I don't care which way your dad faces, having him on the channel is always a treat! :) I would add lighting, glue a metal thingy in the bottom of a shelf to stick the metal picker upper to, a flat and wide drawer underneath the table to store your quick-to-hand stuff like pliers and screwdrivers. The drawer idea works better on stand up benches and worse on sit down benches. A power bar or two. I always liked having a very shallow shelf at the back of the bench, say about 6 inches deep and 8 inches above the desk, for holding alcohol and getting the soldering iron off the desktop. It doesn't have to go all the way across. And a 1 inch lip at the back of the desk to keep stuff from rolling off the back of the desk.
let him watch while you tinker or repair stuff, I got into electronics because I saw my grandpa repair a power supply while he was at my house when I was a kid. It made me try to repair stuff too, which I wasn't very successful at when I was like 8 😅 But my parent gave me broken stuff they would have thrown away anyway and I would try to take them apart (you should probably supervise because I nearly died like two or three times fucking around with power electronics haha).
This makes me wanna call my dad over to finish setting up my workbench. Nice and wholesome video. My dad has a variable power supply, an oscilloscope and soldering iron and... well a lot of things I want to have to.
@@currenlydying Broken stuff is always fun... and I think most of us have a few near-death experiences tinkering with power supplies. Then you realize how much you need to respect power supplies and large caps :)
@@GeerlingEngineering Yes!! Especially the hit of joy you get when you manage to fix something someone gave you and you feel like a wizard giving them back the thing in a working condition! So many key memories have been made when I was younger and finally managed to be the tech guy of the family and bringing people joy by fixing their laptop when they were strapped for cash. I remember vividly fixing the yogurt machine for my highschool sweetheart's grandma and their family is still in contact with me because their grandma LOVED me for it haha.
Originally came to this channel for the nerdy stuff, stayed for the chill "dad and son works on random projects" vibes. I love the shelving on the bench you're putting together!
@@MikrySoft So begins a long hunt for the best value / quality microscope that I can also tie into recording / streaming. I may ask around some of the other RUclipsrs who I know do a lot of scope work on streams. Some do better live, some have better camera options... just don't want to spend a lot and not get a good value!
Rest in peace to Mark. That was beautiful to honor your uncle/your brother. This is awesome. Hoping to use some ideas from this to build my own desk/workbench combo.
I miss working with my Dad. He tried to keep me away from his tools and equipment as a kid. Wouldn't let me anywhere near his shop or equipment.... Until he finally realized there was nothing he could do to keep me from working with my hands . He Wanted me to focus on academics and become a dentist or doctor and not "waste my time working with tools". He was a taxidermist for 61 years. As well as a knife maker and had patented materials/ high performance composites that he sold in bulk to all the biggest companies in the gun and knife industry over the last 30 years. He finally gave up trying to keep me away from the tools and working with my hands. So by the age of about 15 he tolerated me using the stuff in his shop. I really miss working with him. He Passed away a few weeks ago. Miss you Dad
Better lighting, magnifiying glass, different angle overhead cameras that stay part of the bench (think Adrian's Digital Basement), capture cards, streamdeck to manage cameras, perhaps even a mini-pc nearby or laptop to lookup things while working and I would go as far as saying an outlet that's isolated from everything on the bench to protect the tools from the test. Also a good Desoldering station both for large and tiny. Maybe even a reflow oven on the top shelf you can pull down when needed.
I hope people realize that designing that kind of avionics system is really impressive and noteworthy. I think naming this bench is actually a nice gesture and I hope it inspires you in your projects.
Really love the content you and your dad make. I miss my dad every day, and this reminded me of making shelves with him for the storage room of his store. 73 Jeff and Joe!
Great bench! As someone who has put together a pretty decent little electronics lab on a budget, I can highly recommend getting a benchtop multimeter (siglent or rigol make good ones, but a little on the pricey end). For most equipment I would consider the offerings from Siglent or Rigol. A good budget PSU is the Korad KA3005D, it is great bang per buck and is a great bridge between the super cheap chinese switching PSUs and the more expensive siglent and rigol ones. I have seen a few comments about microscopes, and I definitely agree, I bought a cheap digital one, and as cool as it is to look at stuff, soldering with it is a bit of a pain because it is digital and you have zero depth perception. If you intend on soldering a lot of SMD stuff then an analog binocular microscope is your best bet. If you are doing RF work a little Nano VNA or a tinySA spectrum analyzer will allow you to look at what kind of noise your radios are putting out on what frequencies, as well as so much more in the field of RF.
You might need under-cabinet lighting for beneath that first shelf. Get a fan to exhaust solder fumes. Maybe a hands-free magnifier with a light source (typically on a boom). I little tray or two for little screws you get when disassembling stuff. Fire extinguisher. Trash can. Power strip.
Great Job! It has been my pleasure since first video I've seen here. I'm in the same RF job for more than 30 years. Especially I love the way how you respect each other. These days it is not common unfortunately. Greetings from Belgrade/Serbia/Europe.
The best electronic work bench is actually a grounded steel table with a full antistatic mat on top if you work with very expensive ICs for repair or rework. The steel is an excellent conductor of electrons as compared to wood. After you put on your ESD wrist strap you can touch the front of the metal bench and you should not ever feel an ESD event. If you do your strap is probably bad. It is a secondary way to remove static from your body before working on electronics. You could add an ESD floor mat, but you would have to ware ESD shoe straps, or buy ESD rated shoes. This allow you to lose the wrist strap, but you still ground yourself to the table before working on any electronics. How the metal table is tied to AC earth ground is also interesting because you have many options. Usually there is a series resistance (many resistors in series) shunted by a capacitor (usually made up of several HV caps in series). This way you can remove any shock hazard. However, most troubleshooting benches that support AC repair have a fully isolated AC supply for the device under test.
I miss some sockets directly mounted on the bench if it's moved around. Just to have only one cord instead of mutiple. An an indepentend light, maybe on an arm for the optimal lighting
Those plastic blocks take up a lot of room. Steel flush plates from the bottom through the bench, construction screws, and it would be a much cleaner design. On the next level up, cut rectangles into a thick-high-quality plywood board and continue on up to the third level. Stiffen the plywood with a couple edge on strips of hardware. Hold the the middle level in place with dowels - no glue - to allow for future adjustments. For holding boards up while measuring, drilling, etc., clamps are your friend.
In my 40+ years in electronics the best bench power supply I have owned is an old HP 6227B for low voltage applications. Common on eBay for 65$ and up. Nice work on the bench. Your father had some very good insights on bench design. Cheers.
As a ham and an EE, I really like your new bench. If you're doing ham stuff definitely a cheap vna and spectrum analyzer would be nice. Also for electronics, you probably want an electronic load for testing batteries and power supplies.
