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Need help! Test bench equipment recommendations. $2k+ budget
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maglin78:
I'm in the same bout when it comes to building a home lab except I'm just an average person that loves to build various electronics projects.  I went with the following equipment to get the best bang for the buck and figure if I need to upgrade later I can do so and be able to sell my current gear for probably 75-80% of what I got into them.

Scope: SDS1104X-E - I hacked it to 200mhz/wifi/awb/mso along with getting a set of 200mhz probes.  As stated earlier you probably won't need more than 100mhz of front end bandwidth and if you do you'll probably need a lot more.  I found this scope as a return that was 20% off so I couldn't pass it up.  It's great having it connected to wifi so I can view on a 43" monitor that I have on my PC.

Benchtop DMM: VC8145 (I also have a fluke 88) - It's pretty much the goto cheap DMM that is good enough for most things people want to do.  You can get into a big hole to spend money on a DMM.  Good idea to maybe get a set of probe masters leads to speed up capacitance measurements.

AWG: SDG2042X - Easy to get upto 120mhz output with enough options to probably work for a very long time.  Also integrates with the Siglent scope easily. 

PSU: Currently still looking for a good option, but I have one I built a few years back that is good enough currently.

Soldering Station: Aixum T3A 245 JBC clone - Price is good and uses JBC carts and performance is close to the JBC.  For the price it's a very good station that will handle 99% of what you will need. 

Hot Plate: MHP30 Mini 65W - Small but big enough for lots of small projects.

Hot Air: Quick 957DW+ 580W - it decent but on larger copper it shows it's lack of power.  I wish I had gotten Quick 861DW 1kw station as it would have the needed power for any removal of components.

That is what I have so far and been working on my lab for a few years, but I think you could get all these items close to your budget you have now.  I'm not an EE so I don't have lots of experience with advanced functions and what not.  I poured over many threads and took the advise usually given which is usually (get what you can afford now and once you NEED something better get it then).  That is what I plan on doing.  I just need a PSU/Load to complete my home lab.  Wish I had a lot of sage advise for you but all I can do is share the route I've gone.  Good luck.
kcbrown:

--- Quote from: geneonline on March 28, 2022, 06:22:36 am ---Guess the final verdict for an oscilloscope will be the Siglent SDS2104x+. Currently looking for a deal on it and amazon doesn't have anything special for it and I think I saw some people mention tequipment gives deals or something for being in this forum.

--- End quote ---

I've got that Siglent scope, and it's fantastic.  My only real complaint is that it can be pretty unresponsive to the front panel controls under some circumstances, but the touchscreen makes up for a lot of that.

I strongly recommend buying from a reputable vendor like Saelig, because (unlike Amazon, once you get beyond the 30 day return window at any rate) they will be willing to support you after the sale.  Fortunately, Siglent is (unlike Keysight) willing to work with individuals for warranty claims and repairs in general, but even so, I'd go with a reputable vendor for any $1K+ piece of gear.  Put another way, if it's something you can't sink the replacement costs for, you should buy from a vendor that will support you long after the return period expires and even after the warranty expires.


With respect to the Instek GPP-4323, that thing is $700!  That's quite expensive for a hobbyist power supply, particularly given that it can't supply more than 3 amps per output channel (two channels can, of course, be combined, but at the loss of a channel).  Unless you need very advanced power supply capabilities, I'd stick with supplies like the Korad KA-3005D (or the KA-3005P if you need programmability).  It's inexpensive ($110 at Amazon for the 3005D), has low ripple due to being a linear supply, has good turn-on and turn-off characteristics (e.g., minimal overshoot), has memories, has the usual current and voltage limiting and protection, has milliamp current resolution, has a floating negative terminal (so you don't risk ground loops) and a separate ground terminal, and is solid.  You're better off getting multiple supplies than a single one unless you need to be able to turn on multiple supply rails within milliseconds (or less) of each other.  Since you're just starting out, keep it simple and get one of these. 

If you need a power supply with a lot more power output, you can consider assembling a Riden-based (e.g., the RD6006) switching power supply, but be warned that its protection capabilities aren't likely to be anything as good as the Korad's.  The Riden-based supply isn't what I'd buy for the first supply, and is instead something I'd buy only to supplement a good linear supply like the Korad.

As with so many other pieces of gear, you're better off being minimalistic with respect to the power supply, getting something inexpensive but good, and going with something premium like the Instek only if/when you find you need the capabilities that are unique to it.

I'd say the same about a waveform generator.  Stick with the one built into your scope first, and only if that doesn't do what you need it to do should you consider getting anything more.
nctnico:

--- Quote from: kcbrown on March 28, 2022, 09:15:59 pm ---As with so many other pieces of gear, you're better off being minimalistic with respect to the power supply, getting something inexpensive but good, and going with something premium like the Instek only if/when you find you need the capabilities that are unique to it.

--- End quote ---
Yes and no. Getting a cheap tool can be a good way to figure out whether it is usefull but getting a high quality tool makes work more enjoyable (cry once, smile forever).

For something basic like a PSU I think getting a more expensive one pays off and it also has more features like parallel / series / tracking operation.

For more complicated and less versatile equipment it can help to get something cheap first. Like the Nano VNA to get some hands-on experience with a network analyser.
bdunham7:

--- Quote from: nctnico on March 28, 2022, 11:37:32 pm ---getting a high quality tool makes work more enjoyable (cry once, smile forever)

--- End quote ---

Very true, but getting an expensive tool that turns out not to be high quality can really suck, especially if you don't realize it soon enough to return it. 
TopQuark:
Despite the quirks of the DP832, it is good enough for what I would expect a lab power supply would do, and it is a good middle ground for a general purpose power supply.

If a project requires really special power supply requirements (power sequencing, no ground loops, ultra low noise, many weird supply rails), building the power supply will be part of the project anyways, and I only use the DP832 as a safe 12v supply with a panel meter most of the time.
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