#39 Shop Talk Work bench upgrade

[Radio Tech]

#39 Shop Talk Work bench upgrade

In our first segment of Shop Talk I show you how I have no upgraded the work bench to make shooting YouTube videos much better.

[RobertoLG]

way to go   a little over 200 to hit the 1000, and got some $$$ too, see, people apreciate your work 

[Radio Tech]

way to go   a little over 200 to hit the 1000, and got some $$$ too, see, people apreciate your work 

Thanks Roberto.
Want be long at this pace. 1K coming soon 
Cannot believe still that so many folks like this stuff.
Wait till I get the microscope and get heavy into smd repairs....
Thanks.

[German_EE]

I went through a similar thing when I built my new workbenches and I thought long and hard about the layout. The basic question was, which instruments do I use the most? Ideally these should go in the center of the workbench and in my case the big three were the oscilloscope, the VNA and the bench multimeter. These three instruments are right in front of me as I type this with the PC screen directly above them.

Looking at the videos so far the most popular instrument seems to be the service monitor which on your old bench was off to the right so maybe that should move closer to the work space?

I like the idea of nice solid work benches though, some of those tube rigs can be heavy beasts.

[Radio Tech]

I went through a similar thing when I built my new workbenches and I thought long and hard about the layout. The basic question was, which instruments do I use the most? Ideally these should go in the center of the workbench and in my case the big three were the oscilloscope, the VNA and the bench multimeter. These three instruments are right in front of me as I type this with the PC screen directly above them.

Looking at the videos so far the most popular instrument seems to be the service monitor which on your old bench was off to the right so maybe that should move closer to the work space?

I like the idea of nice solid work benches though, some of those tube rigs can be heavy beasts.

Good comment.
I am still toying with the idea of where everything should go.
I did have a bit of theory behind the placement of the IFR. I have attached a picture of the current setup.
Thinking I will be doing most of my repairs near the corner of the bench, I place the IFR off to one side. Reason is working on all this tube equipment there is high voltage involved and did not want to be reaching over a unit. But as I sit here at the bench now I can see a lot of repairs may be directly in front of the monitor. 
Also there is a HO8640B right in the corner of the benches.

Pretty sure things will swap places as I move forward. You made some valid points.
I can not have wobbly benches here. Like you said working on old tube stuff. The Apaches TX-1 weigh in at around a whopping 106 pounds. Takes solid bench to hold it

[German_EE]

Ah! I forgot about the problem with reaching over energized high voltage circuits, although strictly speaking you should have the covers back on when the power is applied. So, having the IFR to one side is in this case logical.

One other thing, I like the material you used. My benches/desks were constructed using black material as seen in the Signal Path workshop and it shows every mark and every scratch. That speckled gray kitchen top is a much better idea.

[Radio Tech]

Ah! I forgot about the problem with reaching over energized high voltage circuits, although strictly speaking you should have the covers back on when the power is applied. So, having the IFR to one side is in this case logical.

One other thing, I like the material you used. My benches/desks were constructed using black material as seen in the Signal Path workshop and it shows every mark and every scratch. That speckled gray kitchen top is a much better idea.

I try and not work on charged circuits. But so many times you have to dealing with vintage gear.
Specially when you have to inject signals in to IF stages.

My brother founds these counter tops and asked if I could use them.  Like to find a few more. And they are sitting on top of treated 2x4 frames. Very sturdy.

Spent all day in the shop trying to get things back together out here.

Got all three power supplies installed under one of the benches that is made from a solid door core.
It the pic below is my supplies.
250 amp, 60 amp, 70 amp.

[RobertoLG]

way to go   a little over 200 to hit the 1000, and got some $$$ too, see, people apreciate your work 

Thanks Roberto.
Want be long at this pace. 1K coming soon 
Cannot believe still that so many folks like this stuff.
Wait till I get the microscope and get heavy into smd repairs....
Thanks.

there is a lot to learn from it in general, about soldering, fixing traces, etc
I don't play with smd stuff, I don't have a hot air station(can't afford...), just a simple soldering iron, no temp control, but I'll enjoy to see all the smd stuff too, your videos are nice, that's why people like them 

[Radio Tech]

there is a lot to learn from it in general, about soldering, fixing traces, etc
I don't play with smd stuff, I don't have a hot air station(can't afford...), just a simple soldering iron, no temp control, but I'll enjoy to see all the smd stuff too, your videos are nice, that's why people like them 

Thanks 

I am also looking at getting some more soldering tools. maybe a couple of new irons in the future.  And a second hot air station. Not sure which one yet.