At my college, we had something similar to what you have shown last video holding the little cat6 cables on the wall beside the server rack, but we used it to hold the jumper cables and alligator clips and multimeter leads and oscilloscope probes when they're not in use. It's a great way to get rid of the cable mess on the work bench 😅
Alternatively, You might use the plastic cable duct without its cover (like the one you used above the server rack), but you'll need to file the edges so the cables don't get damaged by them. By the way, the video I was referring to was on your third channel where you installed the security camera, I got confused and thought this channel was it😅
Consider adding some built-in things for filming your work on electronics! Like a way to mount an overhead camera (or a dedicated one), mounted lights, things like that. Since you're not just engineer but you're also a RUclipsr!
It is always a wonderful, memorable experience to build something with your father, I have lost mine a couple of years ago I wish everyone treasure their time with their folks, we are busy growing up and finding the meaning of life, often we forgot our parents are growing old too. I like videos like this that you guys work on a project together, it’s wholesome content ❤
The bench top is quite thick; I have no qualms about mounting anything on it. I could probably sand it down 100 times if need be, makes it more likely I won't worry about messing up the surface too much.
@@GeerlingEngineering No doubt! For my bench I wanted a backspash to prevent stuff from potentially rolling off the back. I bought some nice maple 1x6's, varnished them clear to match the worktop and screwed them onto the back. I then ran a bead of clear silicon where the board met the worktop. It looks really slick!
@@moelassus I used kitchen counter, and used the upstand that matches screwed on the back to stop things disappearing, all supported on some nice chrome table legs. My shelf is at 12", could do with another like shown. I think if my scope was at 17" I would look like i was at a heavy metal concert head banging!
What a beautiful video. I've been working on the same project. Your video's keep amazing me like you're always working on the same projects as I do, even before the video gets released. Wonderful job, working with your dad and realising things like this. I'm all on my own on these projects, so the advice you're giving is really helpful. Thank you.
ideas for extra gear: perhaps a multiwave signal generator? an overhead camera and mic? uss enterprise warp core... or just a very variable power supply! isolating power transformer (so not to trip the main breakers) keyboard/mouse shelf underneath floor grounding mat components rack just ideas hopefully useful
Love everytime your dad is on! I’d have a pair of speakers and and a small amp for testing outputs and a bit of music too. Those could be underhung to save shelf space. Also a small monitor for checking outputs of devices and computers and such.
Siglent makes some nice dual-output linear power supplies; I have the SPD3303X-E but there's also a non-E variant if you need higher precision (you can set it in 1 mV increments rather than 10 mV increments). Other stuff: get a fume extractor for soldering (the Hakko one is well-regarded); flux has stuff in it that you don't want to breathe. For multimeters, I've always used portable multimeters (I like my EEVBlog blue Brymen), but a benchtop one might be nice to have for a permanent workbench like this. And the more lighting, the better-- I'd get some LED strip lighting to go underneath the shelves, a nice bright task light on an arm for work on the desk top, and maybe one of those magnifier light thingies (technical term) to help with really fine work.
I would add a small clamp on bench vise with a swivel base and soft jaws and a digital microscope on a stand, You will need some heavier duty soldering irons for bigger stuff like heavy terminals on large wire and solder style N and PL259 connectors.
It might not be useful in your normal computer based endeavours, but if you're interested in exploring antenna theory more I would highly recommend a VNA. If pocket size is okay over bech top, you can get a nanoVNA for relatively cheap, or for a higher frequency range the liteVNA. Personally I'm still learning a ton, but mine helped a lot with understanding impedance and building matching circuits 😊 Also worth a shout-out is the tinySA spectrum analyzer! Love the videos!!
When working alongside my dad when I was younger was always yelling and screaming 'you didn't do this right, didn't do that right' etc... Glad to see something like this :)
Oh. Wow. At [0:32] you show the old Mac, and an old Apple computer in a brown carry case. I have what appears to be that very same case, containing my one-owner Apple ][+ from 1978 or '79. Mine was an Apple ][ that the computer store upgraded to ][+ (with Apple's permission) by swapping in the Applesoft BASIC autostart ROMs. I wish you well with the workshop, bench build, and your vintage Apple systems.
Very cool! That Apple ][ belonged to my Uncle Mark (his wife passed it along to us after he died)-it will be an honor cleaning it up lightly and making it run again. My Dad actually helped convince him to buy the ][ and it includes a bunch of (hopefully working) cassettes. One of the very early models with no floppy disk drive!
@@GeerlingEngineering Same here, I used cassettes (still have the Panasonic recorder the store bundled with it!). I finally bought Franklin floppy drives at Children's Palace or Toy Chest because they were cheaper. There's an online registry of vintage Apple computers, I keep meaning to add mine to it. You provide the serial number and such. They even have the black Bell & Howell versions.
A bench is a living organism, you will change and adapt it over time for comfort, efficiency as your interests evolve. A few things though are always needed, maximum horizontal work surface, lots of lighting, magnification options (plural), easy access to stable power (ac, dc, usb, variable, with safe turn on), instruments with large easily readable fonts, safety gear (fire, ventilation), quick access (in eyesight, no drawers) to common hand tools like cutters, strippers, etc. Best thing to do in my opinion is to watch folks doing real work and look how they configure their workspace.
If you want to do some digital RF modes, you'll need a PC. If you want to get on HF or VHF, get a skid weighted down with some cinder blocks on that flat roof and stick a vertical on it. You could easily put an VHF/UHF antenna + HF vertical and work the world! Can't wait to see what's next on the electronics bench.
If you're going to keep chemistry on that top shelf, it might be a good idea to glue a strip of 1"X1" to the top-front to help keep the bottles from tipping over onto your head.
A decent multi output power supply with PC interface for programming; Equally a decent electronic load for testing power supplies. Maybe a small ish monitor, keyboard and mouse options.
i would say you need some forest mimms books and radioshack phamplets - he talked about all kinds of electronics - lots of op amps and timers etc, this project worked out great basically imo even with a distinct absence of rsj. you do need a variable ps, you need some ref books (mims), you need a smaller whiteboard or chalkboard - you probably need a laptop or a pi and small monitor. you need a fire extinguisher and vent for fumes, you need antenna making supplies and you need one of those small antenna lcd gadgets to look at swr and smith chart of antenna, you need analog swr meter, you may need a tiny tv and a radio of some sort plus you need a scanner and a phone and you need a cube with all the drawers for parts. the magnetic bars so you can have quick access to tools is nice but don't forget the demagnetizer also - a wiha works, you do need multi antenna and some rols of lmr 400 and maybe even helical, get a total spectrum awareness campaign going and you do need the ips/ids for network plus just surprise us with odd things people may never have thought of - combine all the best suggestions into a list and then order them in terms of acquisition - make some custom circuits - random number gen and such - bargain hunt on ebay. you need the little adjustable arms setup to hold components and you need anti static considerations
You will get value out of having some scheme for hanging a variety of oscilloscope probes with all of the different types of alligator and banana connectors near the bench and scope. If you do any serious PCB design and repair, a bright light, magnifying glass and/or camera / microscope will be virtually required given the size of modern surface mount devices.
