adafruit industries

cheesy · Post by **cheesy** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:06 pm

I would like to start buying some equipment for building and testing electronics. Most importantly I need a better soldering iron, multimeter, and bench power supply. If I can find a relatively cheap oscilloscope and function generator I might consider those as well.

Keep in mind I'm thinking about this as an investment for working on not only the x0x but other projects in the future.

1) Soldering iron:

I hear Weller soldering irons are great, but somewhat expensive. Someone mentioned this in another thread, and it looks really nice and relatively inexpensive. Thoughts?

2) Multimeter:

I need something better than my $15 RadioShack one. It works find for simple stuff, but it doesn't have things like transistor stuff, capacitance, etc. What are some good brands and models?

3) Bench power supply: adjustable? 6V, +/- 12V? How many amps?

4) Oscilloscope: Not really sure what I should be looking for.

5) Function generator: Again, not really sure.

6) Anything other essentials?

How much should I be looking to spend? I don't really want to spend more than like $500 but I expect it will all last me for awhile.

djarago · Post by **djarago** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:29 pm

A decent oscope is going to be $200 - $300 used. Toss out the function generator as you probably won't use it (or you could use your PC if you only need to generate audio frequencies). You can build your own bench power supply, or find one used. Then you could get this stuff for a total of about $500.

moogah · Post by **moogah** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:26 pm

The best bench supply to get will have three outputs: 0-5v, 0-15v, 0-neg 15v. I managed to find an old one for < 100$ on ebay.

subatomic · Post by **subatomic** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:36 am

the oscope I use is a $5 one found at an estate sale auction.
was a kit from the 70s.
granted, it's totally analog and doesn't give any kind of analysis tools other than a crosshairs, but it does visualize your waves.

just to point out you don't have to spend a ton.

also... the megarc iron is awsome. It's made by Zhongdi, and feels really good. No problems so far. Keep in mind, I've never used a weller before. But for cheap, and for upgrading a radioshack iron, it's quite the luxery item, very solid, and what I would expect from a weller given what I've read on them. My take on it is that weller has the market in the states, but zhondi is mainly overseas. maybe they're trying to break in, or maybe they're just that cheap (speculation, sorry)...

the iron is $64, and... here's a pic:

UPDATE: found this Iron for $40: http://www.mpja.com/

djarago · Post by **djarago** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:21 am

Weller is actually made in germany. I have a WSD81 and plan on getting a Tektronix (also a very good name) scope soon off ebay. You can get a pretty good one for $200 to $300 sometimes even less.

kokoon · Post by **kokoon** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:49 am

i recently bought this voltcraft combo from BANNED:

Voltcraft DIGITAL LOETSTATION SET LA 50 + LS 50
http://www1.BANNED.de/scripts/wgate/zco ... Q3NDI1MDk=

it was cheap (~100USD) and i'm very happy with it.

cheesy · Post by **cheesy** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 3:04 pm

Do you know where I might be able to get that Voltcraft LA50 in the US?

kokoon · Post by **kokoon** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 6:19 pm

well AFAIK voltcraft is BANNED's own brand and if there's no BANNED in US then there's no voltrcraft in US. sorry.

i might be wrong though.

cheesy · Post by **cheesy** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:32 pm

How about multimeters? I want one that can measure transistors and capacitance and all that. 4 digits would be nice too. Looking to spend less than $100 or so.

I'm guessing Fluke is out of my price range.

Anyone have any experience with B&K? I'm looking at this one in particular:

http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/s ... /0780-0066

What are some other good brands I should be looking at?

djarago · Post by **djarago** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:42 pm

that is the exact multimeter i bought (7206a) and i bought it from hmcelectronics as well

i also bought a weller soldering iron from hmc.

my only complaint with them is it took a long damn time for them to ship, but their prices are very good.

cheesy · Post by **cheesy** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:48 pm

hah, yeah i was going to do the exact same thing...which solder station...Weller WESD51?

What do you think of the B&K? It's only 3 digits, so it will only display 5.33V, right?

How long is long?

djarago · Post by **djarago** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:29 pm

i think the shipping was something like 2 weeks before they even shipped it.. so probably 3 weeks from my order to receive.. i have the wsd81, i got it when there were rebates and such going.

it does only display 5.33v, but it does have the transistor and capacitor tests. you could probably get a better one used off of ebay for the same $

adafruit industries

Test Equipment: multimeter, oscilloscope, func generator,etc

Test Equipment: multimeter, oscilloscope, func generator,etc