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Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

badar.tech

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Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#91

Post by junon »

I also just started going through the EE lab setup from scratch after 20 years of programming. What a great little guide, and matches my experience thus far (though the author is way more organized).

I'm pretty proud of the little parts system I've made, albeit much more primitive. I use pretty exclusively Mouser at this point so I invested in a cheap barcode scanner and just keep the bags in a box since I have limited space. I have a parts database that wraps SQLite and has operations such as "inventory" (taking inventory of my existing parts, updating counts), "shipment" which is a quick way to increase counts of a new shipment of parts (I just have to scan the mouser ID and then the part quantity), and "populate" which decrements each part by one per scan as I'm populating a board.

It's one of those quick-hack-and-slash setups that is really fun to build and is just another part of the yak shaving process. Overall getting into PCB design has been a very, very fun hobby, and since I have real projects I need custom PCBs for, it's been a great supplemental skill to have.

Cool article!

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#92

Post by bsder »

The only argument I have would be the soldering irons. You really want a Metcal or Thermaltronics station. They're just so much better that it's ridiculous.

Yes, they are expensive. However, you will have them forever. And you will never have to worry about too much heat, too little heat, or calibration ever again.

Your soldering will be so dramatically better that you will wonder how you ever did without them.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#93

Post by squarefoot »

markrages wrote: post #85
KaiserPro wrote: post #64

This is a very nice guide. Lots of good choices. One thing I would add is that having a solid bench with a replaceable surface to do dirty/cutting things on is really useful. I have a really solid desk I made out of scaffolding planks and recycled roof timbers. The surface is then made using either Ikea bamboo chopping boards (they were on offer) or some other replaceable work top. Another thing that might be useful…

A DMM is a precision tool. Especially a good 6.5 digit desktop one. An oscilloscope is fantastically useful, but it is not a precision tool. Calibration is just OK, and most use 8-bit converters.

Analog scopes are still a thing, especially when compared with cheap digital ones that often distort things or flatly don't show them. If one has only 150 bucks to allocate for a scope, unless the digital scope added functions (math, storage, etc) are needed, the best choice is often an used analog one. Digital scopes start to become interesting when they go up in features and price, 12/14 bit ADCs, much higher s/r, high res screens, etc.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#94

Post by ploxiln »

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…

I think you just have to start: have an idea for something slightly different than any of your kits do, assemble it on a breadboard, go through the pain of troubleshooting it (and maybe working-around issues you can't quite solve directly). After that, blog posts and youtube videos about other people's little projects will be of more value, you'll be able to really think about the circuit they designed in a different way, it'll have some concrete ideas in your brain to make connections to.

(This is how I think about software too fwiw. Start trying to write something on your own, then study the technical detail after, the technical detail will have something to relate to instead of just floating abstractly away. Then try to apply it yourself again, you'll probably be excited to use it at that point.)

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#95

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

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…

Agree that the new USB-C soldering pencils are sufficient, after using my Mini TS80P for a bit I sold my old station and never looked back.

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#96

Post by [deleted] »

ssklash wrote: post #50
nunuvit wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why aren't more on the internet like this, with specific parts lists and sources? There are forums where people post pictures of their benches, but it's a lot of work to document everything and you're going to use whichever distributor has sufficiently similar items in stock at your price point and can ship to your country.

Got any links/suggestions for those forums? I'd love to get some inspiration, like the OP provides in spades.

[deleted]

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#98

Post by jakewins »

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…

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'd be a lot of value in blog or youtube series of experienced circuit designers showing how they approach things, why and how they pick components etc, it's a great way to learn. The blog post that HN thread is about is really good as an example.

I've had several people recommend "The Art of Electronics" as a reference for circuits building as well, but haven't read it yet

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#99

Post by markrages »

squarefoot wrote: post #93
markrages wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A DMM is a precision tool. Especially a good 6.5 digit desktop one. An oscilloscope is fantastically useful, but it is not a precision tool. Calibration is just OK, and most use 8-bit converters.

Analog scopes are still a thing, especially when compared with cheap digital ones that often distort things or flatly don't show them. If one has only 150 bucks to allocate for a scope, unless the digital scope added functions (math, storage, etc) are needed, the best choice is often an used analog one. Digital scopes start to become interesting when they go up in features and price, 12/14 bit ADCs, much higher s/r,…

I second this advice, and would add another reason: Buy an analog scope while you can still find them for cheap! They don't make good ones anymore. The analog scope is a lifetime purchase.

But the calibration point still applies. On my Tek 454, there are calibration knobs built right into the UI. The user is expected to tweak and calibrate as they go, and depending on the measurement. (Often the shape of the waveform is all you are trying to see.)

Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide

#100

Post by danaos »

jimnotgym wrote: post #60
danaos wrote: post #48

> Rigol DS1054Z Digital Oscilloscope Interesting as I'm considering buying a scope. Does this still give the most bang for your buck in 2023? Many online commenters mention the Siglent SDS1104X-E as a more modern alternative.

Or you can buy an old crt one for £10 and see if you have use for a scope before you commit. They do take up more room though!

No way I could find anything at £10. Do you have any examples to share?
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