Lighting! If it were my setup, I'd mount a bright LED strip that spans the entire length of the underside of the 1st shelf. That way you don't end up with shadows from your hands/probes/etc. while you're working on tight components. Your needs will likely be a little different since you also have to consider how it will look while being filmed.
Needs a bench top variable power supply! I added one I picked up from a ham swap meet, and I use it several times a week! How did I live without it before? I spent way too much time digging through boxes of wall warts
A sand-catch for burying fires from lithium-ion batteries. Also handy to extinguish wooden sticks to light commemorative candles in memory of our beloved ones.
lighting on the underside is a must. also you could put a camera mount so you can have a face down shot of stuff you are working on. maybe a power strip or two with ground fault protection and surge protection too.
They are built incredibly well. Much nicer than the cheap "torque it until it almost strips, and it barely holds the monitor" arms I have at my main desk :O
Definitely missing a (long form) light mounted to the shelves to light up your work area, also a bench mounted magnifying glass, might take some advantage of a digital microscope
That's awesome. I got my career by tinkering with computers and electronics. If you are going to do a lot of RF what about a service monitor/analyzer? I have an IFR 1600 but there are much smaller ones that don't need an anvil case to transport. I hope to inherit some motorola ones. Pretty much everything you need in one box. Sure your dad could recommend one. I think we all have/use one at some point.
To that extent that you are interested in commentary from the peanut gallery, I'll offer this: 1. A good power supply is definitely a critical item. I use a Rigol DP832A and I recommend something similar. 2. I bought a nice Rigol bench-top DMM when I was putting my lab together... and have basically never used it. I always find myself reaching for one or more of my handheld DMM's instead. It's hard to explain exactly why, and I'd probably still suggesting getting a bench-top DMM at some point but I'd suggest starting with two decent quality handheld ones first. 3. It's not one of the tools that usually appears on "must have" lists, but since I got my Rigol DL3021A programmable load, I find myself using that thing all the time. It's insanely handy for testing anything power related - power supply circuits, batteries, PV solar panels, etc. I would say it's the third most frequently used bench-top tool I have after my power supply and my oscilloscope. 4. I own a bench-top logic analyzer (actually a couple, I sort of collect logic analyzers) but again, I find myself infrequently using the big honking bench-top tool and instead tend to grab a $25 USB logic analyzer connected to a laptop running Sigrok. Beyond that, the kinds of tools you'll find yourself needing depends a lot on what kinds of things you work on. For example, if you're into RF electronics you might want a dedicated spectrum analyzer, a frequency counter, RF power meter, dummy loads, etc. Or for some applications you might want a good high-voltage AC power supply. A power analyzer can also be pretty useful. And so on. One last comment: one thing I am personally a fan of is having test gear that has an Ethernet connection and support for the LXI standard. This lets you control automated test scenarios and do data logging to a PC in software. If you like the idea of being able to write code in Python or Java or whatever to control your test equipment and get data off of the devices, this is the way to go. And even though LXI is nominally a vendor neutral industry standard, I think these things tend to work better (in multi-device scenarios) when all of you kit is from the same manufacturer. That's one reason almost all of my test equipment is Rigol. I just decided to standardize on their stuff since I had a Rigol oscilloscope already. I do a have a few pieces of HP/Agilent/Keysight kit that I bought used on Ebay and one or two other random items that aren't Rigol, but the core stuff I use all the time is all Rigol. But any other manufacturer would be fine as well, I'm sure.
Power strip(s)/bar(s) with optional local switches and fuses. Good down lighting to the desk surface (LED light strips or Ikea style LED light "pucks"). A lamp on a swinging hinged arm (with our without magnifying glass). A microscope with a camera, like Louis Rossmann has & sells, (or an USB camera microscope) is definitely a luxury, but I can see it being very useful as well if ever used for these videos. Power supplies or variable voltage power supplies. Maybe a signal generator. Swinging hinged iPad holder and/or monitor arm.
Funny... your dad at the almost end of the vid said to use a pc psu... that was my first ever bench psu that I made from a psu and made it variable as well, very reliable and powerful supplies and cheap too for diy.
You'll want a light source on the workbench itself. Working in shadows is never fun. It might be worth the trouble to have a magnifying elbow lamp in addition to possibly puck lighting under the main shelf. Rope lighting on the middle shelf can give you just enough light to find something without it being obtrusive. My dad and my grandpa both got in the habit of installing lights underneath their desks or workbench because they always hated grabbing a flashlight when they dropped something. It might sound silly, but it's a huge quality of life improvement.
Think about adding a strip of LEDs under the bottom shelf to give you heaps of light on the work surface. Only other pieces of equipment (you already mentioned multimeter/power supply that would be quite generic and useful for testing that come to mind are a variable load and fume extractor/filter, you can get some variable loads with network/serial control so that you can do automated testing if that is of use to you.
I think I'll order some aluminum channel and try to wire in a Zigbee LED controller, that way I can have it controlled with the overhead amaran video light I also installed. More light == better!
Suggestion in case you still need a power supply - I recently was looking at them for my workstation and ended up getting an OWON SPM3103. It's a combination power supply and multimeter, with the same footprint as other common desktop power supplies. Has a nice LCD and is super convenient, would recommend! They have a few options for voltage/amperage but the 30V 10A was the most useful for me.
You need a good multimeter! Make sure you get one that is good high sampling rate for electronic work. I have a few and one of them is better for electrical work for high voltage that has an amp clamp and stuff but if you try to measure DC voltages or amperages it is very slow so you don't get a good picture if something draws up a bunch of power suddenly and then goes down and stuff like that. I highly recommend getting a good name brand like a fluke! Ready precision electronics work a good multimeter will be your number one tool! When my grandpa died i got his Fluke 77 that he purchased in 1988 when I was 4 years old lol still in the original case and the screen was a little messed up but wasn't no issue, so I took the screen out took isopropyl alcohol and cleaned the lines of contacts on the board and the screen assembly and put it back together all clean and nice and it works perfect. Sent it in to get recertified by fluke and that thing is honestly my favorite tool for any electronics work! I can measure anything and it reads any my new sudden changes in voltages and is amazing! I need to invest in a new like flute 117 or something like that, but this one being my grandpa's who repaired arcade equipment under his own company for 20 plus years, from pinball machines to cigarette machines to slot machines and any other machines and arcade gaming equipment, I grew up with his garage full of every game you could imagine and I never had to go to an arcade to play!
