Beginner Test Gear

[Muxr]

That auction will probably end somewhere between $50-$150.

I suggest a handheld DMM. Save the bench meter for much later.

That too. Also doesn't come with accessories, so he has to buy the probes at the very least as well. And as always with Ebay it's a crap shoot whether or not it will work or be in spec. For a meter without continuity and a diode test it's exactly the wrong DMM for a first meter.

[commie]

If you are on a really tight budget, then there's really only one option, buy a Rigol DS1054Z. With this instrument you can measure everything with reasonable accuracy.

[austin2118ace]

If you are on a really tight budget, then there's really only one option, buy a Rigol DS1054Z. With this instrument you can measure everything with reasonable accuracy.

I'd love a scope, but I don't have any room in my budget for one, IF I got one I'd have to try and scrounge an old analog scope from eBay.

[daybyter]

Maybe a USB scope as an alternative? Take a look at the hantek 6022be thread. Better than nothing...

[rea5245]

Ditch the breadboards - you'll spend longer debugging their bad connections and excess capacitance/inductance than you do debugging your circuits.

I design digital circuits based on 32 bit microcontrollers (PIC32s in DIP packages). I put them on breadboards all the time and I've never - never - had problems with bad connections or excess C or L. And that's with a 30 year old Heathkit ET-3300 breadboard (I like vintage electronics).

Granted, I'm not doing RF circuits on the breadboard, and the signals on the breadboard are relatively slow (e.g. 115200 bps UARTs, 1kHz clocks, PWM, etc. - though putting an 8MHz crystal on the microcontroller works too).

The OP says he's doing "basic Arduino and stuff". I think breadboards will be just fine for him.

- Bob

[austin2118ace]

Ditch the breadboards - you'll spend longer debugging their bad connections and excess capacitance/inductance than you do debugging your circuits.

I design digital circuits based on 32 bit microcontrollers (PIC32s in DIP packages). I put them on breadboards all the time and I've never - never - had problems with bad connections or excess C or L. And that's with a 30 year old Heathkit ET-3300 breadboard (I like vintage electronics).

Granted, I'm not doing RF circuits on the breadboard, and the signals on the breadboard are relatively slow (e.g. 115200 bps UARTs, 1kHz clocks, PWM, etc. - though putting an 8MHz crystal on the microcontroller works too).

The OP says he's doing "basic Arduino and stuff". I think breadboards will be just fine for him.

- Bob

I agree, never have had an issue with breadboards myself.

[rea5245]

Granted, I'm not doing RF circuits on the breadboard

Actually, let me amend that. I am doing RF circuits on the breadboard - sort of. I buy an RF module or a Bluetooth module or a GPS module and plug it into the breadboard. Since the signals on the breadboard are just UART signals, it works great. I don't have the skills to do RF from scratch, so I'd be buying the modules anyway.

So breadboards don't prevent you from doing projects with RF in them either.

- Bob

[mtdoc]

Ok, for a REALLY tight budget this is what I'd suggest:

UT136b meter as suggested by Lightages. I have one and you can't beat it for the price.

This power supply . - Yes, it's low quality. I have one for breadboarding on my regular desk for when I don't feel like working in my basement lab and it works fine. 15V, 1A  is plenty for most things. No, it doesn't have an adjustable current limit. But, it does limit at one amp and has a nice loud alarm when it does -this has saved my butt a few times.. .  It also has a voltmeter built in which can come in handy if you're short on multimeters. For the price, it's a bargain IMO.  Just crack it open and double check the chassis grounding and line fusing for safety before using it (mine was fine).

And for an ultra tight budget scope, I agree with daybyter. Consider the Hantek 6022BE. I have no personal experience with it but based on the long thread here about it, it's usable and you can't beat the price.

So, for $115 in total, you'll have 3 usable pieces of equipment and can then start saving for better gear later on.

That's my $0.02.

[tautech]

Ok, for a REALLY tight budget this is what I'd suggest.....

So, for $115 in total, you'll have 3 usable pieces of equipment and can then start saving for better gear later on.

That's my $0.02.

+1
Good sound advice IMHO.

You'll always wish for better TE but you have to start somewhere, and it's all gear that will be handy to have later on when you might have better stuff.

[MarkF]

Maybe a USB scope as an alternative? Take a look at the hantek 6022be thread. Better than nothing...

Save your money for a real scope.  The USB scopes are not 'Better than nothing', they are 'nothing'.  The Hantek 6022BE has a sample rate of 48MSa/s.  If that is divided for two channels (like most do), your useful bandwidth would be closer to 8MHz signals.  Remember from sampling theory, you need at least two samples to represent a frequency.  That also means at the 20MHz bandwidth they claim you will ONLY see 2.4 samples on 1 channel.  Not very useful.  You would want at least 10 samples minimum to be able to see any shape at all.

It will NOT be able to find problems on a 16MHz Arduino.

[daybyter]

Uhm...it depends on the problem...

So I did some Arduino stuff and my 6022 was actually helpful. That is because my Arduinos don't really do I/O with 16MHz. In my last project they did I/O to a c64 board. In my current project, they do audio input and output. In both cases, I could check signals with this scope. And it was also helpful while I was repairing old computer gear. So it is no 1054z, but definitely not useless to me.

[MarkF]

Just a little picture to illustrate.  With only one channel the four different frequencies are shown.  if you're going to be looking at audio (below 20 KHz), you will be fine.  However if you're trying to get a LCD display working with hardware SPI rates of 4 MHz or greater, it will not help much.  You will just be able to see the pulses.  But, forget about seeing any noise spikes that could be the problem.  Turn on both channels and you bandwidth will be halved.

[Muxr]

I haven't used that Hantek but I've used the Bitscope. I just find USB scopes to generally be poor in implementation. I have very low confidence in readings I get with them.

I only got it for when I travel because you can't beat the size but even when I measure things with it it's always a pain, and it never really gives me any confidence that I am capturing the right thing. It's little more than a toy really.

I am of the opinion like the person above said that you should save your pennies for a real scope. Scopes are more affordable today than ever. You can get a 500 Ms/s Siglent for $279. And if you're going to save that much then might as well save $100 more and get twice as capable Rigol DS1054z. Spending your money on toys isn't going to get you there any faster.

[austin2118ace]

Hi Guys,
I found three potential multi-meters the Amprobe AM-510, the UNI-T UT61D or the Amprobe AM-520

Which should I get, they are similar prices on Amazon. The UNI-T seems to have more features, True RMS and Data logging. But the Amprobe just seems to be higher quality to me? There are two Amprobe meters, both in my price range. Will the cheaper one suffice, or should I go for the one thats a bit more?
Thanks,
Austin

[Muxr]

I like the Amprobe over UNI-T. I think the build quality is better. AM-520 gets you Temp, bargraph and min/max over the AM-510, which are all useful. AM-520 is what I would get.

[Cliff Matthews]

The thread is old and the products have changed, but have a look at this thread for an idea for a very low budget lab.

Just a     <<<<< Link Typo - correction >>>>>>     

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/the-$250-electrnoics-lab-a-suggested-setup-for-beginners/msg265338/#msg265338

[austin2118ace]

I decided to get the AMProbe Am-520 and will save up for the Korad power supply, or make my own from an atx psu.
I'd like to thank everyone for their help.

-Austin