| Steve Litt on 21 May 2019 00:29:03 -0700 |
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| Re: [PLUG] Electronics gear |
On Mon, 20 May 2019 12:17:06 -0400 Paul Walker <starsinmypockets@gmail.com> wrote: > A little off topic but I have a feeling this is the place to ask. I'm > trying to get a small / starter electronics bench put together and am > looking for some gear: > > * Temp. controlled soldering iron I just bought this a few weeks ago, and it's doing well soldering rather big things with no-lead solder: https://gokimco.com/pace-8007-0578-ads200-accudrive-production-soldering-station.html They have a model that cools maybe 100 degrees when you put the iron in its collar, and one that doesn't. I got the one that does. I like it. If you're using leaded solder to solder normal electronics (not heat syncs), this should be better priced and sufficient: https://www.tequipment.net/HakkoFX888D-29BY.html?b=y&v=7765 I gave up on Weller because I called Weller (not a reseller) to ask about a replacement point for my circa 1995 Weller station, and the person at the other end had never heard of my solder station and was unable to look it up. > * Multimeter Pretty much anything with visibility and at least 10Mohm to 20Mohm input resistance. Extra points for beep on contact. I paid $175 for mine, in 1982, and it's still working. In every respect except durability, a better multimeter can be had, today, for $25.00. > * Power supply If you mean some sort of variac to slowly power up 120 volt amplifiers and the like, I use one or more parallel series lightbulbs. 1982-1985 I operated Steve's Stereo Repair, and take it from me,series lightbulbs are a whole lot better than a variac for current limiting amplifiers. Naturally, you wouldn't use either with computer equipment. > * Signal generator Ebay has some. > * Solder / flux / wire / solder-sucker / etc For personal electronics you aren't going to sell, 60/40 leaded solder is easiest to use. If you're repairing other peoples' equipment, there might be laws against leaded, or you might decide to go non-leaded as a service to the customer. Ebay for solder. I like those big blue solder suckers with the spring and plunger: They used to be ten bucks: I dont know about now. > * parts Getting REAL hard to find a good parts dealer. Best of breed MCM merged with that lamo Newark and the result is mediocrity. All Electronics in Van Nuys California is good for what it has, but they have no semiconductors. And of course, radio shack has closed, so if one 2SC945 transistor is holding up your project, you can't dash down to Radio shack and buy this 50 cent part for 2 bucks. Instead, you pay a dime for it, plus 4 bucks shipping, and get it a few days later. Ugh! Depending on what kinds of stuff you're going to do, it might serve you well to get a decade capacitance box. For that matter, a decade resistor box might be handy too. Rotating knobs is much easier than trial and error. SteveT ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug