I was unable to find any similar threads on this issue, so could anyone make some recommendations for a home electronics lab. I am planning on trying to work on some things for the G but would also like to have versatile enough equipment that I could work on other projects to. I would appreciate any recommendations on brands and models of equipment because I've been having trouble sorting through what I have found online. I don't need the top of the line equipment but I do want functional and reliable.

DC Adjustable Power Supply
-Maybe 0-15 VDC
-Should I be too worried about strict line regulation?
-preferably with a digital display of voltage/current output
-Preferably around or under $200 if possible

DMM
-Just pick one up at radioshack?

Solder Station
-The one I have now isn't too great.

AC Power Supply
-How helpful would this be? Most of the systems in the car run directly off the approx 12-13.5VDC battery source.

Oscilloscope
-seems like overkill for now. Did you ever wish you dished out for this sort of stuff?

What else would you recommend other than the very basics (breadboard, wire strippers, a healthy supply or resistors, capacitors, etc.)?

Thanks a lot,

Scott

 

I dont know if it fits your needs, but I made one of these with a leftover computer PSU:

http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Com...b-Power-Supply

Its really usefull and can provide a bunch of 12vdc current on the cheap, good for bench testing audio equipmet.

 

A budget for the other items besides the power supply would be helpful.

It depends what you call "strict line regulation" Obviously, the tighter the better. Most commercial DC power supplies have more than adequate line regulation for hobby projects. I'm not sure if you will find a supply with a digital display of voltage/current for under $200. What sort of things are you going to power? Car amps? Lighting? Car amps require large power supplies due to high current draw when connected to a load.

If you want a quality meter, I'd go look into a fluke. You can find these used a lot.

What do you have right now? Weller makes an OK one for around $100. If you want a nice iron, check out ebay for Metcal's. They are on there a lot. Just make sure it includes some tips, those are what get real expensive real quick. I'd also get a variety of tips if you plan to do a variety of soldering.

An AC power supply isn't necessary. I don't know anything in the car that runs on AC (ignition coils and alternator don't count :P).

A scope can be really helpful depending what sort of thing you plan to do. You can sometimes find a good deal on an old tektronics scope. For a most things, a scope is not necessary. On the other hand, if you are troubleshooting, a scope can be great if you want to see oscillations or other random happenings.

 

Definitely might be worth the time. Given my current purposes, a 12V and a 5V source should be sufficient. I may do this one since it doesn't seem too difficult and if I really wanted to I could throw in a high power pot and make it adjustable. Thanks.

 

Well the other items (except the oscilloscope and the AC PS which are I don't think are too necessary at this point) are generally well within my budget. I'd like to set up the entire lab under $400-$500 bucks or so but this is really just an arbitrary number. I'm just looking for bang for the buck since I'm not planning on starting a business and I'd rather channel money into the car itself.


For now my main uses would be automotive and household electronics but probably not much, if anything on the high powered side (probably under 15V) and its seems most commercial power supplies like you said have pretty strict regulation already. I just wanted to make sure for lower power (5V or maybe a little less), no one had any troubles due to their inadequate PS.



I've used Flukes mostly in the past so this is a good suggestion.


The one I have right now is literally a 10 dollar generic one that although it has served me well is time to put to rest. Good suggestions. How often do you go through tips, shouldn't thorough cleaning keep them lasting a while? Is oxidation my main concern on that?

Yeah I'm going to hold up on these for a while unless I find a particularly good deal.

Lots of help info. Thanks.

BTW, my first projects I will be working on is some headlight/taillight LED mods and possible a pushbutton ignition.

 

I've had really good luck with soldering stations from Pace. They arn't cheap, but they are the best soldering / desoldering irons I've ever used.

For power supplies I have an adjustable BK Precision that has been very flexible and I don't believe it was too expensive. It has set 5vdc and 12vdc outputs and then a 3rd adjustable output (similar to this: http://cgi.ebay.com/BK-PRECISION-167...QcmdZViewItem). If you don't mind spending a bit more money Astron makes some rock solid supplies. I wouldn't worry at all about line regulation as any decent supply will offer better regulation then an actual car.

I can't not recomend Flukes - they are great meters. However, whatever you choose to go with make sure the meter will measure frequency and duty cycles - two things that are very useful to measure in modern cars. I have found that for most automotive applications a Fluke is overkill. The big thing they offer is fast accurate measurements - if you don't need the speed you can find reasonably priced meters that will meet your needs.

I don't have an AC power supply and have never needed one for any car based project.

O'scopes you can have some fun with. I have a traditional BK Precision desktop scope that is terribly inconvenient for working on cars. It's great for workbench stuff but a pain to haul around. For in car stuff I picked up a USB based scope that generally gives me the info I need. I don't remember the name on it though but it is small and powered through the USB bus allowing me to easily monitor stuff while the car is moving.

 

If you need an AC power supply, I have a 750w Vector one. I was going to use it to power my xbox 360 in my previous vehicle, but never ended up using it. I'd sell it for cheap if you're interested.

Here's the one I have in case you are interested.

 

Is frequency and duty cycle really only important for performance monitoring or is it used for auxiliary systems too?

The usb oscope scounds pretty interesting. Maybe a future purchase.

 

Thanks for the offer but I have no immediate plans that would require one.

 

Mostly just performance stuff (injectors, coils, crank angle, cam angle, etc) but also anything that is PWM. The LEDs in the OEM push buttons dim through PWM. I don't really know why you would ever want to measure the frequency of the LEDs but it's always nice to have options. Most decent meters will read frequency - I've got a $20 Craftsman meter that will read it. You don't have to spend a fortune for this feature and it is sure nice to have.

 

Great. Thanks for the input, very helpful.

 

For LED's, a meter that measures duty cycle would be more important than frequency. How quickly the LED flashes does not make a big difference (as long as the LED can handle the frequency) because the brightness is controlled by how long the pulse is actually on (duty cycle). You could have 2 signals going at 50kHz but one at 10% duty cycle and one at 50%. The 10% one will be much dimmer than the 50% one. KP, I figure you knew that info, I just wanted to throw it out there for others.

Does your $20 meter measure duty cycle, or just frequency? If it does duty cycle, I might have to go pick one up myself!

 

It says it will do frequency and % duty although I have never tried the % duty part.

The meter is a Craftsman 82139 - I don't think they sell it anymore but there is on one Ebay right now for $25 + $11 shipping.