Group Actions
Engagement
  • Author Author: rachaelp
  • Date Created: Date Created
  • Views 4332 views
  • Likes 17 likes
  • Comments 38 comments
Related
Recommended

A brief tour of my development lab

rachaelp

I thought I would give a brief overview of my current lab setup to show the equipment I use and how I have things configured, and outline how I want to change things etc, and what additional equipment I would like to have which will lead into a future blog post outlining some of the projects I am planning to augment my current setup. I should note that what you cant see in the picture below is that the other side is another two desks with my other computers on them which is where I do most of my EAGLE work so the Brix isn't the only computer in the setup.

 

So to start off here is a picture of my lab:

 

image

 

Here is a list of the main equipment in its current form:

 

Keysight MSO-X 3054A Mixed Signal Oscilloscope with all options unlocked

Keithley 2015 THD 6.5 Digit Bench DMM

Agilent  U1272AU1272A Hand Held DMM

Fluke PM6685 Universal Frequency Counter

TTi QL355T Power Supply

TTi  PL303QMDPL303QMD Power Supply

TTi  CPX400SCPX400S Power Supply

TTi LD300 DC Electronic Load

Metcal MX-5000 Soldering Station

Metcal MFR-1300 Desoldering Station

Metcal  HCT2-120HCT2-120 Hot Air Rework Station

Gigabyte Brix BX-BT-1900 running Linux Mint 18

Dell 24" Flat Panel Monitor

Luxo Magnifier Lamp

 

I also have an assortment of cables, programmers, USB-serial widgets, etc, etc which come in handy but I always seem to find I need something else! Maybe in time I will build up enough kit that I stop being held up by needing to source some extra random piece of kit!

 

So you can see I have a reasonable amount of test kit but there are a few gaps which I would like to fill:

 

Spectrum analyzer Unfortunately these are very pricey so I have to wait until I have a very good justification before I buy one I'm currently leaning towards a Tektronix  RSA306BRSA306B or a Signal Hound BB60C I've seen reviews on both of these on The Signal Path Blog http://thesignalpath.com/blogs/) and I can't currently make up my mind which I would prefer. Tek are obviously the bigger company with more resources but I would like the SignalVU software to run native on my Mac ideally which isn't currently an option but then it's not an option for the Signal Hound kit either. I think when you add in the cost of all the paid for options for Tek which are included free with Signal Hound then this is probably the more cost effective option if you need those features. What do others think of these two options? I'd also consider something older from eBay if I could find something decent at a reasonable price. A lot of the affordable ones are so old they have a floppy drive in them and they weigh a lot and make a huge amount of noise when turned on so I don't want anything like that, hence my current two top choices.

 

Vacuum manual assisted pick and place. This is similar to what is doing as outlined in one of his recent blogs (https://www.element14.com/community/groups/open-source-hardware/blog/2016/11/07/building-a-smt-pick-and-place-buddy) and I have some ideas for enhancing this further and integrating with EAGLE and some other cool additions (more on this in another blog).

 

I'd like to get my oscilloscope on the network. I've in the past connected to it using USB via SCPI using a python library and whilst it works it's not the most efficient way of doing things so I don't bother with that at the moment. Having access to the scope via the network will make controlling it and grabbing screen captures to put into write ups so much simpler. Unfortunately the DSOXLAN add on for it is £300 which is quite a lot as it combines a network port with a VGA port (Which I don't really need). I've seen some blog posts which show how to build a board which basically provides the RJ45 connector and connects it up as that is all that is required to make the network port accessible it seems so this seems quite a good option.

 

I'd also like a really stable and accurate 10MHz clock source which will feed into various equipment. Currently only the Frequency counter can accept an external reference clock but Spectrum Analysers and Signal Generators will as well. I've got an idea to build a GPS disciplined oscillator with multiple buffered outputs to take to various pieces of equipment. This will probably be a topic of a future blog post too.