For a truly retro setup, have a word with Mr Carlson. He has a few (lol) Tube valve volt meters and such. The man is incredible. If nothing else he will be a mine of information :)
Maybe a variac? Always handy, btw R&S has some analyzers for FM, DAB etc and don't weigh a ton like back in the days. I'm not sure if you are into audio, you can build your own dummy loads and at the end measuring probes for measuring power, THD it's a small circuit you can make yourself for measuring amps. We hams make our own stuff. The less you have to buy, the better it is, and you can spend on other valuable things, I also have frequencies counters. And a lab multimeter is also a great thing to have, multiple ones, depending on the circuitry you have to measure. Good luck.
I just found your channel and am enjoying your projects and topics. For your bench, I would add a decent digital microscope, some nice led lighting under those shelves, and a small fume extracting fan.
Switching bench power supplies with constant current/voltage are very common and affordable. I have two single power supplies on my bench, one linear and one switching. Rigol has a dual that's pretty nice. You can get a nice digital function generator now from china for cheap that will do 20mhz. If you do mains power stuff an isolation transformer and variac are more affordable now. Get a digital microscope too, if you make videos that's a gimme. A tray full of different small tweezers, hemostats, pliers and cutters that you like. Oh and get one of the dispenser bottles nail techs use for IPA (flip open the lid and push down on the cap and it make a little pool.)
I was thinking if you had a T slot embedded into the front edge of both shelves, you could mount spot lights and or a camera over whatever you are working on... You could even make a helping hand that mounts on the T slot that moves any direction like a CNC head...
Power supplies: Obviously needs to fit the intended applications, but a couple of points: The widely-available "triple output" power supplies are very useful. Usually have two independent 0-30V (say) supplies, plus a low fixed-voltage supply, say switchable to 3.3V or 5V. And the two adjustable supplies have ability to set voltage and current (set one variable, use the other as a limit). Within that genre, I highly recommend getting a unit with the following characteristics: 1: A linear (ie: non-SMPS) supply: This avoids introducing high-frequency switching noise into your testing environment, radiated and especially conducted. (Of course you may have other inexpensive switching supplies for working on digital projects that don't care.) 2: A communicative display that allows you to see *simultaneously* the set values (voltage and current target/limits), and the *actual* output voltage and current. This much info almost requires a unit that has a "graphical" LCD display, rather than an LED or LCD 7-segment digits display. The latter usually require you to push buttons to switch the impoverished display between functions -- very tedious and error-prone to see the complete picture at a glance. 3: Soft output on/off buttons, including buttons for the individual outputs, and a button that powers up or down all supplies at once. This makes for cleaner power off/on transitions than mechanical switching of the outputs. With that said, Siglent and Rigol have such units. My vote is for the SPD3303X-E, as I think the UI is clearer than the comparable Rigol, but YMMV. And again, obviously such equipment should be chosen with your requirements (and budget) in mind. The above is just to lend some weight to some less-obvious features for this genre of PSU, if it's applicable.
@@KarldorisLambley Obviously I assume Jeff knows how power supplies work, that's not a point I wrote about. Here's what I considered: 16:04 "What's your essential tools you think we need to get next? [...] The second thing was a power supply with variable dual output, variable power supply or something like that," from which I noted (a) Jeff specifically asked for input, and (b) suggestions on power supplies in particular. I also considered that maybe you didn't hear that part.
I saw a unused monitor arm in the AM radio signal finder video , when ya'll put the unit on the office chair the monitor arm is to the right at the wall... A good power supply would be a Astron 35 amp variable model..... Way quieter than a SMPS .....
As a amateur deluxe, wall hung tools needs to get in there, and zipties - and quick-access tape of different kinds :P. Oh, and someone else mentioned it - lighting!
I'm hoping you (and your dad) find this helpful: 1) For your health: Hakko Fume Extractor FA-340 (I urge you to acquire, read up on fumes.) 2) For conserving space: ViewSonic VA1655 15.6 Inch 1080p Portable IPS Monitor and (purchase separately): A) mini HDMI-> full HDMI for Rpi & B) mini HDMI -> micro HDMI (for Pi Zero)
Two items, one I'll get shot down for but I still think it an essential, a hook and a pair of safety glasses and the other is a tape dispenser. I often use Capton Tape and masking tap (just for holding small things while I solder them and sometimes its handy to label wires with). The wide tape dispenser I have has the roll carrier made in two parts so it can carry two, inch wide rolls.
"Jumpery cablery things", techo-babble at it's best 😀 I love how Joe drops those phrases in there. Question for you new Radio Hams, what is your current farthest DX connection? Mine was UK to SA.
I love the relationship you have with your dad. Particularly telling him to retire so he can come and work with you. Seriously cool.
So wholesome indeed :)
I agree
I don't care which way your dad faces, having him on the channel is always a treat! :) I would add lighting, glue a metal thingy in the bottom of a shelf to stick the metal picker upper to, a flat and wide drawer underneath the table to store your quick-to-hand stuff like pliers and screwdrivers. The drawer idea works better on stand up benches and worse on sit down benches. A power bar or two. I always liked having a very shallow shelf at the back of the bench, say about 6 inches deep and 8 inches above the desk, for holding alcohol and getting the soldering iron off the desktop. It doesn't have to go all the way across. And a 1 inch lip at the back of the desk to keep stuff from rolling off the back of the desk.
I'm an RF engineer but my son is only 4. I hope when he's older we have the same relationship that you two have!
Make it happen. Here's wishing you a dream that'll come true.
let him watch while you tinker or repair stuff, I got into electronics because I saw my grandpa repair a power supply while he was at my house when I was a kid. It made me try to repair stuff too, which I wasn't very successful at when I was like 8 😅
But my parent gave me broken stuff they would have thrown away anyway and I would try to take them apart (you should probably supervise because I nearly died like two or three times fucking around with power electronics haha).
This makes me wanna call my dad over to finish setting up my workbench. Nice and wholesome video. My dad has a variable power supply, an oscilloscope and soldering iron and... well a lot of things I want to have to.
@@currenlydying Broken stuff is always fun... and I think most of us have a few near-death experiences tinkering with power supplies. Then you realize how much you need to respect power supplies and large caps :)
@@GeerlingEngineering Yes!! Especially the hit of joy you get when you manage to fix something someone gave you and you feel like a wizard giving them back the thing in a working condition! So many key memories have been made when I was younger and finally managed to be the tech guy of the family and bringing people joy by fixing their laptop when they were strapped for cash. I remember vividly fixing the yogurt machine for my highschool sweetheart's grandma and their family is still in contact with me because their grandma LOVED me for it haha.
Originally came to this channel for the nerdy stuff, stayed for the chill "dad and son works on random projects" vibes. I love the shelving on the bench you're putting together!
You might need a special lighting setup for your bench too. Maybe getting a microscope with a camera is a good idea too.
I second that: good lighting and a proper stereo microscope with a camera hookup (plus a good screen) is a must for a delicate work.
@@MikrySoft So begins a long hunt for the best value / quality microscope that I can also tie into recording / streaming. I may ask around some of the other RUclipsrs who I know do a lot of scope work on streams. Some do better live, some have better camera options... just don't want to spend a lot and not get a good value!
