Quote
... depends on how clean I'm able to keep it. :-//
..... and the truth comes out.   ;)
Did I say that out loud?  ??? heheh.

Quote
Once you get over the "resistance to change" barrier, it is actually easier.
:-DD
There is something valid with the world being smaller than olden times to use interchangeable systems, but that's the only value in metric that holds up to scrutiny.
The first thing that should have been a determining factor in picking useful units is simply: "What are the benefits of number systems under consideration?"
To assume that base 10 embodies some kind of obvious superiority is short-sighted. Yeah, OK, you can just move decimal points on paper. Hurrah.  ::)
We familiar with tech stuff accept that binary, octal, hex and decimal all have their place and benefits. The same is true for ancient systems. They didn't just drop out of the sky - they were useful for the people developing/using the system. First ask why those number systems evolved the way they did. And before you point to a goofy origin of any arbitrary unit (like "the king's foot" which is just a tired argument), keep in mind that metric units were also arbitrarily created. Even temperature, which seems to "make sense" to be based on freezing and boiling temperature of water at sea level, begs the question "Why water?" and maybe even "Why at sea level?" (I'm not saying that the choice doesn't make sense, just pointing out that it is still arbitrary at the root. Any unit of measure is going to be based on an arbitrary assumption - it just comes with the territory). Also, the units have been tweaked over time based on correcting for errors discovered due to improving technology/methods for measuring them.
This in particular baffles me. 1) Metric is based on arbitrary unit to begin with. 2) Universal agreement on unit of measure is useful. 3) so change the units from time to time (?), which at minimum is a timing arbitrariness. Oh well. (Didn't this happen again just recently??)
Anyway, "resistance to change" is a thing, but "skepticism about change" is also a thing. Rigid adherence to either isn't healthy, so I fall on the skeptic side since there seems to be plenty of rigid dogmatic compliance to the other. Even if the course doesn't change, the discussion is always useful IMO.

Moving on...
I've been pretty busy so not enough time to work on my shop. But I got this far a couple days ago. At least I can finally sit there and do something in a pinch.
Funny that before, my equipment was crowding me such that often I had no space to work and now it looks like I hardly own anything. Oh well. It's a flat spot so should fill up in short order. I'm still looking forward to getting my permanent shelving and organization installed. Those shelves are temporary and just hung so that I could do a little work as well as for helping to visualize what I can do from what I've got to work with.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2018, 08:05:43 pm by vinito »
 

Offline rhb

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3516
  • Country: us
Re: I've caught the disease! I'm a single-payer (bench equipment)
« Reply #38 on: December 09, 2018, 08:52:19 pm »
Looks really nice.  But I think you may find that having the scope that high is a literal pain in the neck.

I found that having a scope 12" above the bench work surface was uncomfortable after a few hours.
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf