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What's On Your Bench?

T

Too_Many_Tools

Jan 1, 1970
0
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
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
Add to that, current projects!

I have roughly the bare minimum...
Wavetek 193 20MHz function generator
Tektronix 475 oscilloscope (aging a bit..)
An Eico 377 signal generator I never use, I just like it for the nostalgia
Heathkit (I didn't build it) V-7A VTVM.

http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/Images/Bench964.jpg

A few small cabinets/trays of parts, and a +/-15 2A bench supply.
At the moment, I also have two car batteries in the room, for messing with
these beefy servo motors.
http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/Images/ServoMotors.jpg
The circuit:
http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/Images/Motor_Driver.gif
Desperately needs current limiting on the MOSFET ala UC3844 type circuit.

On the right, the induction heater project stagnates. Actually, I was going
to add per-cycle current limiting today...
http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/Images/Induction803.jpg

And, hairy me in front of the bench...
http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/Images/Me2.jpg

Tim
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
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

I'll tell you what I don't have..
No function gen box....I use sound card or make a source.
No pile of parts...I file my parts like documents.
No fire extinguisher.... I'm going to regret that someday.
No lead free solder.
No more than 2 burnt holes on the workbench.
D from BC
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
D from BC said:
No more than 2 burnt holes on the workbench.

I don't have any holes *in* the bench, but I have spilled molten brass on
it.

Tim
 
M

mpm

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have always liked seeing and learned from what others have for a
test bench.

So what is on yours?

http://www.advil.com/

Need I say more?




Well OK.
3 multimeters, a scope, a few logic tracers and injectors, a PC, 1 or
2 "universal" programmers - (which you wouldn't need two of if they
were truly "universal"...), a Pace desoldering / vacuum extractor, and
the most important of all: a magnifying glass to see what the hell
I'm doing.

My last project had me hand soldering a 8-pin MSOP part for a
prototype.
So, that explains the Advil...!!

-mpm
 
W

Wim Ton

Jan 1, 1970
0
Too_Many_Tools said:
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
Marconi 1370 AF generator 10Hz-10 MHz
Marconi HF 2115+2171 Generator 10 MHz - 512 MHz + synchronizer
MiniVNA network analyzer
HP141
HP432
Trio dual channel scope (35 MHz)
Philips 10 Hz 10MHz pulse generator
Frequency counter from kit to 1 GHz
Homebrew powersupply 3-30V 3A with adjustable current limit (723 based)
Homebrew powersupply -12 -5 +5 +12 1A
3 Digital multimeters
2 Analog multimeters
Atlas transistor tester
AADE L-C meter (replacement for homebuilt LCR bridge)
Weller soldering iron
4x Magnifying lamp
10x stereo microscope (ideal if you are 50+ and doing SMD work ;-)
Tweezers
Kocher clamps
Chinese clones of dental hooks
Small Dremel drill
The usual set of screwdrivers and pliers

Wim
 
A

Adrian Tuddenham

Jan 1, 1970
0
Too_Many_Tools said:
I have always liked seeing and learned from what others have for a
test bench.

So what is on yours?

< http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/other/images/Shed2-04379.JPG>

Difficult to see, but it includes:

Farnell PSU 2 x 0-50v @ 0.5 amp
Farnell PSU 1 x 0-30v @ 1 amp
Marconi LCR bridge
Weller TCP soldering iron
Philips solder sucker
Side cutters, angled pliers etc.
Savbit solder
Philip Oscilloscope PM 3212
Home-made mains isolating unit with variac
Home-made A.F. amplifier/measurement unit, with step attenuator and 0.1
dB resolution meter.
Solartron A.F. Sig Gen
Home-made A.F. isolation & attenuator unit
Marconi V.H.F.. Sig Gen
Home-made R and C substitution boxes
Heathkit Distortion Meter (never used)
Arc welder


Stored elsewhere:

Marconi A.F. Wave Analyser
Marconi R.F. Sig Gen
Edometer
Avo Coil Winder
Lathe (unidentified manufacture) with 4ft bed & 1.5 Kw motor.
Airmec PSU 50-500v DC, 6.3v AC + screen and grid-bias supplies.
Tandy SPL meter
BBC Tone Source
BBC PPM/measurement units (2 off)
HP X-Y display modified for stereo audio analysis.
Quad 50E amplifiers (2 off, used as variable frequency 200v mains
source).
E.M.I. 2300 disc-recording lathe.
Dawes Wow & Flutter Meter
Home-made audio impulse generator (electric spark).
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
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