Not sure what Geerling is doing half the time, but his humbleness is truly compelling.
Yes! We need backstories, a day in the life vlog and other Jeff adventures. The people love you Jeff, we demand more! Obviously within reason ❤
Rest in peace to Mark. That was beautiful to honor your uncle/your brother. This is awesome. Hoping to use some ideas from this to build my own desk/workbench combo.
I miss working with my Dad. He tried to keep me away from his tools and equipment as a kid. Wouldn't let me anywhere near his shop or equipment.... Until he finally realized there was nothing he could do to keep me from working with my hands .
He Wanted me to focus on academics and become a dentist or doctor and not "waste my time working with tools".
He was a taxidermist for 61 years. As well as a knife maker and had patented materials/ high performance composites that he sold in bulk to all the biggest companies in the gun and knife industry over the last 30 years.
He finally gave up trying to keep me away from the tools and working with my hands. So by the age of about 15 he tolerated me using the stuff in his shop.
I really miss working with him. He Passed away a few weeks ago. Miss you Dad
Better lighting, magnifiying glass, different angle overhead cameras that stay part of the bench (think Adrian's Digital Basement), capture cards, streamdeck to manage cameras, perhaps even a mini-pc nearby or laptop to lookup things while working and I would go as far as saying an outlet that's isolated from everything on the bench to protect the tools from the test. Also a good Desoldering station both for large and tiny. Maybe even a reflow oven on the top shelf you can pull down when needed.
I hope people realize that designing that kind of avionics system is really impressive and noteworthy. I think naming this bench is actually a nice gesture and I hope it inspires you in your projects.
Really love the content you and your dad make. I miss my dad every day, and this reminded me of making shelves with him for the storage room of his store.
73 Jeff and Joe!
Great bench! As someone who has put together a pretty decent little electronics lab on a budget, I can highly recommend getting a benchtop multimeter (siglent or rigol make good ones, but a little on the pricey end). For most equipment I would consider the offerings from Siglent or Rigol. A good budget PSU is the Korad KA3005D, it is great bang per buck and is a great bridge between the super cheap chinese switching PSUs and the more expensive siglent and rigol ones.
I have seen a few comments about microscopes, and I definitely agree, I bought a cheap digital one, and as cool as it is to look at stuff, soldering with it is a bit of a pain because it is digital and you have zero depth perception. If you intend on soldering a lot of SMD stuff then an analog binocular microscope is your best bet. If you are doing RF work a little Nano VNA or a tinySA spectrum analyzer will allow you to look at what kind of noise your radios are putting out on what frequencies, as well as so much more in the field of RF.
This week I wound up buying a Siglent after watching far too many videos on multimeters :) God recommendation!
That bench would be perfect in my ham shack. Every radio and PS would fit with room to spare.
I'm both excited... and a bit nervous about my Dad's idea of putting in 2kW dummy loads and new power feeds at the desk, haha!
You should build you own dummy load. I have one my late grandfather built that I inherited.
You might need under-cabinet lighting for beneath that first shelf. Get a fan to exhaust solder fumes. Maybe a hands-free magnifier with a light source (typically on a boom). I little tray or two for little screws you get when disassembling stuff. Fire extinguisher. Trash can. Power strip.
Yes to all those, good ideas!
Great Job! It has been my pleasure since first video I've seen here. I'm in the same RF job for more than 30 years. Especially I love the way how you respect each other. These days it is not common unfortunately. Greetings from Belgrade/Serbia/Europe.
Came for the workbench, stayed for the awesome relationship you have with your dad!
Mark and Ellen are gems.
The best electronic work bench is actually a grounded steel table with a full antistatic mat on top if you work with very expensive ICs for repair or rework. The steel is an excellent conductor of electrons as compared to wood. After you put on your ESD wrist strap you can touch the front of the metal bench and you should not ever feel an ESD event. If you do your strap is probably bad. It is a secondary way to remove static from your body before working on electronics.
You could add an ESD floor mat, but you would have to ware ESD shoe straps, or buy ESD rated shoes. This allow you to lose the wrist strap, but you still ground yourself to the table before working on any electronics.
How the metal table is tied to AC earth ground is also interesting because you have many options. Usually there is a series resistance (many resistors in series) shunted by a capacitor (usually made up of several HV caps in series). This way you can remove any shock hazard. However, most troubleshooting benches that support AC repair have a fully isolated AC supply for the device under test.
I miss some sockets directly mounted on the bench if it's moved around. Just to have only one cord instead of mutiple.
An an indepentend light, maybe on an arm for the optimal lighting
OK, that Screw Montage was awesome!
I just started setting up my own electronics workbench on the other side of my office! Some good inspiration here.
My dad was also an engineer. I got my electronics degree because of him. Enjoy your dad, he won't be with you forever.
Those plastic blocks take up a lot of room. Steel flush plates from the bottom through the bench, construction screws, and it would be a much cleaner design. On the next level up, cut rectangles into a thick-high-quality plywood board and continue on up to the third level. Stiffen the plywood with a couple edge on strips of hardware. Hold the the middle level in place with dowels - no glue - to allow for future adjustments.
For holding boards up while measuring, drilling, etc., clamps are your friend.
In my 40+ years in electronics the best bench power supply I have owned is an old HP 6227B for low voltage applications. Common on eBay for 65$ and up. Nice work on the bench. Your father had some very good insights on bench design. Cheers.
As a ham and an EE, I really like your new bench. If you're doing ham stuff definitely a cheap vna and spectrum analyzer would be nice. Also for electronics, you probably want an electronic load for testing batteries and power supplies.
Just last week I was working on my own bench and now I find this! I'll bring in some of your ideas and from the comments too, thank you
At my college, we had something similar to what you have shown last video holding the little cat6 cables on the wall beside the server rack, but we used it to hold the jumper cables and alligator clips and multimeter leads and oscilloscope probes when they're not in use.
It's a great way to get rid of the cable mess on the work bench 😅
Alternatively, You might use the plastic cable duct without its cover (like the one you used above the server rack), but you'll need to file the edges so the cables don't get damaged by them.
By the way, the video I was referring to was on your third channel where you installed the security camera, I got confused and thought this channel was it😅
Do you plan to document some of your ham radio projects or experiments ? I'd LOVE to see what you do with ham radio !
Consider adding some built-in things for filming your work on electronics! Like a way to mount an overhead camera (or a dedicated one), mounted lights, things like that. Since you're not just engineer but you're also a RUclipsr!
It is always a wonderful, memorable experience to build something with your father, I have lost mine a couple of years ago I wish everyone treasure their time with their folks, we are busy growing up and finding the meaning of life, often we forgot our parents are growing old too. I like videos like this that you guys work on a project together, it’s wholesome content ❤
Glad I found your channel what a treat 😊
I used the exact same bench for my workshop build. Fantastic quality for a good price.
