Fortunately I have all them but unfortunately I find using solder wick and a solder sucker really hard to use otherwise I would use them more often. I was going to get a desoldering station before I got the multimeter but then realized I needed the multimeter more.A desoldering station would be excellent to own but falls into the decedent category of my lists. To start with you will probably be dealing with through hole components. To start you can do a lot of salvage work and repair work with:
(1) Good soldering iron, preferably with temperature control,
(2) A reel of Soder Wick
(3) Can of rosin flux
(4) Wire cutters precision
(5) Pliers fine precision
(6) Set of electronic tweezers etc (not expensive)
(7) Solder sucker (not expensive)
(8) Reel of solder lead/tin Rosin cored
Some form of vice/clamp would be useful to hold items while you are woking on them
Yeah I found the same thing they are either way out of my price range or not even worth the time but I did find one from jaycar that wasn't too bad. It's still on the pricey end of the spectrum but not so bad as to make me want to just not bother https://www.jaycar.co.nz/Tools-&-Soldering/Soldering/Stations/80W-Desoldering-Station/p/TS1513Fair enough, just to say though that I am a chronic savager and have never needed a soldering station, useful as they are. The only time I would get one is for surface mount work, and then you would need a microscope, either electronic or optical. There is a knack to using Soder Wick and a solder sucker. The worry about solder stations is that a half decent one is expensive and a cheap one in not wort the bother. The only solder stations I know about are are pro rigs costing thousands. It would be interesting to know what the other ETO members would recommend. In the meantime I will ask around. Do you have a particular solder station in mind and if so how much?
Spec: You put oscilloscope in the category of "luxury items" in your very comprehensive workshop inventory. I can understand on the basis of cost why that might be deemed so. However there are a lot of reasonably good used analogue scopes to be had. Whilst I wouldn't say that a 'scope is essential, it increased my understanding of electronics by a much greater order of magnitude than anything else I've purchased either before or afterwards. Perhaps it depends on your style of thinking, but to me being able to "see" the circuit working and the effect of any changes to the circuit, was the greatest learning tool ever, at least within the realm of electronics. Perhaps since the advent of circuit simulation the use of a 'scope as a learning aid has diminished, but as I'm sure you know simulators and real circuits don't always agree!
I don't mind saving for something like this since it will last me for a long time and I've been thinking about upgrading my soldering iron to one that's includes a hot air gun/rework station. This one is the one I'm probably going to get as I have seen it up close and it appears to be very reliable https://www.jaycar.co.nz/Tools-&-So...-Safe-Solder-Desolder-Rework-Station/p/TS1574That looks ok, but it is quite an expenditure. One thing that is missing is a heat gun, which are used quite a bit these days. The idea is that you heat the whole board and lift off the components with tweezers. Or you solder paste/flux the pads and stick the components in place with special glue. Then heat the whole board for assembly. Many laptops fail due to solder fatigue/ corrosion on the mother board around the hot areas- graphics chip is favorite. I have come across three so far. The dodge there is to clean and reflux the whole board and then reflow the solder joints with a heat gun or oven. I am really not sure which way to go on this. Have you ever used a solder station like the one you are considering?
I should add that I have only done a few simple surface mount assemblies. The repair work on the laptop boards was done by a pro wireman with all the kit at his disposal.
I do want to get one at some point however it's not high on my list yet but if I find one that's won't take much saving I'll probably get it.Spec: You put oscilloscope in the category of "luxury items" in your very comprehensive workshop inventory. I can understand on the basis of cost why that might be deemed so. However there are a lot of reasonably good used analogue scopes to be had. Whilst I wouldn't say that a 'scope is essential, it increased my understanding of electronics by a much greater order of magnitude than anything else I've purchased either before or afterwards. Perhaps it depends on your style of thinking, but to me being able to "see" the circuit working and the effect of any changes to the circuit, was the greatest learning tool ever, at least within the realm of electronics. Perhaps since the advent of circuit simulation the use of a 'scope as a learning aid has diminished, but as I'm sure you know simulators and real circuits don't always agree!
As I said I do want to get a scope but I would rather be able to make things and learn about the theory then have a scope and nothing to use it onHmmm looks well made and comprehensive. That is about £200 UK and personally I would put the money towards a scope. But as this is not really my area don't let me put you off.
BM867Yes, Brymen multimeters are brilliant. I thought at first that Justin's multimeter might have been OEM by Brymen but, as I said earlier, I'm now pretty sure it is made by/for Extech.
What model Brymen did you go for?
BM867
Interesting- so I was on the right track
- Whilst I was researching what to get, I discovered that Extech and Amprobe meters both use Brymen chips.
Sure- like to have a look. I have messed about with Weller temperature controllers- mainly cracked PCB. I think the circuits are all similarI think it might help Justin's Great Cause if I list what I've built/acquired in the last couple of years, on wafer thin budget.
- Soldering iron/station - I got a used Hakko iron (might be a clone) cheap, and built myself a clone of their 936 analogue station from a schematic of the original found on the web. Had to modify it slightly because the triac controller is obsolete. I can post the schematic if you like.
Ditto, except Gould OS1000 @ £5 UK. You just don't care how much dosh you splash about, do you...99p. What more needs to be done to your scope?
- Oscilloscope - I got a Cossor CDU 150 for 99 pence. A real high end scope in its day. I bought it as "spares/repairs", bought a copy of the manual for about £20 and repaired it. Needs some more tlc when I have the time.
Yes, ATX PSUs can be a bit temperamental if they are not configured and loaded to their specification and they are all different.
- PSU - I built an ATX conversion supply which I used until it died,
whilst I get a big home made one up and running. Fun and games and a massive learning experience with that, lots of strange effects I didn't anticipate and didn't show up in simulation. Strangely the badly lashed up prototype gave me about 3mV assorted noise and other garbage, the nicely PCB built version is giving me 10 - 15mV of it. Had a lot of help here with that project
V ref very handy- be interested to see schematic
- Voltage reference I made using a precision reference chip with a small pre-regulator and low battery indicator. I built it to calibrate the Mastech meter before it went completely wrong.
As I said I do want to get a scope but I would rather be able to make things and learn about the theory then have a scope and nothing to use it on
Apparently I started playing with "wires" when I was about 3
Yep, me too, but ersatz wires. I had to have a string on things that plugged in like a play iron.
This guy **broken link removed** was pretty neat. It's an LM317 based supply that changes transformer taps based on voltage selected. Mom had a transistor radio that hummed like crazy with wall warts. With this, it's been quiet. I like to have a few more.
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