New "lab" shopping list

[G0HZU]

Please don't take this the wrong way (I know someone will anyway) as you can post and do whatever you want to do and it's really none of my business.
I just think if you truly want to get evolved in electronics, then stop dreaming over Test Equipment and start playing around like you did with the NE555. That's how you will learn and ignite your passion.

Well said

There are so many (too many) people on here who seem to think electronics is about building a 'lab' based on the gear shown and promoted in the EEVBLOG videos.

You then get the "what do I do now?" threads popping up...






 

[jimjam]

JimJam I know this is going to sound incredibly rude and even overtly presumptuous but I believe you have a Test Equipment/specification obsession.

Haha, no worries, that's probably true! Well right now I am _still_ waiting for the 555 and a few other ICs to arrive from ebay. I ordered them on May 30th and they still haven't arrived. So what do I do? Read books, think about stuff, playing with kicad/eagle/schematic capture software, blow up a few ICs, ask questions and be inquisitive about things that I don't already know about

It may appear that I have gear obsession and I probably do! I love good quality gear, but I'm trying to be sensible (which is relative) at the same time. I am happy with a $5 cutters for example, but I also love my JBC soldering station which to some might not be sensible to get, but to me it's absolutely great. It was one of the easiest decisions in gear selection for me. I have been soldering stuff since I was 12 years old (and now I'm just old) and using the JBC is an absolute pleasure. We only live once!

I did need all these other tools that I've been slowly gathering, and while doing so, why not get something I'll be happy with. Once I'm over this stage, I guess I'll move on to asking noob questions about other things

I only have a few major things still to get: power supply (so far I'm making do with a wall wart adapter, which works fine for my current needs), scope, and more components. All the rest are simply curiosity because when someone mentioned something I am not familiar with, my natural response is to read all about it and ask questions.

For example, a signal gen - I won't get it of course, since I haven't even got a clue what to do with it. My current needs don't require one, but it is good to know about it and I appreciate those who have kindly explained them to me. Another thing I won't be getting: isolation transformer, because right now I really don't need it, but again it's good to know about them.

So far my other posts have been asking about oscilloscopes, a second meter, and power supplies, and where to buy components from, which are things I'd still like to get. I don't go around asking questions about how to use a 555 IC, because I' already somewhat familiar with it and can figure it out myself... well for now anyway

[What_NZ]

Also well said 

Sounds like you are enjoying getting interested in electronics. Good luck with your hobby, there is so much to enjoy!

[jimjam]

Oh, I did ask about how to rearrange the pins of a 555 IC on kicad, which I still haven't figured out, but that's a topic for another thread I guess.

[Mr.B]

@What_NZ
I love your definition ‘Test Equipment/specification obsession’.

I have spent over 20 years as an electronics hobbyist. I started out with a pencil soldering iron and hand full of toys. Over the years I have of course collected more and more bits, most very cheap due to budget constraints. Cheap power supply, etc.
Eight years ago I took the plunge and purchased a second hand Fluke DMM to replace my old steam powered analogue meter.
Three years ago I purchased a Saleae Logic because of the protocol sniffer capability… I had just got really interested in the ATmega328p.
Things have changed a lot over the past three to five years and I am in a lot better financial position.
A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across EEVBlog.
After reading through the entire thread ‘sniffing-the-rigol's-internal-i2c-bus’ and a whole heap of others, I have decided to buy myself a DSO.
Then I decided to also get an Arbitrary Function Generator.
Have I fallen into the trap called ‘Test Equipment/specification obsession’… Probably.
On their way from Tequipment is DS2072A, DG4062 and DM3068.
Who do I blame… Dave, marmad, cybernet, and others…???
No, I can only blame myself. 

@jimjam
My only word of advice is to take your time and have fun.
I spent 20 odd years having fun before I splashed out for the more expensive stuff, even though it is only slightly more than entry level.

(I have to mark this as my first post…)

[What_NZ]

Is your old steam powered analogue meter as good as mine?  I think this was my first love affair with a piece of test equipment, well I was only 10 - lol

[jimjam]

Nice! I used to have a Sanwa (I think) analog meter.

[Mr.B]

Is your old steam powered analogue meter as good as mine?  I think this was my first love affair with a piece of test equipment, well I was only 10 - lol

I had a Hioki that probably came from about the same era.
As I say... 'had'.
It met with an untimely demise. Hioki Vs reversing car, guess who won.
Thats what led to the purchase of the Fluke 87.
It was a good choice back then as it had a highly responsive analogue type bar along the bottom of the LCD display that made the whole thing feel more analogue.

[farsi]

Just found this discussion, and I am still interested as I found the need for tooling (esp. smarter wiring) with a recent Arduino setup too.

* I have an old voltage meter, but which should need a repair (maybe I can just send it in somewhere.. it was not used for a long time)

* I am thinking on adding an this open-source measurement station http://redpitaya.com/ to my toolkit - also not sure how relevant
 

[Doug_in_Minnesota]

The value of a high quality Variac will become evident the first time you work on repairing something, and then turn the power switch on, and suddenly let out a massive amount of the magic smoke, probably with a lot of sparks and loud crackling noises.

A high quality variac with both a voltage gauge and a current gauge is a necessity if you are going to do any design or repair of 110 volt equipment or circuits. You turn the power switch on, on the equipment you are working on, and then slowly ramp up the AC supply starting at Zero volts and moving toward the full 110. You watch the current meter and if it starts going up much higher than it should, you SHUT IT OFF IMMEDIATELY, and find the fault.

The first time you "repair" an expensive piece of gear, and accidentally leave a short circuit inside it, and suddenly turn on the mains voltage and watch your expensive piece of gear blow up, you'll realize the value of the Variac.

And yes, an Iso-Vac (isolation transformer) is a different piece of gear, used for a different purpose, but sometimes you find a piece of Test Gear that has a Variac and an Iso-Vac built into one box, like my Viz Iso-V-Vac III.