The bench top is quite thick; I have no qualms about mounting anything on it. I could probably sand it down 100 times if need be, makes it more likely I won't worry about messing up the surface too much.
@@GeerlingEngineering No doubt! For my bench I wanted a backspash to prevent stuff from potentially rolling off the back. I bought some nice maple 1x6's, varnished them clear to match the worktop and screwed them onto the back. I then ran a bead of clear silicon where the board met the worktop. It looks really slick!
@@moelassus I used kitchen counter, and used the upstand that matches screwed on the back to stop things disappearing, all supported on some nice chrome table legs. My shelf is at 12", could do with another like shown. I think if my scope was at 17" I would look like i was at a heavy metal concert head banging!
What a beautiful video. I've been working on the same project. Your video's keep amazing me like you're always working on the same projects as I do, even before the video gets released. Wonderful job, working with your dad and realising things like this. I'm all on my own on these projects, so the advice you're giving is really helpful. Thank you.
ideas for extra gear:
perhaps a multiwave signal generator?
an overhead camera and mic?
uss enterprise warp core... or just a very variable power supply!
isolating power transformer (so not to trip the main breakers)
keyboard/mouse shelf underneath
floor grounding mat
components rack
just ideas hopefully useful
Love everytime your dad is on! I’d have a pair of speakers and and a small amp for testing outputs and a bit of music too. Those could be underhung to save shelf space. Also a small monitor for checking outputs of devices and computers and such.
I actually just ordered a little single-USB-speaker, might order a couple more, and a little 3.5mm speaker too.
Siglent makes some nice dual-output linear power supplies; I have the SPD3303X-E but there's also a non-E variant if you need higher precision (you can set it in 1 mV increments rather than 10 mV increments).
Other stuff: get a fume extractor for soldering (the Hakko one is well-regarded); flux has stuff in it that you don't want to breathe. For multimeters, I've always used portable multimeters (I like my EEVBlog blue Brymen), but a benchtop one might be nice to have for a permanent workbench like this. And the more lighting, the better-- I'd get some LED strip lighting to go underneath the shelves, a nice bright task light on an arm for work on the desk top, and maybe one of those magnifier light thingies (technical term) to help with really fine work.
I would add a small clamp on bench vise with a swivel base and soft jaws and a digital microscope on a stand, You will need some heavier duty soldering irons for bigger stuff like heavy terminals on large wire and solder style N and PL259 connectors.
I like standing height benches but I usually pair it with a bar height chair instead of moving a standing desk up and down.
I also would add an ultrasonic cleaner, to clean the nasty flux. And maybe a fume extractor.
Too clean and neat for an electronics workbench! 😋
Heh, I already made a small gouge in the ESD mat while I was testing an antenna this morning. It shall become 'used'!
My home workbench makes up for any overly organized issues at Jeff’s studio!
don't forget bigclive's law of benches, i am paraphrasing, but a bench's utility is inversely proportional to how tidy it is.
It might not be useful in your normal computer based endeavours, but if you're interested in exploring antenna theory more I would highly recommend a VNA. If pocket size is okay over bech top, you can get a nanoVNA for relatively cheap, or for a higher frequency range the liteVNA. Personally I'm still learning a ton, but mine helped a lot with understanding impedance and building matching circuits 😊
Also worth a shout-out is the tinySA spectrum analyzer!
Love the videos!!
When working alongside my dad when I was younger was always yelling and screaming 'you didn't do this right, didn't do that right' etc... Glad to see something like this :)
Oh. Wow. At [0:32] you show the old Mac, and an old Apple computer in a brown carry case. I have what appears to be that very same case, containing my one-owner Apple ][+ from 1978 or '79. Mine was an Apple ][ that the computer store upgraded to ][+ (with Apple's permission) by swapping in the Applesoft BASIC autostart ROMs.
I wish you well with the workshop, bench build, and your vintage Apple systems.
Very cool! That Apple ][ belonged to my Uncle Mark (his wife passed it along to us after he died)-it will be an honor cleaning it up lightly and making it run again. My Dad actually helped convince him to buy the ][ and it includes a bunch of (hopefully working) cassettes. One of the very early models with no floppy disk drive!
@@GeerlingEngineering Same here, I used cassettes (still have the Panasonic recorder the store bundled with it!). I finally bought Franklin floppy drives at Children's Palace or Toy Chest because they were cheaper.
There's an online registry of vintage Apple computers, I keep meaning to add mine to it. You provide the serial number and such. They even have the black Bell & Howell versions.
This video definitely makes me want to have my dad come over and help set up my workbench. Thank you.
A bench is a living organism, you will change and adapt it over time for comfort, efficiency as your interests evolve. A few things though are always needed, maximum horizontal work surface, lots of lighting, magnification options (plural), easy access to stable power (ac, dc, usb, variable, with safe turn on), instruments with large easily readable fonts, safety gear (fire, ventilation), quick access (in eyesight, no drawers) to common hand tools like cutters, strippers, etc. Best thing to do in my opinion is to watch folks doing real work and look how they configure their workspace.
If you want to do some digital RF modes, you'll need a PC. If you want to get on HF or VHF, get a skid weighted down with some cinder blocks on that flat roof and stick a vertical on it. You could easily put an VHF/UHF antenna + HF vertical and work the world! Can't wait to see what's next on the electronics bench.
If you're going to keep chemistry on that top shelf, it might be a good idea to glue a strip of 1"X1" to the top-front to help keep the bottles from tipping over onto your head.
Yeah... Chemicals on the top shelf above your head... not conducive to a relaxing work experience at the bench!
A decent multi output power supply with PC interface for programming; Equally a decent electronic load for testing power supplies. Maybe a small ish monitor, keyboard and mouse options.
i would say you need some forest mimms books and radioshack phamplets - he talked about all kinds of electronics - lots of op amps and timers etc, this project worked out great basically imo even with a distinct absence of rsj. you do need a variable ps, you need some ref books (mims), you need a smaller whiteboard or chalkboard - you probably need a laptop or a pi and small monitor. you need a fire extinguisher and vent for fumes, you need antenna making supplies and you need one of those small antenna lcd gadgets to look at swr and smith chart of antenna, you need analog swr meter, you may need a tiny tv and a radio of some sort plus you need a scanner and a phone and you need a cube with all the drawers for parts. the magnetic bars so you can have quick access to tools is nice but don't forget the demagnetizer also - a wiha works, you do need multi antenna and some rols of lmr 400 and maybe even helical, get a total spectrum awareness campaign going and you do need the ips/ids for network plus just surprise us with odd things people may never have thought of - combine all the best suggestions into a list and then order them in terms of acquisition - make some custom circuits - random number gen and such - bargain hunt on ebay. you need the little adjustable arms setup to hold components and you need anti static considerations
Great build. At some point (as test articles get older) a Variac would be a good addition.
well thats cool dad you got bro.