Bench items mostly likely not going to be mentioned:
Porno mags
Empty cans of Jolt cola
Full ashtrays of cigarette butts
Mosfet debris all over
Stack of unpaid bills
Meth pipe
Puddle of drool from passing out on bench
Coffee cups with fuzz inside
Empty pizza boxes
Pepto Bismo
Parts everywhere
Roaches (crawling type)
big unopened bottle of concentrated acid
a television to watch tv shows
penis enlarger
D from BC
 
J

Jamie

Jan 1, 1970
0
Adrian said:
< http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/other/images/Shed2-04379.JPG>

Difficult to see, but it includes:

Farnell PSU 2 x 0-50v @ 0.5 amp
Farnell PSU 1 x 0-30v @ 1 amp
Marconi LCR bridge
Weller TCP soldering iron
Philips solder sucker
Side cutters, angled pliers etc.
Savbit solder
Philip Oscilloscope PM 3212
Home-made mains isolating unit with variac
Home-made A.F. amplifier/measurement unit, with step attenuator and 0.1
dB resolution meter.
Solartron A.F. Sig Gen
Home-made A.F. isolation & attenuator unit
Marconi V.H.F.. Sig Gen
Home-made R and C substitution boxes
Heathkit Distortion Meter (never used)
Arc welder


Stored elsewhere:

Marconi A.F. Wave Analyser
Marconi R.F. Sig Gen
Edometer
Avo Coil Winder
Lathe (unidentified manufacture) with 4ft bed & 1.5 Kw motor.
Airmec PSU 50-500v DC, 6.3v AC + screen and grid-bias supplies.
Tandy SPL meter
BBC Tone Source
BBC PPM/measurement units (2 off)
HP X-Y display modified for stereo audio analysis.
Quad 50E amplifiers (2 off, used as variable frequency 200v mains
source).
E.M.I. 2300 disc-recording lathe.
Dawes Wow & Flutter Meter
Home-made audio impulse generator (electric spark).
hey, i have one of those O-SCOPES. i had to jury ring a trippler
in there to repair the HV once, but the rest of it is great!
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
The chemical kind I keep in the other end of the basement, but it's been
opened many times; if you meant the drug kind, I will neither confirm nor
deny. ;-)

Tim

I botched that line...
It was supposed to be :
big open bottles of concentrated acid
(with scope probe cables wrapped around the bottles) :)
The joke being something useless and hazardous on the bench.
D from BC
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
D from BC said:
big unopened bottle of concentrated acid

The chemical kind I keep in the other end of the basement, but it's been
opened many times; if you meant the drug kind, I will neither confirm nor
deny. ;-)

Tim
 
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

-
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
Check out the rest of my website (see sig).

Eventually, I want to melt about 10 pounds of steel. At the moment, I've
melted an ounce or two of copper and done a few alkali fusions (producing
sodium manganate and chromate).

The inverter is required to run this power level. I figure about 10kHz for
10kW.

Tim
 
B

BFoelsch

Jan 1, 1970
0
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

Here is an old photo. The bench is still in use, but the Heathkit gear
has pretty much been upgraded.


Current equipment that sits on the bench is:

Tek TDS2024B
Protek 9301 function generator
B&K 5492 bench multimeter ( a HIGHLY underrated unit)
EZ Digital 1 GHz counter
Various power supplies
Heath audio generator
Extech LCR meter
Weller WPS soldering station
3 GHz Pentium computer w/LCD screen

There is more equipment available, but that is the stuff that sits on
the bench, primarily due to space. Closet contains Tek 7904A, 547,
both with lots of plugins, a few 2225/2235s mess of audio test gear.
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:34:06 -0400, BFoelsch wrote:

[image]

Please don't post binaries to a textual group. Either get access to
alt.binaries.schematics.electronic, or put it on a website somewhere.

Thanks,
Rich
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
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

Stuff I wish I had on my work bench:

* Piles of cash
* Two 25 year old girls with big hooters dancing on the bench
* A book entitled "Why I Don't Need a Bench Anymore"
* Plane tickets to Mexico
* A "You're Doing Something Stupid" alarm
* Something that works perfectly
* A big pile of fire works and a long fuse
* All my parts on order
* Self testing electronics

D from BC
 
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