2013-08-29 Equipping a Home Workshop

Activities of an Electronics Workshop

Troubleshooting radio equipment

Classes

Kitbuilding

Homebrewing

Equipment Ideas for an Electronics Workshop

Safety Equipment - Glasses, Gloves, First Aid Kit

Common tools, screwdriver set per bench, small plier set per bench, wire strippers, Harbor Freight

soldering irons, Edsyn Loner 951SX refurb (from EAE Sales https://www.eaesales.com/index.php ), or Hakko fx-888, solder, liquid flux, 

benches

variable power supplies

multimeter 2 harbor freight per bench, plus one high perf for shop

oscilloscope 1 for shop

spectrum analyzer - Would the one in a service monitor be good enough even though not a high performance "laboratory grade"?

digital scope, Rigol DS-1102E for inexpensive scope or DS1104Z-S, or DS-2102 for a one with a finer display resolution.

service monitor to tune radios duplexers - Amtronix refurb/calibrated, 100 w input, HP8924C, http://www.amtronix.com/

Amtronix SW2012N Return Loss Bridge Kit

MVC007, CGA/EGA/MDA/YUV to VGA Industrial Converter Unit Displays HP8924C service monitor on TV screen http://www.moncotech.com/cnc.php

one good set of test equipment plus one inexpensive set for each bench

signal generators AF/RF

RF Generator, battery operated portable, Nigel showed an Elecraft Portable Sig Gen XG3, http://www.elecraft.com/XG3/xg3.htm

magnifier lamp on bench

Stereo Boom Microscope 10X

Area for storage of kits

panavise, table clamp, Circuit board jaws

hot air rework station, inexpensive

vacuum desoldering, electric operated, or pneumatic

electrostatic mats, large for each area

grounding system per bench

power strip in cabinets

Drop cords from ceiling

Antenna analyzer, MFJ

bird power meter with slugs

dummy load small, large

Vector Network Analyzer DG8SAQ VNWA 3 - 3E, Low Cost 1.3 GHz Vector Network Analyzer, http://sdr-kits.net/VNWA3_Description.html

computer and display,tower vs laptop, rackmount, server

camera, web or HD macro for front TV or projector display

whiteboard, on wheels and/or mounted to wall

Ethernet switch for Raspberry experimentation

serial port breakout

plastic carpet protector near bench

surface mount capability

Group Suggestions - things to build:

Input from Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB:

I have a couple of other kit suggestions as well.  One kit that I have found very useful is the Deluxe Tenna Dipper.  We built them as a group here, and it made Field Day antenna setup go a lot faster.  With one of these in the hands of most of our stations, the tuning and tweaking of the antennas went fast.  Here is a link:  http://www.qrpkits.com/deluxetennadipper.html

A good kit for first-time builders is the Ten-Tec regenerative receiver kit.  It is relatively easy to build and you end up with a cute little general coverage receiver.  http://www.tentec.com/products/Regenerative-4%252dBand-SWL-Receiver-%252d-Model-1054.html

If you are equipping a ///, you will want a scope, maybe a vacuum desoldering station for easier error correction or repairs, as well as a few soldering stations for those that do not have them.  A few of those $3 Harbor Freight special multimeters come in handy, too for training purposes.  They are cheap, effective, and not a huge loss if lost or broken.  A signal generator, a good general coverage receiver, and a good dummyload/wattmeter is helpful as well for testing once projects are completed.  A few outlet strips help as well as some lighted magnifiers that can mount to the tables.  Let me know if I can be of help for a group kit building experience for DARA!

73, Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB

Kit Building Editor, CQ Magazine