Few adjustable ( articulated ) sources of good light is a must on every workbench.
You will get value out of having some scheme for hanging a variety of oscilloscope probes with all of the different types of alligator and banana connectors near the bench and scope. If you do any serious PCB design and repair, a bright light, magnifying glass and/or camera / microscope will be virtually required given the size of modern surface mount devices.
Lighting! You gotta mount a light bar under that first shelf. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to see what you’re working on.
Lighting!
If it were my setup, I'd mount a bright LED strip that spans the entire length of the underside of the 1st shelf. That way you don't end up with shadows from your hands/probes/etc. while you're working on tight components.
Your needs will likely be a little different since you also have to consider how it will look while being filmed.
Needs a bench top variable power supply! I added one I picked up from a ham swap meet, and I use it several times a week! How did I live without it before? I spent way too much time digging through boxes of wall warts
2mm flat blade "terminal" screwdriver works great as a centerpunch in wood.
A sand-catch for burying fires from lithium-ion batteries. Also handy to extinguish wooden sticks to light commemorative candles in memory of our beloved ones.
Ah yes! I actually have my nice sand bucket at home... forgot to put another one together here.
Digital display microscope for looking at surface mount components, solder bridges on pins etc would be a good addition. Cheers
A digital microscope for soldering would definitely be worth picking up!
A beautiful homage to your Uncle, Jeff. May he rest in eternal peace de 2E0TWD
lighting on the underside is a must. also you could put a camera mount so you can have a face down shot of stuff you are working on. maybe a power strip or two with ground fault protection and surge protection too.
For heavy duty monitor stands/swivels, very happy with Ergotron brand. I have one for my standing desk setup in the home office.
They are built incredibly well. Much nicer than the cheap "torque it until it almost strips, and it barely holds the monitor" arms I have at my main desk :O
Definitely missing a (long form) light mounted to the shelves to light up your work area, also a bench mounted magnifying glass, might take some advantage of a digital microscope
That's awesome. I got my career by tinkering with computers and electronics. If you are going to do a lot of RF what about a service monitor/analyzer? I have an IFR 1600 but there are much smaller ones that don't need an anvil case to transport. I hope to inherit some motorola ones. Pretty much everything you need in one box. Sure your dad could recommend one. I think we all have/use one at some point.
To that extent that you are interested in commentary from the peanut gallery, I'll offer this:
1. A good power supply is definitely a critical item. I use a Rigol DP832A and I recommend something similar.
2. I bought a nice Rigol bench-top DMM when I was putting my lab together... and have basically never used it. I always find myself reaching for one or more of my handheld DMM's instead. It's hard to explain exactly why, and I'd probably still suggesting getting a bench-top DMM at some point but I'd suggest starting with two decent quality handheld ones first.
3. It's not one of the tools that usually appears on "must have" lists, but since I got my Rigol DL3021A programmable load, I find myself using that thing all the time. It's insanely handy for testing anything power related - power supply circuits, batteries, PV solar panels, etc. I would say it's the third most frequently used bench-top tool I have after my power supply and my oscilloscope.
4. I own a bench-top logic analyzer (actually a couple, I sort of collect logic analyzers) but again, I find myself infrequently using the big honking bench-top tool and instead tend to grab a $25 USB logic analyzer connected to a laptop running Sigrok.
Beyond that, the kinds of tools you'll find yourself needing depends a lot on what kinds of things you work on. For example, if you're into RF electronics you might want a dedicated spectrum analyzer, a frequency counter, RF power meter, dummy loads, etc. Or for some applications you might want a good high-voltage AC power supply. A power analyzer can also be pretty useful. And so on.
One last comment: one thing I am personally a fan of is having test gear that has an Ethernet connection and support for the LXI standard. This lets you control automated test scenarios and do data logging to a PC in software. If you like the idea of being able to write code in Python or Java or whatever to control your test equipment and get data off of the devices, this is the way to go. And even though LXI is nominally a vendor neutral industry standard, I think these things tend to work better (in multi-device scenarios) when all of you kit is from the same manufacturer. That's one reason almost all of my test equipment is Rigol. I just decided to standardize on their stuff since I had a Rigol oscilloscope already. I do a have a few pieces of HP/Agilent/Keysight kit that I bought used on Ebay and one or two other random items that aren't Rigol, but the core stuff I use all the time is all Rigol. But any other manufacturer would be fine as well, I'm sure.
A can of minwax to finish / match the bench top would help protect it and make it look even better. An inexpensive change that will go a long way.
Love the jump cuts at 9:30!
Power strip(s)/bar(s) with optional local switches and fuses.
Good down lighting to the desk surface (LED light strips or Ikea style LED light "pucks").
A lamp on a swinging hinged arm (with our without magnifying glass).
A microscope with a camera, like Louis Rossmann has & sells, (or an USB camera microscope) is definitely a luxury, but I can see it being very useful as well if ever used for these videos.
Power supplies or variable voltage power supplies.
Maybe a signal generator.
Swinging hinged iPad holder and/or monitor arm.
Congrats on your appearance in the June 2024 issue of QST.
Thank you!
love the bench, but I love the tribute to your uncle even more
A digital microscope, one of those with a HDMI output, are extremely handy for an electronics workbench.
Funny... your dad at the almost end of the vid said to use a pc psu... that was my first ever bench psu that I made from a psu and made it variable as well, very reliable and powerful supplies and cheap too for diy.
Pana vice is a great addition
You'll want a light source on the workbench itself. Working in shadows is never fun. It might be worth the trouble to have a magnifying elbow lamp in addition to possibly puck lighting under the main shelf. Rope lighting on the middle shelf can give you just enough light to find something without it being obtrusive. My dad and my grandpa both got in the habit of installing lights underneath their desks or workbench because they always hated grabbing a flashlight when they dropped something. It might sound silly, but it's a huge quality of life improvement.
Think about adding a strip of LEDs under the bottom shelf to give you heaps of light on the work surface. Only other pieces of equipment (you already mentioned multimeter/power supply that would be quite generic and useful for testing that come to mind are a variable load and fume extractor/filter, you can get some variable loads with network/serial control so that you can do automated testing if that is of use to you.
I think I'll order some aluminum channel and try to wire in a Zigbee LED controller, that way I can have it controlled with the overhead amaran video light I also installed. More light == better!
@@GeerlingEngineering ... but watch out for LED PSU and brightness-control switching noise.
I think you are going to have to build a 2nd identical, connecting bench. You will eventually need more space. Thanks for the enjoyable videos.
A function generator, an isolation transformer, and a computer to program Arduinos and similar without leaving the bench.
Suggestion in case you still need a power supply - I recently was looking at them for my workstation and ended up getting an OWON SPM3103. It's a combination power supply and multimeter, with the same footprint as other common desktop power supplies. Has a nice LCD and is super convenient, would recommend! They have a few options for voltage/amperage but the 30V 10A was the most useful for me.
