Equipment suggestion

[garymck]

Hi,
first post here from a beginner so hope this is in the right forum,

I'm interested in getting some basic measurement equipment for learning some hobby electronics. I'm looking at doing some Arduino stuff, and building some simple electronic gear for my main hobby of Astronomy.

I currently have a Jaycar MP3097 13.8v 10 amp power supply.
An old DSE 0-30 volt 5 amp variable power supply.
Both of these are generally used for powering telescopes.

I also have a 25 year old 22-174 "true rms multimeter".
I have also been given an old Fluke mains powered 8050A

Are these OK? any safety issues - years ago I got a shot of 220v and it hurt like *^*(^^^ and I don't want another one.

I will mostly be doing low voltage stuff, but who knows when I might try to measure something I shouldn't :-)

If the above is no good, can you please recommend a good portable multimeter - cost is very important as I'm a retired pensioner with limited funds.

What other stuff would an aspiring hobbyist require?

Forgot also have a temp controlled soldering iron..

cheers
Gary

[xrunner]

What other stuff would an aspiring hobbyist require?

This question has been asked many, many times. But I'll just start off by saying get an oscilloscope, even an El Cheapo 20 MHz if you don't have a lot of money. It will serve to look at many things the Arduino will output. Good thing to have.

[ebclr]

Buy this, and use this software https://sigrok.org/,

http://pt.aliexpress.com/item/CY7C68013A-56-EZ-USB-FX2LP-USB2-0-Develope-Board-Module-Logic-Analyzer-EEPROM-AX/32666671073.html?spm=2114.10010308.1000016.1.F13OeX&isOrigTitle=true

If you have a little more money available

https://www.amazon.com/Rigol-DS1054Z-Digital-Oscilloscope-Channels/dp/B012938E76

[Muxr]

Once you start working on projects.. you'll discover things you need. I can just list some nice to have items that are often useful:

- Jewelers magnifying glass.. electronics tend to be small and it sometimes helps to be able to see the markings on a chip.. or inspect a soldering joint closer.

- A multimeter with a microamps and microvolts ranges. 2-3 multimeters never hurts.. and now days the choice is plentiful. If you don't have an oscilloscope Min/Max features are handy and so is a fast updating bar graph.

- Current limiting power supply. You already have some power supplies so I wouldn't concentrate on this, but being able to limit current to say a few milliamps can save you from frying too many components.

- Oscilloscope. It's really hard to describe this versatile tool in one sentence. But let's just say, it lets you see what really happens with your signals and power rails. Without it you can be blind to fast changing events, which many electronics depend on.

- Logic Analyser. Complements the Oscilloscope. Lets you decode many digital signals at once. Can be fairly cheap and are essential when working with buses like SPI and i2c..

- Soldering iron (you mentioned you have one).. you need solder and flux, as well. Soldering fumes are toxic.. fume extractors can be expensive so just make sure you at least do your soldering in a well ventilated area. Or you can give one of these a try: https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Benchtop-Solder-Smoke-Absorber/dp/B001RLZGKK

- Hot Air rework station. Not required, but can make working with SMD components much easier.

- Arbitrary Waveform Generator / Signal Generator. If you end up working on your own circuits.. being able to generate just the signal you need at a push of a few buttons can be very handy.

- DC Load. Not really required. You can build a dummy load yourself as well. But there are some really nice programmable DC loads you can get as well. Say your testing a voltage regulator circuit you made. It would be nice to be able to test it under load, a DC load lets you do just that.

- Breadboards.. you can never have enough of breadboards imo. Great for prototyping. Also jumper wires.

- Jellybean components.. 100, 1k, 10K resistors.. capacitors, from small Ceramic/MLCC pF, and nF.. to a few bigger uF electrolytic capacitors. 2N3904 and 2N3906 NPN and PNP transistors.. some TIP120 and FQP30N06L n-channel MOSFETs.. some LM358 Op Amps and a few LM339 comparators.

[tooki]

I also have a 25 year old 22-174 "true rms multimeter".
I have also been given an old Fluke mains powered 8050A

Are these OK? any safety issues - years ago I got a shot of 220v and it hurt like *^*(^^^ and I don't want another one.

I will mostly be doing low voltage stuff, but who knows when I might try to measure something I shouldn't :-)

The 22-174 was my first DMM! Had it until a few years ago when it broke. It uses regular fuses (not HRC fuses) and I'm not sure what kind of input protection it has, so I wouldn't use it for industrial use. It's fine for your described purposes. (And assuming you've got the original probes, hold onto them, they're nicer than what come with most meters these days!)

[garymck]

Hi
Thanks to those who have replied.

I'll probably buy a new multimeter, and will start saving for a CRO...I hadn't thought about the necessity for that.

I'll start putting together some components from the list you've supplied Muxr.

Tooki, the 22-174 was my first multimeter. I used it to build a peltier cooled CCD camera (froma book of plans - I'm quite good at monkey see monkey do :-) . It now has a cracked scree, but still works. I'm a bit inclined to buy a new one that can protect me if I do something stupid....

cheers
gary

[tooki]

Damn, if only I'd known around 4 years ago that your screen was cracked, I could have given you the LCD out of my broken meter!

But yeah, if you need a new meter anyway, then for sure go with something quality that will last forever, like a Fluke, Brymen, Gossen, or whatever. (Or grab one of the Keysight 1252B's that are on eBay for cheap. They have their quirks, like the world's worst continuity function and rather slow autoranging, but they do good measurements. I just got one for myself and one to sell here for profit.)