Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide • Hacker News Board

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#241

Post by zackmorris » Fri, May 12, 2023, 3:51 PM UTC

crispyambulance wrote: post #30

zackmorris wrote: post #12

This is just a fantastic page, why aren't more on the internet like this, with specific parts lists and sources? Very similar to the stations we had when I was doing computer repair a decade ago (no, I will not fix your computer.™) and out of everything on there, be sure to get a good ESD mat, or else you'll never stop chasing random glitches. I just want to add that the best way to get over starting friction is to h…

FWIW, I bet the guy has an ESD mat and it was just too ugly to show. The only other thing I would add is boxes or large bins. Not for tools or components, but for project work, so you can put it away and work on something else when you need to. Otherwise it ends up spread all over your desk, Jim Williams style: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/6926143499 (which is now at the computer history museum, apparently…

Thank you, my nature is to have everything out like him because I think I might have object permanence issues and other ADHD symptoms like time blindness. I feel like I know exactly where everything is that I've ever handled, but once it's organized, I almost lose track of it like a goto.

Discipline is such a struggle for me that I got rid of all of the furniture in my home office and put up a couple of Ikea Billy bookcases with long shelves that wrap around my desk in an upside-down U so that I can see everything on one wall.

Kind of like these, but with a full-size desk and $20 shelves spanning the middle, in birch:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/453667362435927208/

https://www.wayfair.com/Modway--Bixby-71-H-x-69.5-W-Standard...

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#242

Post by myself248 » Fri, May 12, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

jve wrote: post #217

myself248 wrote: post #38

I was expecting to grouch all over this, but I really like it. A lot of thought went into this, and the choices are mostly very good. A few notes from someone who's been doing this 30+ years and 10 of those years as a volunteer in a community makerspace: * 10" shelves aren't nearly deep enough for vintage test equipment. If all you need is a DS1054Z, that's fine, but as you move up and your needs expand, you'll find…

This guy selss stuff he works with and just yesterday I watched about soldering pen and he actually noted that the tip is short to increase precision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6d2aj9ddbc&t=11m32s I'v looked up TS100 and Pinecil and by default looks like they come with long tips? I'm in the market of soon buying new soldering iron, so paying some attention, but I can't/won't order from US, so would be excellen…

Mechanical precision or thermal regulation?

The unified cartridge, where the heater and tip are one assembly (as seen in the TS100/Pinecil, T12, etc) tends to have much tighter thermal regulation than the separate tip style (T18 / 900M / etc). I've found it more than adequate on all but the skinniest tips.

Mechanically, eh, the grip-to-tip distance is already pretty long, another 3mm isn't going to change anything there.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#243

Post by dismalpedigree » Fri, May 12, 2023, 4:21 PM UTC

I’m pleased to see the similarities with my own setup which is likely a year or two behind this setup. Same desk, organizers, most of the products, similar challenges with a proliferation of components. Separate work desk from bench. I look forward to the inventory post as it is definitely a challenge for me.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#244

Post by knodi123 » Fri, May 12, 2023, 4:30 PM UTC

A $70 screwdriver. Must be nice to have the kind of budget where numbers just don't matter. Ironic that he said about his iron, "Get this once and never think about it again". But he got it twice! What do you do with dual soldering irons? Does he need someone to foster the spare $120 tool in a good home?

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#245

Post by zwieback » Fri, May 12, 2023, 4:45 PM UTC

quailfarmer wrote: post #210

zwieback wrote: post #2

Nice setup! In addition to a decent scope I like having a USB logic analyzer. There are lots of cheap ones but Saleae (no affiliation) makes really nice ones.

The Analog Discovery Pro on the middle shelf is a USB/Ethernet Osciliscope/Logic Analyzer/more.