You need a good multimeter! Make sure you get one that is good high sampling rate for electronic work. I have a few and one of them is better for electrical work for high voltage that has an amp clamp and stuff but if you try to measure DC voltages or amperages it is very slow so you don't get a good picture if something draws up a bunch of power suddenly and then goes down and stuff like that. I highly recommend getting a good name brand like a fluke! Ready precision electronics work a good multimeter will be your number one tool! When my grandpa died i got his Fluke 77 that he purchased in 1988 when I was 4 years old lol still in the original case and the screen was a little messed up but wasn't no issue, so I took the screen out took isopropyl alcohol and cleaned the lines of contacts on the board and the screen assembly and put it back together all clean and nice and it works perfect. Sent it in to get recertified by fluke and that thing is honestly my favorite tool for any electronics work! I can measure anything and it reads any my new sudden changes in voltages and is amazing! I need to invest in a new like flute 117 or something like that, but this one being my grandpa's who repaired arcade equipment under his own company for 20 plus years, from pinball machines to cigarette machines to slot machines and any other machines and arcade gaming equipment, I grew up with his garage full of every game you could imagine and I never had to go to an arcade to play!
Power distribution for the equipment you have on there so that you only need to plug the bench in would be a nice thing
Those montages were UTTERLY glorious Jeff, I wonder how long that took you in the edit 😂
For a truly retro setup, have a word with Mr Carlson. He has a few (lol) Tube valve volt meters and such. The man is incredible. If nothing else he will be a mine of information :)
You need Signal Generator and Spectrum Analyzer
Would love to have the space for one of these. My suggestions would be a [1] Fume extractor and a [2] Microscope
Maybe a variac? Always handy, btw R&S has some analyzers for FM, DAB etc and don't weigh a ton like back in the days. I'm not sure if you are into audio, you can build your own dummy loads and at the end measuring probes for measuring power, THD it's a small circuit you can make yourself for measuring amps. We hams make our own stuff. The less you have to buy, the better it is, and you can spend on other valuable things, I also have frequencies counters. And a lab multimeter is also a great thing to have, multiple ones, depending on the circuitry you have to measure. Good luck.
My Dad has a nice old variac, would love to have one at minimum for making things heat up or pop :D
outlets. When you think you have enough - double it... then add more. Never fails, 6 outlet strips and 3 extension cords later you'll need more.
So at least 96 outlets, got it! :D
Great workbench for dad!
Thanks for sharing
Regards
I just found your channel and am enjoying your projects and topics. For your bench, I would add a decent digital microscope, some nice led lighting under those shelves, and a small fume extracting fan.
RIP Mark.
May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Switching bench power supplies with constant current/voltage are very common and affordable. I have two single power supplies on my bench, one linear and one switching. Rigol has a dual that's pretty nice. You can get a nice digital function generator now from china for cheap that will do 20mhz. If you do mains power stuff an isolation transformer and variac are more affordable now. Get a digital microscope too, if you make videos that's a gimme. A tray full of different small tweezers, hemostats, pliers and cutters that you like. Oh and get one of the dispenser bottles nail techs use for IPA (flip open the lid and push down on the cap and it make a little pool.)
I kept waiting for you to fix your dad's hair...
Awesome tribute
I was thinking if you had a T slot embedded into the front edge of both shelves, you could mount spot lights and or a camera over whatever you are working on...
You could even make a helping hand that mounts on the T slot that moves any direction like a CNC head...
Power supplies: Obviously needs to fit the intended applications, but a couple of points: The widely-available "triple output" power supplies are very useful. Usually have two independent 0-30V (say) supplies, plus a low fixed-voltage supply, say switchable to 3.3V or 5V. And the two adjustable supplies have ability to set voltage and current (set one variable, use the other as a limit). Within that genre, I highly recommend getting a unit with the following characteristics:
1: A linear (ie: non-SMPS) supply: This avoids introducing high-frequency switching noise into your testing environment, radiated and especially conducted. (Of course you may have other inexpensive switching supplies for working on digital projects that don't care.)
2: A communicative display that allows you to see *simultaneously* the set values (voltage and current target/limits), and the *actual* output voltage and current. This much info almost requires a unit that has a "graphical" LCD display, rather than an LED or LCD 7-segment digits display. The latter usually require you to push buttons to switch the impoverished display between functions -- very tedious and error-prone to see the complete picture at a glance.
3: Soft output on/off buttons, including buttons for the individual outputs, and a button that powers up or down all supplies at once. This makes for cleaner power off/on transitions than mechanical switching of the outputs.
With that said, Siglent and Rigol have such units. My vote is for the SPD3303X-E, as I think the UI is clearer than the comparable Rigol, but YMMV. And again, obviously such equipment should be chosen with your requirements (and budget) in mind. The above is just to lend some weight to some less-obvious features for this genre of PSU, if it's applicable.
lol. i'll bet jeff really needed to read that wall of text. did you not consider he may already know how power supplies work?
@@KarldorisLambley Obviously I assume Jeff knows how power supplies work, that's not a point I wrote about. Here's what I considered: 16:04 "What's your essential tools you think we need to get next? [...] The second thing was a power supply with variable dual output, variable power supply or something like that," from which I noted (a) Jeff specifically asked for input, and (b) suggestions on power supplies in particular. I also considered that maybe you didn't hear that part.
I saw a unused monitor arm in the AM radio signal finder video , when ya'll put the unit on the office chair the monitor arm is to the right at the wall... A good power supply would be a Astron 35 amp variable model..... Way quieter than a SMPS .....
Love you 2 so much fun
As a amateur deluxe, wall hung tools needs to get in there, and zipties - and quick-access tape of different kinds :P. Oh, and someone else mentioned it - lighting!
Yeah, if your Dad took over this channel, that would be great. :)
I'm hoping you (and your dad) find this helpful:
1) For your health: Hakko Fume Extractor FA-340 (I urge you to acquire, read up on fumes.)
2) For conserving space: ViewSonic VA1655 15.6 Inch 1080p Portable IPS Monitor and (purchase separately): A) mini HDMI-> full HDMI for Rpi & B) mini HDMI -> micro HDMI (for Pi Zero)
Two items, one I'll get shot down for but I still think it an essential, a hook and a pair of safety glasses and the other is a tape dispenser. I often use Capton Tape and masking tap (just for holding small things while I solder them and sometimes its handy to label wires with). The wide tape dispenser I have has the roll carrier made in two parts so it can carry two, inch wide rolls.
Ah yes, a few tape dispensers, one for kapton, one for scotch (clear) tape, would be handy.
"Jumpery cablery things", techo-babble at it's best 😀 I love how Joe drops those phrases in there. Question for you new Radio Hams, what is your current farthest DX connection? Mine was UK to SA.
And we all understood exactly what he meant.