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Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: LPaul on April 24, 2016, 07:33:02 pm

Title: Equipping the lab €2-3k
Post by: LPaul on April 24, 2016, 07:33:02 pm
Hello,

I am currently building my small semi-pro electronics lab.


Usages:
Short-term needs:

Long run:

Current equipment:

Based on that I made a basic list of the equipment I consider buying.

Oscilloscope: DS1054Z (planning on unlocking software options). The most bang for bucks as far as I know. Though I am afraid it will soon be limiting and hard on the eyes. Not sure I need 4 channels and there is a lot of good options in the €500-2k 2ch range.
I’d really like to get a good brand (Keysight, Lecroy, R&S) if I can fit an appropriate model in my budget.

Signal generator: Rigol DG1022 (non-A) €300
Seems more than good enough for my needs (100s khz square). Maybe other brands have cheaper/better options for this price?

DMM:
Main use on digital circuit. Might get used on high power circuits (main, 3ph), not quite sure whether a €50 or €100 meter is good enough in terms of input protection.

I have budgeted about €200 in test leads and accessories.


From this base I have about €900 to improve whatever is worth it. (a bit more if necessary).
Obviously not paying VAT and considering an rebate.
Any ideas/advices ? Questions I should ask myself before buying the stuff?

Thanks !
Title: Re: Equipping the lab €2-3k
Post by: nctnico on April 24, 2016, 09:26:26 pm
If you can spend 500 to 2k euro on a scope look at the GW Instek GDS2000E series.

Feeltech makes some nice low-cost function generators (see the other threads) so for less than 100 euro you can have a nice function generator nowadays.

For use on mains I recommend to get an A-brand (Keysight, Fluke, etc) multimeter with the proper CAT ratings and at least 4.5 digits. This will set you back about 200 euro.

Good HP/Agilent/Keysight lab PSUs can be bought from Ebay and there are good deals for those with a bit of patience.
Title: Re: Equipping the lab €2-3k
Post by: Fungus on April 25, 2016, 03:33:34 pm
Quote from: LPaul on April 24, 2016, 07:33:02 pm
Oscilloscope: DS1054Z (planning on unlocking software options). The most bang for bucks as far as I know. Though I am afraid it will soon be limiting and hard on the eyes. Not sure I need 4 channels and there is a lot of good options in the €500-2k 2ch range.
Definitely the most bang for the buck. I think you'll take a while to outgrow it.

If you're 100% sure you don't need four channels then you might want to look at the R&S 1002 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-hmo-1002-economy-dso-from-rohde-schwarz-hameg/) as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvepxIvy45U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvepxIvy45U)

It's desirable scope, it's small, it's silent ... but it costs about 800 Euros and the 100MHz bandwidth (http://shop.rohde-schwarz.com/mea/hamegrhv512.html) and serial decoder (http://shop.rohde-schwarz.com/mea/hamegrhv110.html) options aren't free. It's well within your budget though.

Quote from: LPaul on April 24, 2016, 07:33:02 pm
DMM:
Main use on digital circuit. Might get used on high power circuits (main, 3ph), not quite sure whether a €50 or €100 meter is good enough in terms of input protection.

Choosing a multimeter for mains work is easy: Get a Fluke 101.

Only $42 (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=fluke+101) delivered to your door and as much input protection as you'll find on any handheld multimeter (it's currently the leader in the robustness testing (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/) thread)

Now that "mains work" is covered you have a much wider choice for a second meter for the digital work.

(You should probably get at least two multimeters anyway.  :popcorn: )