EEVblog #954 - How To Setup An Electronics Lab For $300

Dave shows you how you can set up an electronics lab for only a few hundred bucks.
Multimeter, oscilloscope, power supply, function generator, soldering station, solder, wire, tools, microscope and magnifier, and components.
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[null_carrier]

I would love to see an 2020 update with total budget under 1k in two equal parts:
~$500 for tools & instruments
~$500 for mcu, arm, fpga and analog dev/eval kits

Asume small table, some drawer storage, light and laptop are already available.

[Mr.Unacceptable]

Don't get the USB microscope unless you just want to take pictures. It's useless for soldering. Get a swing arm shelf mount magnifying glass from Amazon for 25 bucks It has a fluorescent round bulb you can replace later with a roll of LED's. Get a helping hand with small magnifying glass. Take the magnifier off and attach it to the swing arm under the big magnifying glass. You get the same magnification as a microscope. You can just swing the small glass out of the way for wider magnifier. Use the spare alligator clamps on another helping hand without a glass so you have 4 holding arms.

[Torsan]

Heat shrink tubing is also good to have! Also a wire stripper is needed. Fantastic what you can get for this little money.

[rtesimpson]

Dave, 2 things I've learnt from watching your videos...Flynn's bloody good at getting in and she never seems to write much

[X-xf]

Great Video! One Pro tip I'd like to contribute: The older you are, the more you should spend on lighting and magnification.

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

My favorite part of this video is how content-dense it is. 12 minutes packed with info. I often don't have time for your longer videos or know where they're headed so, this one was a real treat.

[Azagro]

Now this is a video I'd never even dreamt of seeing. Dave Jones, recommending ~20 cheap Chinese products. The fun part is, I agree 100%. If I may add some additional suggestions:
1) Transistor/ESR tester
2) 20€ diy osilloscope for simple waveforms
3) Cheap variable DC-DC power supply 500W range. + Fixed 12V AC-DC power supply
4) Various connectors
5) IC sockets
6) ESD mat
7) Voltage regulators + heatsink
8) Popular ICs: 555 timers, op amps, attiny, etc.

[KuraIthys]

That's really useful. Knowing what might be useful and what is plausible on a budget is good to know...

I've had bits and pieces of equipment for random projects I've done over the years. Crappy soldering irons, equally questionable multimeters (I have a Uni-T one nearby), breadboards, wire, some components...

But I really was buying stuff on a case by case basis and making do with whatever cheap stuff I could find, with no real idea of what might be good to have in general.
I always wanted a multimeter, but it never seemed like something that was affordable.

So anyway good advice really.

(oops. 9 months later I noticed I meant oscilloscope, not multimeter. XD)

[ChipGuy]

That video will be useful to a lot of beginners!

[uwezimmermann]

I prefer a manual range multimeter over an autorange one every day of the week. They are just so much faster once you now what range of voltages you expect and you are not making errors reading the numbers when the instrument has changed the range yet again...

[readyrepairs]

i think there was a math issue at the soldering iron bit - you suggested an 11 and 21 dollar model but only added 5 to the total... are you trying to bankrupt us?

[richfiles]

I've been doing electronics for over 30 years, yet I still watched this video start to finish. Really great advice! The one thing I would add, don't be afraid of CROs! Those old oscilloscopes might lack the modern day digital features, but if you can track one down on the cheap, nothing wrong with using it! My CRO is older than I am! Still works though!

[paulinhoKCC]

Man, you are just make my niece (she is still young) Christmas a very happy and electronic night! Thanks!!!!

[Storebrand_]

At the beginning of this year I finally got my first ever soldering Iron. It was an Aoyue 936 and as the name suggests it was indeed a Hako 936 clone. I would recommend this over the YiHUA because with a limited inspection from the exterior the internals of the Aoyue station seem to be of higher quality than the YiHUA. I think the Aoyue might be slightly more expensive but well worth the money.

[aszi]

I would also recommend one of those microcontroller based component testers (usually sold as "transistor tester"). Measures everything, identifies pinouts. Also measures capacitor ESR in-circuit, which is great to find faulty caps. About $14 shipped.

[mikeselectricstuff]

1mm wick is useless - it saturates too quickly. Just cut the end of wider (3-4mm) wick to a point.

[oliviaorr]

The Analog Discovery has a Logic Analyzer, Waveform Generator, Network Analyzer and Power Supplies!
It will do a lot more than just a scope. Should help a lot with the price.

[gamerpaddy]

this is useful! but id recommend a helping hand with magnifying glass over the crappy microscope. adds another 15 bucks you could spend on a microcontroller kit or parts.

[ryangriggs]

Great video Dave! Just a note on those blue through-hole resistors: the color bands are *impossible* to read. For beginners, much hair pulling will be saved by making sure you get the standard tan colored ones. :) (voice of experience speaking!) Again, great video!

[andywolan]

The part that gets me is how cheap it is to have an oscilloscope on your desk. Used to be a $5000 item when I was in college, now just $20. (More if you want a stand-alone unit, but still, dirt cheap!) And the features they have today would blow my mind back in high school.