 

One thing I do need to improve is the lighting setup. Whilst it's not too bad for the soldering station when the magnifier lamp is turned on, over the other end of the bench can get quite dark on dull days or at night so I need to have some additional lighting installed to improve this aspect.

 

Thanks for reading and feel free to make suggestions for things I should add to my lab setup.

Parents

  • I wish I had a room big enough for multiple projects.  When I start a new project, I get a big box and fill it with some half-done-might-get-back-to-it-someday parts and take it to the "storage" room (my son's old bedroom) or the basement.  Then I have some empty desk space to work on.

    I bought a Rigol scope last year - I would recommend them if you're looking for something inexpensive ($329 for base 50MHz model).

    http://www.tequipment.net/rigol/oscilloscopes/digital-oscilloscopes/

    Scott

  • in reply to rsc

    It's amazing how much space you can suddenly take up if you have multiple projects on the go. I don't have enough space as I like to keep my rework station and my development and test areas segregated. I find I can store a number of in progress projects is small-medium sized boxes underneath the desks, or I can at the moment, if I start to build up too many "work in progress" projects I will soon run out of storage space!

     

    Rigol do some nice gear which starts at a very enthusiast friendly price. I've got my Keysight scope so not really needing another scope at the moment but if I needed one to take to places then a lower end Rigol just to have to hand would be helpful so I didn't have to take my expensive Keysight one anywhere. Rigol do some good entry level spectrum analyzers with tracking generators too. I've seen a few reviews of them on the likes of EEVBlog and they look pretty good for the price. I'd consider one of those I think.

     

    Best Regards,


    Rachael

Comment
  • in reply to rsc

    It's amazing how much space you can suddenly take up if you have multiple projects on the go. I don't have enough space as I like to keep my rework station and my development and test areas segregated. I find I can store a number of in progress projects is small-medium sized boxes underneath the desks, or I can at the moment, if I start to build up too many "work in progress" projects I will soon run out of storage space!

     

    Rigol do some nice gear which starts at a very enthusiast friendly price. I've got my Keysight scope so not really needing another scope at the moment but if I needed one to take to places then a lower end Rigol just to have to hand would be helpful so I didn't have to take my expensive Keysight one anywhere. Rigol do some good entry level spectrum analyzers with tracking generators too. I've seen a few reviews of them on the likes of EEVBlog and they look pretty good for the price. I'd consider one of those I think.

     

    Best Regards,


    Rachael

Children
  • in reply to rachaelp

    There is never any end to the demands for more space - I have a factory unit with 1000 ft^2 and an additional 200 ft^2 for light storage above an internal ceiling. About 500 ft^2 is enclosed in an insulated (5 sides of 100mm al clad foam panels) and is where I have lab and office. The rest is mixed machine shop and store. I could easily use twice the space in either part.

     

    When I start a project I give it a job box, in which I keep all its special bits. Some jobs end up with several boxes. I use boxes from the "Really Useful Box" company (quite widely available in UK), mostly 18l but some 35l and some 9l as well. Currently there are about 75 of them - I rarely purge a job box completely - usually only if the customer ceases to exist. It can be hard to find bits from a 10 year old project but those are usually the ones where the customer is really desperate.

     

    I never quite know how to manage parts bought for a job but where the remainders will be useful - so I might buy 100 1206, 220R, 0.6W resistors, use 6 and leave 94 in the box. (I keep a full range of 0603 resistors in E24  but I don't use 1206 often enough.) Then six jobs later I'll want some more resistors the same - and I'll get them from the old box (I often end up searching BOMs to work out where they'll be) . I'll then move the strip of parts to the latest box - but this then means that if the original job wakes up I may have trouble finding them.

     

    I could transfer parts to the multi drawer carousel thing (which I only do at the moment with really interesting or expensive things) but if I did that often it would get full and I would end up with several of them - for which there is no roomimage

     

    A good system might be to always transfer a part taken from an old box to the drawers (which have an index on computer) but I'm not disciplined enough to overcome the rush to get it soldered.

     

    MK