22. Well, first off, of course, you'd need your basic screwdrivers/nippers/pliers. Jameco has a 57-piece "Master Electronics Tool Kit" for $131, with side cutters, several types of pliers, a parts tube, 6" stainless steel scissors, solder wick, 5 pc. file set, PVC insulated tape, an oil can, a carpenter's hammer, and more.
total- $131
Of course, everyone needs a soldering iron. Jameco offers several, ranging from a $17 butane model to a $500 100W soldering station. I'm going to go with a $50 soldering station with electronically-varied temperature.
total- $181
A good DMM is probably a must. Jameco has a digital benchtop model that looks pretty good, it's $166.
total- $347
Halfway there. Now, you'd probably need a power supply, so let's check on those. There's a fairly small but adequate digital power supply for $190.
total- $535
Sixty-five dollars to go. Let's get a breadboard first, there's a good-sized one for $34.
total- $570
Let's get some component grab bags. Always useful to have around. $6 for a ceramic cap grab bag; $6 for a bag of electrolytic; $7 for a bag of 1/2 watt resistors; $7 for a bag of pots.
Total = $595.05
Five dollars left to buy a pizza and a 2-liter to celebrate.
Google Docs copy of the cart:
http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dfp5x7tw_7cr9zp8g4&revision=_latest
The best part is, it's all from one place in one order. (Except the pizza, sadly.)
Posted at 10:39AM on Jan 21st 2008 by Skyler Orlando
23. ~$200 (used, eBay, etc) Metcal MX500-11P Soldering work station
~$110 (new) Panavise Work board holder + standard head
~$100 (new) Weller 6970, 750w heat-gun w/nozzle set
~$50 (eBay) Metcal STTP 5-tip standard set
~$30 (new) Solder wick as follows:
(x2)60-2-10 no-clean desoldering braid
(x2)60-5-10 no-clean desoldering braid
~$30 (new) Extech MN36 digital multimeter
~$20 (new) American Lighting LTG9319 Magnifying desk lamp
~$10 (new) general Pb-free solder paste, 5cc syringe
~$10 (new) ESD wrist-strap
~$10 (new) 1/2lb SAC 305 Pb-free solder wire, .032
~$10 (new) 1lb 60/40 rosin core solder wire, .032
~$10 (new) General tool set (wire cutter, needle-nose pliers, bent-nose pliers)
~$5 (new) Helping Hands magnifier + 2 arms
~$5 (new) Kester solder paste, 2oz
~$5 (new) GC liquid flux, 1/2oz
~$5 (new) Xcelite XHT700 fine-tip tweezers
Comes to a total of $605, but I can pitch in the extra few $$$. Most of this I use actively to begin with, some of them are still on the ol' wishlist :P
Posted at 12:39PM on Jan 21st 2008 by Michael Haring
25. Well when we were starting up a first team a couple of years back the first thing we hit was job lot, spent about 150$ and had most of the basic tools we needed then headed to wall-mart and target for some ratchet wrenches, a decent tool chest, and other random slightly HQ tools than job lot had about another 170$ then we just went to home depot for things like tap and die sets, and dremmel bits.
Posted at 3:29PM on Jan 21st 2008 by cokebottle tuque
26. I don't even need $600.
The sort of kit I use every day can be purchased for less than $50:
A resistor and an LED is probably the most commonly used debugging circuit ever. In a pinch, it could be pulled from an old circuit board. Older model VCRs have lots of reusable through hole components.
Bent up paperclips for improvised probes and jumpers.
Power supply from a junked PC (found four last week at the curb).
Breadboard. The $8 Radio Shack model mentioned earlier is fine.
Spool of solid, four conductor phone wire purchased from surplus ($10 or less). Provides red, green, black, and red wires perfect for the breadboard.
Baking soda and a piece of emory cloth for cleaning up all the corroded battery terminals found on junked electronics.
Harbor Freight carries lots of handy, cheap tools, such as a soldering iron, screw driver set, security bits, and a $2 DMM. $20 goes a long way here.
The most expensive piece of equipment I use regularly is the Atmel STK-500 ($79, but I think Arrow is having a promotion for $40). I could wire up a parallel port programmer and mount the AVR on a breadboard, but this is easier and I got it for free.
Metcal makes really nice soldering irons, but I use a $5 no name model for nearly everything.
Solder flux. I have an ancient container with a 59 cent price tag. It's about the size of an Altoids tin and will probably be a lifetime supply. It's a life saver when solder just won't stick.
The one tool I wish I had is a logic analyzer. Good for capturing serial data in addition to the traditional address/data bus. Purchased an HP on eBay, but missing cables and disk.
