I made the mistake of setting up a purpose-built lab once, and soon discovered to do most things, you really need at least a basic general purpose lab.
The only exception is, I suppose, if you are going to repair a specific instrument and do nothing else. Also, as others have pointed out, you really need to define what are your area(s) of interest. Specialized gear gets $$$ pretty quickly. -John ==================== > John, > > That sounds like asking what is the best vehicle for you to buy. If you do > not know what you want to do with it, I am not sure we can help you all > that much. However, if you have a specific objective, I am sure you will > get a lot of valuable information here. > > You have a (good) analog scope, you may want a power supply or two, a > soldering iron and maybe a desoldering station if you do surface mount. > You also want a good hand-held multimeter. Some sort of signal or function > generator may be useful too. These vary widely depending on frequency > range and features. There is no good single answer to any of these > questions without knowing more about what you do with it. > > Many of us on this list have more than one of pretty much everything (I am > guilty of that too) to reflect the fact that no single instrument is > universal, with possibly one exception: my favorite hand held DMM is a > Fluke 8060A, but I am sure some people will have another favorite :) > > Don't start spending what little money you have until you know what you > need. If you just need to spend money, may I interest you in a wonderful > business opportunity in Nigeria? > > Didier KO4BB > > > ------------------------ Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless thingy while I > do other things... > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Foege <john.fo...@gmail.com> > Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:35:22 > To: Discussion of precise time and frequency > measurement<time-nuts@febo.com> > Subject: [time-nuts] Test Equipment > > I realize that this e-mail is somewhat off topic, however, I also > believe that I will get some of the best answers from the members of > this list: > > I have recently started to build an electronics lab, and am currently > trying to acquire test and general equipment for my little basement > workshop of horrors. So far, being on a limited budget, I have > acquired a Tek 2465A in good working order, a Fluke 1953A counter, and > my little gem (ok not quite so little) HP5345A with the 4-ghz freq > converter plugin w/ opt 11 & 12. > > I'd just like to ask everyone what they would be, if they were in my > shoes, attempting to acquire. Unforunately, however, I am just out of > engineering school and not working with much of a budget here. I'd > kill to have all the fancy gear some of you nuts have. > > I'd really love a DSO instead of the Tek 2465A I have. I'd kill for a > good spectrum analyzer or VNA etc. > > Any suggestions on what I should acquire and/or suggestions for > economical equipment that I should make that is a must have? I am a > good DIYer when it comes to building equipment, so often I attempt to > build that which I cannot afford. > > I appreciate everyone's' opinions in advance. Thank you. > > Sincerely, > > John Foege > KB1FSX > starving-engineer! > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.