I have always liked seeing and learned from what others have for a
test bench.
So what is on yours?
Equipment, tools, lighting, storage...what?
Links to pictures would be great.
Thanks
TMT
One VERY useful item on my bench is a "Lazy Susan" (turntable), with a
wood top that's about 20 inches in diameter. If I'm working on a
piece of equipment, it makes it very easy to turn it around, without
scraping the bench or the equipment. I made it by attaching the top
of a small round table to a "TV Turntable" from WalMart.
One of my sons made my bench, for me, using some ideas I gave him.
The benchtop is a very large, thick, salvaged (formerly unused)
desktop, with a front edge that's curved. It's supported by two sets
of under-the-kitchen-counter-type drawers, one under each side. There
are two deep shelves above the bench. The left and right shelf
sections are angled, so they face directly toward me, and are about as
easy to reach as the center section. The shelves also slope downward
toward the front (there are lips on their front edges), so that the
test equipment's front panels are all facing more-or-less directly
toward my face, making them easier to reach and easier to read.
I also installed some hooks, above the bench, from the ceiling, so
there are convenient places to hang all of the probes and cables that
are usually used with the test equipment, within easy reach but not in
the way.
I can't list all of the test equipment I have. I used to buy,
refurbish, and resell it and have hundreds of pieces "left over". In
the USA (and at a few sites abroad), you can get almost all of the
test equipment (and probably _anything_ else) you'd ever need, through
http://www.govliquidation.com . But beware: You almost have to go
pick it up, in person (or pay exorbitantly), and should go inspect it
before bidding (usually QUITE an interesting and enjoyable experience;
recommended!). It's not guaranteed to work, or be complete, and can
not be tested before bidding. Their pictures and itemized listings
might be somewhat fictitious. Their Condition Codes may be lies (but
maybe in your favor). Only a few of their warehouse sites have the
really-big test equipment sales, usually monthly. Prices are not
nearly as low as they used to be, now that the auctions are mostly
"live" on-line, with much smaller lot sizes in many cases. But, in a
lot of cases, you should still be able to get three or more of
whatever you want for the price of one on ebay, which might make up
for the fact that some (or all) of them are non-functional (However,
with Tek scopes, for example, a few years ago at least, if I was very
careful, usually at least 75% of them worked fine. But it might
depend on where they were used. Mine were mostly from research
labs.). There are also, occasionally, some truly-great pieces
available, there. For example, sometimes you can find _unused_ older
equipment, maybe sold because of the military's "shelf life"
regulations. And sometimes you can find "perfect" stuff that was only
sold because someone's Calibration budget was empty but their New
Equipment budget was not empty (I've seen yellow tags that said things
like "Unit is perfect. No money for Cal."). And regulations usually
require that all equipment must be calibrated, or it can't be used.
Check it out. But be prepared to "lose" a few days, perusing.
- Tom Gootee
http://www.fullnet.com/~tomg/index.html
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