The Station (Poll)

[Irilia]

The station, are you interested by a product open source offering the majority of the tool you have to do electronics but in a small box, were you can take only the modules you need ? (Specially destined to the person with a small desk).

[ataradov]

No, they all universally suck for every functionality. You may attempt mo make one, but it will be an uphill battle trying to convince anyone your iteration is actually good.

There are already many options of decent equipment in a small form factor. If you can't fit that on your desk, get a bigger desk.

[ebastler]

In your other threads you mention that this design is meant to comprise

- Multiple adjustable power supply
- Multiple fix power supply
- Multimeter + (ESR Meter depending of the possiblity, at a good price)
- Hot air
- Soldering iron
- Desoldering iron
- SMD Pump.

You also mentioned a 100V, 30A target spec for the power supply. And it's all meant to be modular, i.e. separate, independent units/modules even it they reside in the same box.

Please explain how this will all fit into a "small box", and be more specific about what you consider "small". What's the point of a poll about a concept that is just a pipe dream?

Even ignoring the size of the box, putting everything into one unit does not work in many settings. Many users have their measurement devices (and sometimes their power supplies) on shelves above the bench, at eye level -- but soldering and desoldering equipment is pretty universally placed on the bench itself.

And apart from the physical form factor, locking users into one family of modules sucks. User needs will vary: Some want high current from a switching power supply, some want minimal noise from a linear supply. Some users want 6-digit resolution on their multimeter and are willing to spend the money on that, for others 4 digits are fine. Some want the shortest possible hand-to-tip distance on their soldering iron, others care for different aspects...

To meet everyone's needs, you would either have to make this a huge project with multiple options for each module -- or you make it a very expensive set of "best in class" modules -- or you make the whole thing cheap and riddled with compromises, which is what current all-in-one products are.

It's just much better for users to mix and match components from different manufacturers: You choose where you want to spend more money and where a cheap component is good enough for you; you select the products which offer the best balance of price and those features that are important to you; you get the freedom to physically arrange the units in the wway that fits your workflow and your bench layout.

[inse]

What are you going to make out of the poll result, Irillia?
The project does not seem to attract interest.
Is it because of the concept or because the presentation did not ignite a spark?

[coromonadalix]

for sure no spark here, just talk,  no demo, no presentation, nothing

[Halcyon]

Duplicate thread.