Setting Up a Home Lab

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Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Tom Biasi]

Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Look for some kits that give hands-on application to the level of theory
that you have studied so far.
Investigate some kits that go a little beyond what you have studied and
educate yourself as you go.
Even though you have finished your semester, the professors would most
likely assist you in what you are asking.

Tom

 

[Rich Webb]

Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I'd recommend springing for "The Art of Electronics" AND its companion
workbook "Student Manual for The Art of Electronics." You can get all
the gizmos but a structured approach makes all the difference in the
world. *Possibly* available through the school at a discount.

The "Schwab's School Selection Grab Bag" (http://www.jameco.com) may
help fill in your miscellaneous parts drawers. You'll also need some
op amps and other items that aren't likely to be in the grab bag.

Note that a third edition is rumored to be on the way. In the natural
course of things if you buy the current (second) edition the third
will be released two weeks later. If you put off buying the second,
then the third won't show up until sometime in 2009.

 

[radiosrfun]

Look for some kits that give hands-on application to the level of theory
that you have studied so far.
Investigate some kits that go a little beyond what you have studied and
educate yourself as you go.
Even though you have finished your semester, the professors would most
likely assist you in what you are asking.

Tom

NRI's trainers - found on E-Bay (usually for like $10 or so) are good
starters. NRI is out of business but it "appears" CIE is still in business -
maybe they can expand the knowledge! Courses don't seem too bad in price.

 

[Chuck]

Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Sounds as though the whole field is open game. Sometimes the best
approach is to focus on something that really interests you. The other
stuff will usually catch up with you sooner or later.

Since you've had some theoretical background, the Art of Electronics
suggestion is a good one. You might also look into The Electronics of
Radio by Rutledge. It is intended to provide the underlying theory
behind the construction of an actual shortwave transceiver that is
available as a kit. That could be the beginning of a lifelong hobby.

You can explore the book online here:


http://books.google.com/books?id=Zv...oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail


Good luck.

Chuck

 

[Bob Masta]

Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Instead of buying a ''trainer", consider buying proto-boards
and the parts needed to build your own power supplies.
A power supply is a good first project. You can wire it up
on the proto-board, test everything, then if you want you
can wire it permanently on perfboard, or etch your own
PC board. See www.daqarta.com/lptxh.htm for complete
PC board creation instructions and tips forusing the
hand-drawn (Sharpie marker" approach.

If you want to do digital stuff first, start with a single 15V supply
and buy some generic 4000-series CMOS chips plus the "CMOS Cookbook"
by Don Lancaster. Then you can later build a -15V supply to do
standard op-amp stuff. I don't particularly recommend starting
out with single-supply op-amps... they are too quirky and you
will waste time tracking down circuit problems that would never
have happened in a standard dual-supply circuit.

If you want to stick to only digital, you can just build a single +5V
supply.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

DAQARTA v3.50
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, FREE Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!

 

[neon]

i would spend the whole bundle on a used scope tektronics. books are there in the library for free and some people read the pictures and disregard the rest anyhow.

 

[Bearded Occam]

Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

I studied physics in college too. Perhaps I was fortunate to have a
bit more extensive electronics course: Two semesters taught from the
first edition of Horowitz & Hill, plus lab. But I was also interested
in electronics as a hobby, so I continued the pursuit on my own.

The aforementioned suggestions are good. I didn't have anything
radically different. So I will make some parallel comments. First is
to familiarize yourself with some suppliers, as you will quickly
outgrow your neighborhood Radio Shack. Assuming you are in the US, a
place like All Electronics or Parts Express if you are interested in
audio, have catalogs that are not too forbidding. Those of us who do a
lot of prototyping seem to favor Digi-Key and Mouser Electronics. Did
I forget anybody else worth mentioning?

Second, there is now some free software out there that is beneficial.
I learned a lot about design by having to do it without modeling
software, but today, I model everything I can with LTSpice. It's fun
to doodle around with when I should be working. At audio frequencies,
you can measure waveforms using your PC audio input / output (taking
care not to blow up your PC) using a program like Virtual Analyzer.
Should you ever consider making a printed circuit board, ExpressPCB is
worth considering, though their software ties you to their fabrication
service. There are free PCB boards that generate generic CAD files
(Eagle), but with much steeper learning curve.

Hope that helps. Electronics is a blast.

 

[Tom2000]

Assuming that you're starting from scratch, probably the bare minimum
to get you started on your budget would be:

1. Breadboard strip and a roll of #22 ga jumper wire

2. Some sort of power supply. It doesn't have to be fancy... might
even be a battery pack.

3. Digital voltmeter: don't spend a lot

4. Cheap logic probe

5. Hand tools: small long nose pliers, good wire cutters, flat-blade
screwdriver. It's worth the money to splurge on good tools.

