3x the number needed for the project at the minimum. At least the number needed for the first volume discount or 10, whichever you can afford. If you'll be doing a lot of surface mount you'll want a reflow oven and solder paste.ĮDIT: One tip I forgot, very important: When you buy parts (on DigiKey/Mouser or similar) make sure you buy extras. Make sure you have a roll of kapton tape to hold parts down while you solder them (it survives high temperatures). Also some tip tinner, and/or a sal ammoniac block. Get some desoldering wick and a solder sucker too. ) for capacitors (Joe Knows Electronics kits are good for stocking up, they have more of the most common components in their kits.) You want at least 96 drawers for resistors and 32 for capacitors assuming you're buying 1% or 5% resistors and 10-20% capacitors (pretty normal). You can fit two values of component in each drawer (though they don't come with enough dividers :/). Print labels for them, use them to store resistors, capacitors, and other types. You might want an anti-static mat and wrist-strap. They're about $20 each, well worth it IMO. If you accidentally connect the ground lead of any of them to something other than ground the GFCI will trip and prevent the ground traces from being blown up inside the device. The oscilloscope, function gen, spectrum analyzer, etc, all are mains earth referenced, and should each have their own GFCI plug. The Rigol DSA815-TG is $1550, but significantly worse (smaller display, worse resolution bandwidth, max 1.5GHz, etc).īe sure to get a GFCI outlet and a GFCI adapter or two.
RIGOL DSA815 TG HACK SOFTWARE
It's also hackable / software upgradeable into the 3.5GHz model.
RIGOL DSA815 TG HACK GENERATOR
The Siglent SSA3021X with tracking generator add-on is $1764 (pretty cheap) and quite capable (9kHz to 2GHz). Spectrum Analyzer: If you're doing RF work (radio design), you'll need one. (Keysight's 34-channel standalone analyzer is $12165 base price. They're $390, for a 34-channel 500MHz device, very nice for the money. Be sure it has a micro-amp range! The really cheap ones don't, and you WILL need it if designing embedded stuff. Multimeter: Get a safe one (HRC fuses, proper transient voltage suppression, etc.) Can't go wrong with Fluke, of course, but Extech, Brymen, and some others have cheap and capable handheld meters.
RIGOL DSA815 TG HACK PC
You definitely need arbitrary +- voltages for lots of very basic circuits, PC power supplies are very limiting and too noisy if you do any sensitive analog design. There's also the Siglent SPD3303X-E ($340) if you want a digital panel version. The knobs are coarse adjust only (it's analog), I replaced the control potentiometers with 10-turn versions which substantially improved the accuracy of the output.
The Tekpower TP3005D-3 is $200, and is an actual linear power supply. Part of the big-3 of 'scope, power supply, and function gen. There's no better cheap scope at the moment (IMO).įunction generator: Siglent SDG805. 50MHz, hackable to 100MHz bandwidth easily. A high-volume HIPAA air purifier on the desk works, ($150 or so) or a dedicated device like the Hakko FA430 is even better ($625). You do NOT want to be breathing in flux fumes. sells the real flux.įume extractor: VERY important for health. Amtech is the best, but there is a lot of counterfeit stuff out there, and Amtech doesn't sell it directly (bulk orders only). MUCH better than trying to hold a board in the helping hands.įlux: Get liquid flux with a syringe. PCB vise: I have an Aven 17010, it works pretty well. Better option is an AmScope stereo microscope, such as the SM-4NTP and a ring light for it like the LED-144W-ZK.
Magnification: Get at least one of the magnifying headsets ($8-10 on Amazon) and a desk magnifier with LED ring light. Hot air station: Probably something cheap from china, there aren't any particularly affordable name-brand ones that I know of. The chisel tip is good for soldering things with more thermal mass (PCB-mount heatsinks) and the bevel tip is pretty necessary for drag soldering on QFP and similar surface mount packages. The back of the bend can be used for drag soldering, the inside of the bend makes soldering wires together easy. The conical tip is perfect for lots of general purpose work, you can use the fine point or the sides of the bend. Get a chisel tip, eg Hakko T18-S3, a bevel tip (T18-S6), and a bent-conical tip (T18-BR02). The FX-951 is the next step up, and can take micro-soldering handpieces and has the quick-change tips. They have better if you can afford it, but that one's very good.
Soldering iron: I like the Hakko FX-888D. My personal recommendations, mostly stuff I've got: