Equipment/Electronics Workbenches

Equipment / Electronics Workbenches

Workbenches for electronics and precision work.

Enthusiast Bench

A 1800mm x 900mm ESD cantilever bench from here

Equipment

• Hameg HM-203s 20MHz analogue oscilloscope
• Black*Star Jupiter 500 0.1Hz-500kHz function generator (sine, square, sawtooth)
• Philips PM6622 80MHz counter

Expert Bench

A 1800mm x 900mm ESD cantilever bench from here

Equipment

• BlackJack BK6000 Rework station
• Philips PM 3217 50MHz analogue Oscilloscope
• Thurlby Thandar TG212 0.1Hz-2MHz function generator (sine, square, sawtooth)
• Thurlby Thandar TF830 1.3GHz high resolution reciprocal measurement

• 

  Dual 32V, 5A Bench Power Supply

Shared equipment

• Soldering irons:
  • 2x Tenma AT60D soldering stations (up to 400C)
• Bench power supplies (e.g. a mix of 5V, 12V, variable, and multi-rail PSUs)
  • Farnell AP20-80: up to 20V at up to 80A
  • Hameg HM7042-3 dual: each channel up to 32V at up to 2A
  • Tenma 72-8695 two channels each up to 32V at up to 3A, plus a single fixed 5V/2A channel
• Logic analyser:
  • HP 16500A (status unknown: may not be operational but has probes pack)
  • Currently assumed dead.

Components and small tools

• PCB holders or "helping hands"
• Magnifying lamps
• Side cutters
• Multimeters
• Wire
• Selection of basic components (res, caps, v-reg, basic digital logic, basic IC's - 555,358, connectors, cable)

Notes

It would be nice if someone could dig out URLs for manuals for the above, if available, and link to them from their listing lines.

Wishlist

Need

• Abrasive pen
• Heatsink tweezers
• Tweezers
• ESD handling equipment, eg. anti-static mats, wrist-strap, earth points, tester

Want

• Logic Analyser
• 100MHZ Digital Oscilloscope

Would Be Nice

• USB microscope with monitor
• Spectrum Analyser

Archive

Bench Requirements (based on conversations with lots of people!)

• Height: Standard workstation/stool height (~840mm) rather than desk/chair height - allows working standing or sitting on stools
• Depth: Standard electronics workstation depth of ~900mm to allow for equipment at the back whilst still giving decent workspace
• ESD - whilst some people don't care, other seem to care a lot, so assume antistatic worksurface
• Structure - A long workbench surface along the wall of the main workshop, approximately 4m; Options:
  • Standard electronics workbenches (metal structure bench with drawers below left/right, back power strip at back, raised shelf)
  • Basic electronics workbences without storage below, cantilever or 4-post design
  • Worksurface (e.g. kitchen) fixed to wall with some drawer units as stands (e.g. ikea)
• Other considerations:
  • Allow for a variable number of people to sit at it (i.e. bunch up, couple of people around same project)
  • Decent storage for all the basic tools, components
  • Some form of raised area for scopes/test equipment
  • Very sturdy - i.e. wont move if lent on, pushed against etc