6. A good soldering iron or used soldering station, small diameter
solder, and a spool of SoderWick.

There are a lot of good online sources of inexpensive parts, but
shipping costs can kill you on small orders. Maybe you can talk to
your electronics instructor to see if you can obtain some surplus
parts from the school, or see if they'll obtain some parts for you
through their purchasing folks.

Depending upon what you're planning to do, you can get a lot of
mileage from just a few carefully chosen transistors and ICs, a good
resistor assortment, a handful of capacitors, maybe a few inductors,
etc. Mostly you'll be scrounging cheap parts whenever and wherever
you can. This will be a never-ending process.

Try to find others locally who share your interest. Maybe you can
trade parts among you, or set up joint purchases from online sources
to minimize the impact of shipping costs.

These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. (I'm a home
experimenter.) If the bug bites, you'll find yourself expanding your
capabilities and inventory little by little, from discretionary funds.
And if it doesn't bite, you won't have wasted a lot of cash.

Have fun!

Tom

 

[David L. Jones]

Hi

I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical)
electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant
through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to
continue my studies independently (my school only offers one
semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've
been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/
Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit
components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

You'll need a digital multimeter for starters, buy a half decent one,
autorange, 4000 count at least, decent accuracy (<0.5%), capacitance
tester etc. $100 will get you something decent.
Get some variable laboratory power supplies (more than one), say 0-30V
0-1A is popular. Make sure they have adjustable current limiting.
These can be second hand from eBay.
Get a function generator (sine/square/triangle), this can be second
hand from eBay.

Spend the rest on a breadboard, lots of parts, and any books you can
get.

Just checked that link you proved to the Elenco unit. It basically has
the minimum what I said above, but the individual parts will be much
better value than that kit.

Dave.

 

[redbelly]

Assuming that you're starting from scratch, probably the bare minimum
to get you started on your budget would be:

1. Breadboard strip and a roll of #22 ga jumper wire

{snip}

Good idea, but instead of a roll of wire get a kit of pre-cut, already
stripped, color-coded jumper wires. Available at Radio Shack, should
be next to their breadboard strips.

Mark

 

[Michael Black]

{snip}

Good idea, but instead of a roll of wire get a kit of pre-cut, already
stripped, color-coded jumper wires. Available at Radio Shack, should
be next to their breadboard strips.

Why?

Learning to cut and strip wire is something that needs to be learned.
It's actually something the beginner can do, since it's a mechanical
skill while much of the electronics will still be a mystery. And after a
bit of breadboarding, the wire will build up so there's an existing pile
for the further breadboarding.

Michael

 

[Rich Webb]

Why?

Learning to cut and strip wire is something that needs to be learned.
It's actually something the beginner can do, since it's a mechanical
skill while much of the electronics will still be a mystery. And after a
bit of breadboarding, the wire will build up so there's an existing pile
for the further breadboarding.

Plus, the color coding in the pre-cut wire kits that I've seen is based
on length, not on function. Honestly, it's not all that terribly useful.
A few feet of scrap CAT5 cable (solid, not the stranded "patch cable")
could provide practically a lifetime supply of jumper wires. And one
gets eight different color patterns! ;-)

Small spools of real red and black may still be a good idea, though,
for the power/ground jumpers.

 

[Bob Masta]

Plus, the color coding in the pre-cut wire kits that I've seen is based
on length, not on function. Honestly, it's not all that terribly useful.
A few feet of scrap CAT5 cable (solid, not the stranded "patch cable")
could provide practically a lifetime supply of jumper wires. And one
gets eight different color patterns! ;-)

Small spools of real red and black may still be a good idea, though,
for the power/ground jumpers.

Back in the day, Ma Bell used to provide a lifetime
supply of jumpers every time she installed an office PBX,
as the leftover scraps. Fat cables with many conductor
pairs, all color coded. You may still find smaller lengths
when they work on your neighborhood phone junction
boxes, or hit the jackpot where they are tearing out an
old PBX.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

DAQARTA v3.50
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, FREE Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!

 

[redbelly]

Plus, the color coding in the pre-cut wire kits that I've seen is based
on length, not on function. Honestly, it's not all that terribly useful.
A few feet of scrap CAT5 cable (solid, not the stranded "patch cable")
could provide practically a lifetime supply of jumper wires. And one
gets eight different color patterns! ;-)

Small spools of real red and black may still be a good idea, though,
for the power/ground jumpers.

Michael, Rich,

Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Mark