Test Equipment for the Dungeon?

[EEVblog]

I put a thread on the community tab
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2DjFE7Xf11URZqWBigcVOQ/community?lb=Ugkx7_ttkU2pim-YfxxZtCOoiMUkOmHBvaD6

All the cool Youtube channels are expanding their labs (LTT et al).
I have a whopping new 30sqm dungeon. What cool stuff should I install?

And don't say PnP machine, I'm talking stuff that doesn't suck my life away, but would make for cool videos, reviews etc.

I'm thinking test equipment too big for the lab, like a proper thermal chamber, vibration test rig, acoustic chamber etc.
Hard to get a lot of that stuff here used though.

EDIT: I just remembered integrating spheres. My mate Doug has one to measure LED output.

Thoughts....

[james_s]

Vintage stuff? Vacuum tube based scopes and other boatanchors? It would be interesting to see some performance comparisons vs more modern equipment. The very first scope I ever owned was a Tek 531A so I've got a bit of a soft spot for those old beasts. Maybe you could get some stuff like that on loan rather than acquiring a room full of stuff that's just going to take up space most of the time.

[commongrounder]

How about an RF anechoic chamber, or a faraday cage?

[tautech]

30m2 is enough for 2 home labs, one noisy one full of SMPS and LED lighting and a second clean and quiet lab.
Swap some gear between them for some real world measurement comparisons.

Once done and a series of accompanying videos taken strip the dirty lab out for ordinary dungeon usage and keep the clean quiet lab for when it's needed.

[Psi]

Well, you already seem to have some transportation rings, although they don't appear to be a Goa'uld design. Must be Alteran. 

[TiN]

Pfft, easy. Hardcore ppm-nuts would say cryocooler for that 4.2 Kelvin system setup and oil bath for standard resistor bank  ! Just make sure you have ~8kW 208/240V power outlet.

[kcbrown]

I say a PnP machine.  Just because it sucks your life away doesn't mean you can't make cool vids with it.   

[DaJMasta]

Vacuum chamber?  Larger scale environmental chamber?  Acoustic isolation chamber?  Antivibration table and optics/accelerometers/etc?

A couple racks of old HP gear?


Personally, I'd lean towards the scientific side of things and use it for something that would be difficult to do at a normal bench, either requiring larger equipment, noisier operation, or just something that is big enough to stand on its own.

[shakalnokturn]

Electron microscope.

[AVGresponding]

Personally I'd probably go for a pool table, jukebox, and wet bar, but that would probably violate your terms of occupancy...



This has interesting possibilities:

Electron microscope.

Maybe you could also consider some kind of 3DP set-up, perhaps including a 3DP PCB fabricator?

[Doctorandus_P]

A power supply, DMM and oscilloscope would be quite high on the list for a homelab.

EEVblog #168 - How To Set Up An Electronics Lab

[gslick]

How about an RF anechoic chamber, or a faraday cage?

Every dungeon needs an RF anechoic chamber or a faraday cage like this:

[Andrew_Debbie]

How about an SEM?    Maybe a cheap one will turn up on eBay.

[james_s]

I say a PnP machine.  Just because it sucks your life away doesn't mean you can't make cool vids with it.   

I don't really see the fascination with PnP machines. There are already plenty of videos of them in action in board houses, and if I want boards assembled I'll farm out the job to a factory that is set up to do just that. It seems like it would be a very niche use case that would justify the expense of having one in a home or small buiness.

[shakalnokturn]

Other than all the practical equipment one would like to squeeze into a dungeon I'd start by making the volume HiFi friendly so that the test equipment is less deafening by reverberation, then at the worst you can cover the racket it makes by pushing the music up enough to cover it in decent conditions.
After that I'd build a badass Marx generator just because they're a cool toy and further legitimate having a Faraday cage