Nice, wasn't aware of these. We have a lot of NI boards and Picoscopes for analog and mixed signal but this looks like a good choice. We've used their FPGA boards in the past.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#246

Post by InitialLastName » Fri, May 12, 2023, 6:09 PM UTC

knodi123 wrote: post #244

A $70 screwdriver. Must be nice to have the kind of budget where numbers just don't matter. Ironic that he said about his iron, "Get this once and never think about it again". But he got it twice! What do you do with dual soldering irons? Does he need someone to foster the spare $120 tool in a good home?

> What do you do with dual soldering irons?

As someone who has multiple times heated up my soldering iron and realized it had the tip on it when I needed the tip, and then gone through the annoyance of swapping tips on a hot iron, I can think of at least one thing to do with two irons.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#247

Post by mwbajor » Fri, May 12, 2023, 6:13 PM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #72

mwbajor wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a pain to restock the books though and they store alot less. Buying SMD box kits that are already populated is worth the cost. Like this. https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/analog-technologi...

$625?! I'm not saying it's not worth that, for the ... 510 values, 100 of each, but who's this advice for? To a newcomer, just get some common values, and perhaps not even 100 of them. Then you find out which ones you use most, or a slightly less common value you're missing but use/want, and restock those. To anyone else, you know what you do, what you use, get that - I'm not sure there's any point in generic advice.

Get one of the cheaper ones. $625 is for 510 values, you don't need that.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#248

Post by deepspace » Fri, May 12, 2023, 6:21 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #114

xattt wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting to a point of intuition means becoming a knowledge expert, which is why you have diploma and degree programs in various fields of electronics.

You can get there without a diploma and a degree using time, books (or youtube) and a modest quantity of tools (the setup in TFA would be overkill for establishing a basic knowledge about electronics).

The thing about a diploma or a degree course, is that you get GUIDED knowledge. A good institution will teach you the math and physics background first, and then proceed from basic circuit analysis to advanced circuit design in logical steps.

All while separating analogue electronics, digital electronics, RF, and signal processing as appropriate.

Self-taught people are almost always too eager to get their hands on a soldering iron, and end up with a jumble of information, instead of intuitive understanding.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#249

Post by BluePen7 » Fri, May 12, 2023, 6:58 PM UTC

knodi123 wrote: post #244

A $70 screwdriver. Must be nice to have the kind of budget where numbers just don't matter. Ironic that he said about his iron, "Get this once and never think about it again". But he got it twice! What do you do with dual soldering irons? Does he need someone to foster the spare $120 tool in a good home?

If I were to attempt to re-buy any large portion of my tools all at once, I'd consider it an absurd amount to spend.

But over a lifetime of things breaking, you'll get a lot of large quotes for professional repairs, or replacement of a much bigger part than what actually broke.

When the washer fluid sprayer on my old Tacoma failed due to decades of a wire rubbing against a sharp metal edge, I was quoted $300 for the whole harness, and 2 hours of labour at $100 an hour.

Suddenly, the $120 soldering iron didn't seem so expensive.

tldr: I'm only 30 and own thousands of dollars worth of tools, but at no point have I ever spent more than the quote to fix the problem at hand.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#250

Post by StingyJelly » Fri, May 12, 2023, 8:24 PM UTC

penguin_booze wrote: post #126

StingyJelly wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit like scripting in python vs C on limiting hardware. Even some people with fresh EE degree struggle with this. Modern design often heavily focuses on simulation and reusing the company's IP blocks. Companies try to push for this approach despite the inefficiencies exactly because they can then hire those fresh "unripe" engineers. Old-school engineers almost always come up with better ad-hoc circuit designs…

I'm in two minds whether I should probably give electronics another go, and with that, investing in devices like a power supply and oscilloscope. Also, I had watched some videos from Behzad Razavi.

You're on a good track, didn't come to mind but prof. Razavi's lectures are great!

As the other person mentioned, you can do a lot in simulation. KiCad now has a builtin ngspice support (trough it's still a bit rough.) On windows, ltspice is another quite popular free option.