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Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

badar.tech

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Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#181

Post by farkanoid »

sokoloff wrote: post #5

I find "SMD Sample Books" to be a more effective storage/retrieval system for SMD passives than the lidded parts enclosures. I've got some of the latter, but stopped using them for passives (and repurposed them for small 3-6 pin commonly used parts). But I have to admit that that setup is far cleaner and more organized overall than my disaster of a workbench...

For prototype/repair/rework parts, we use cheap folders with business card or CD/DVD inserts at work - Cheap and effective!

The labels reflect the location of the item in the folder (Folder x Page y) and also the shelf in Storage (Rack-Bay-Shelf-Place), if it's a part we use also in production.

https://i.imgur.com/awt8HMw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xVguVGn.jpg

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#182

Post by [deleted] »

tuatoru wrote: post #115
jakewins wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have (had? getting better!) this same issue, and it really killed excitement of electronics for me for a long time. I asked @theacodes on here this same question, on a post they'd written that like.. actually got into "ok, I'm putting this capacitor here, because it's gonna do for me, another way I could do the same thing is..", and their reply is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33484848 I do think there…

The Art of Electronics is useful as a reference , certainly. Using it to learn circuit design (just at the schematic level, still) would take serious effort (hundreds of hours) and would be far more effective if done with a skilled instructor. There used to be simpler, smaller books that showed a simplified design process for circuit building blocks. Rod Elliott's website, sound-au.com, has an extensive section on "t…

[deleted]

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#183

Post by ezconnect »

penguin_booze wrote: post #87

I used be an ameteur electronics enthusiast. When I was young, I used to assemble trivial circuits (dancing lights etc.): I could go to an electronics shop. They used to sell hobby kits for simple, accessible, devices. The kit had circuit layout, component list, labels, what goes where and all. I then assembled them per the layout ("this leg of the transistor goes to the left leg of the capacitor"). It worked - I use…

There are lots of free circuit simulators right now that you can use on PC or mobile devices as native app or in the web browser. Some even have animations of voltage and current movement.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#184

Post by sokoloff »

farkanoid wrote: post #181
sokoloff wrote: post #5

I find "SMD Sample Books" to be a more effective storage/retrieval system for SMD passives than the lidded parts enclosures. I've got some of the latter, but stopped using them for passives (and repurposed them for small 3-6 pin commonly used parts). But I have to admit that that setup is far cleaner and more organized overall than my disaster of a workbench...

For prototype/repair/rework parts, we use cheap folders with business card or CD/DVD inserts at work - Cheap and effective! The labels reflect the location of the item in the folder (Folder x Page y) and also the shelf in Storage (Rack-Bay-Shelf-Place), if it's a part we use also in production. https://i.imgur.com/awt8HMw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xVguVGn.jpg

That's pretty brilliant. The imgur links were very important to understanding, so thanks for including them!

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#185

Post by aetherspawn »

Does anyone have recommendations for a cheap rack mount setup of power supplies, testing equipment etc?

We have a 1/3 height wheely rack in the office that can be wheeled over to someone’s workspace, and it would be more convenient than setting up a dedicated station.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#186

Post by stacktrust »

Building a workshop in an SF rental studio, http://dammitcoetzee.com/2019/01/a-workshop-in-an-sf-studio/

  “I should just build a floor on my floor!” I joked to my friend. “Yea, I could just put some plywood on top of the carpet. Then it would be safe from metal shavings and other workshop mess.”

  We laughed at the ridiculous idea.

  However, my subconscious wasn’t laughing. “build a floor on my floor…. build a floor on my floor” it echoed in the depths. It waited.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#187

Post by stacktrust »

aetherspawn wrote: post #185

Does anyone have recommendations for a cheap rack mount setup of power supplies, testing equipment etc? We have a 1/3 height wheely rack in the office that can be wheeled over to someone’s workspace, and it would be more convenient than setting up a dedicated station.

Good quality, 30" wide wire shelving on wheels can support the weight of a small (e.g. 12U) rack loaded with equipment. For cost savings, you can use an open rackmount frame instead of an enclosed rack. Additional wire shelves can be used as needed for containers.

Example baker's rack, https://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-Supreme-Kitchen-Microwave-Chr...

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#188

Post by procarch2019 »

aetherspawn wrote: post #185

Does anyone have recommendations for a cheap rack mount setup of power supplies, testing equipment etc? We have a 1/3 height wheely rack in the office that can be wheeled over to someone’s workspace, and it would be more convenient than setting up a dedicated station.

I’ve never seen rack mount kits for that equipment. Best bet would be to buy some rack shelves and affix standard equipment to it. Get a little horizontal PDU or 2 for the back side and you’re made.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#189

Post by stacktrust »

BobTheDestroyer wrote: post #88

I'm still searching for a solution to organise the hundreds (thousands?) of anti-static component bags I have from the likes of LCSC, Mouser, etc. It's so difficult to find something that is the right size and shape to hold them upright, allowing organising, sifting through them to find the one I need, etc. The repackaging shown here is nice, but I don't want them ultimately stuffed into a drawer, nor can I see mysel…

What are typical dimensions of those bags?

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#190

Post by mlyle »

tuatoru wrote: post #115
jakewins wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have (had? getting better!) this same issue, and it really killed excitement of electronics for me for a long time. I asked @theacodes on here this same question, on a post they'd written that like.. actually got into "ok, I'm putting this capacitor here, because it's gonna do for me, another way I could do the same thing is..", and their reply is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33484848 I do think there…

The Art of Electronics is useful as a reference , certainly. Using it to learn circuit design (just at the schematic level, still) would take serious effort (hundreds of hours) and would be far more effective if done with a skilled instructor. There used to be simpler, smaller books that showed a simplified design process for circuit building blocks. Rod Elliott's website, sound-au.com, has an extensive section on "t…

The Art of Electronics is a wonderful book and you can certainly learn from it. I don't think it's useful as a reference, but it is a little opaque to someone new.

But, now there is https://learningtheartofelectronics.com/ Learning the Art of Electronics, which is a practical course with labs to complete, etc. It is very, very good. I am using subsets of it (with scaffolding/additional practice) to teach smart middle schoolers to design transistor circuits implementing amplifiers, oscillators, and logic gates.

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