Posted at 4:27PM on Jan 21st 2008 by huns80
27. #20: "Thus, you can keep them pinned to the PCB rather than having to try and work your way from the shortest components to the tallest, balancing the PCB etc."
hahahaha i know that strategy too well :P
I don't see everyone getting a power supply! That is the most required piece. Having something reliable to run you project during testing is a must! Also, some people are using PC powersupplies, that will work but come on invest a little :)
28. all i would realy need is
600 dollars worth of duct tape
Posted at 5:30PM on Jan 21st 2008 by JAVY
29. ... $600 fireworks/ explosives, cause everyone knows the best way to fix something is to not have it at all or... to fix said object with explosives...
well per se i have never had to price anything out because my dad (being a ham radio person) has all of this stuff in the basement anything except for blank circuit board makes it really hard to price so here is my list
having your dad as a ham radio nut - priceless
for everything else there is master card (not really but hey)
anyways an actual list
oscilloscope - $100 (get one from a HamFest great deals there)
assorted wire 100' - $2,3,4,5 (depends)
printed circuit board - $8
table grinder - $40 (another hamfest item)
sodering iron - $10-$30 (but you most likely already have one or two)
plenty of spare/scrap parts - already bought
and your mix of other stuff people mentioned depending on what you do, or like to make
(on a side note hamfest's are the best place to find almost anything for a good deal =) )
Posted at 6:02PM on Jan 21st 2008 by A_Blind_man
30. I see a lot of mentions of expensive scopes and very cheap soldering irons. In my experience, you can't build very much without a good iron, and a great set of small hand tools. All other concerns are secondary. To that end;
Essential Components
----
° Weller WTCPT Solder station ($160)
° Panavice 300 series vice with 303 standard head ($50)
° Snap-on PL400B 4-piece electronic toolset (Cutters, pliers, angle-cutters) ($130)
° Other misc. tools (Solder sucker, screw drivers (jewelers, and of larger sizes, etc.) ($50)
Other:
-------
° Microchip ICD2 ($160)
° Small drawers for components ($10)
° Small overhead movable lamp ($20)
° Adjustable power supply (Components: LM317 + pot + meter: $10, this should be your first project!)
Free (essential) things:
--------
° Old scope, 5 to 15mhz
° Junk box, filled with old broken things, to scrounge parts from
Posted at 9:03PM on Jan 21st 2008 by silic0re
31. @#20 - heat kills components. Ive found that being afraid of burns means you are burning more than yourself.
On the rare occasion that I need to pin down a component with my fingers, that extra feedback tells me when hot is too hot. I wouldnt want to insulate myself from that.
A better strategy is bending the leads on the solder side of the board. on ic chips, tack the 4 corners then work around in a spiral from outer pins to inner pins.
worried about heat still? use a clip. but seriously... gloves are silly (its the "be a man and suck it up" moment of the post ;)
Everyone mentions pan-vices and second hands and whatever. I have never needed anything like that. there are always strategies to hold a board. (I suppose I could claim a bit of manual dexterity as well...)
As for the task at hand:
$600 is a lot of cash for simple but useful tech bench. a bare minimum budget of a small breadboard (how often have you completely filled that massive 3 tier board?), a good iron set (iron, solder, desolder braid, a desolder pump is also usefull), and a selection of basic parts will get you where ever you want to go. Remember that the only bench that matters is in your head: Out there, away from your tools and your components and your O-scopes... what can you make happen?
I'd add that most components are useless till you find a project for them, so generally it is better to buy as you need and scavange the rest. You'll learn more that way anyhow.
The only high dollar items I would recomend are a good multimeter (perhaps two, analog and digital. both have advantages and disadvantages and often complement each other). If possible, a scope is nice, but you might not turn it on much (depends on the type of projects you do).
Id spend that cash on knowledge base: books, classes, etc.
So, here's my list (no values, you have all posted them several times)
1 - soldering iron kit (30w)
2 - breadboard small (strip your own wire from old cables esp cat5 plenum)
3 - basic assortment of resistors, caps, pots, and switches
4 - multimeter
5 - brain training.. A good reference bookshelf is worth more than any piece of equipment ever will be.
6 - take a class. Various manufactures of hardware/software offer (often free) classes. For example: National Instruments. This is especially true of automation hardware manufacturers. Also, check out demo software of usefull applications. Give Mathlab a spin. Try out Electronics Workbench. Play with Eagle. Download all of the free versions of MS Dev studio (if you work on that flavor of o.s.). Enjoy the free-ness of linux and the latest round of electronics software.
7 - (the most important) Spend the bulk of your cash starting a group in your area or contributing to an existing one in the area, such a Robotics group, a maker group, or a PC hacker group.
I dont see the sense in blowing a wad of cash then staring at your bench with all its new toys and parts and asking yourself "well... what the f$!k do I do now?"
Posted at 10:34PM on Jan 21st 2008 by MRE
32. p.s of all the big budget items, I dont remember anyone mentioning a good function generator. its actually more usefull than an o-scope, and generally, the two go together very well.
example: using a function gen to drive your motor h-bridge is a simple way to test it out as well as quickly find (and tune) the frequencies/duty cycles your motors operate best at.
Posted at 10:42PM on Jan 21st 2008 by MRE
33. Just wanted to say that I think postings like this are a great part of the Hack-A-Day mix.
Posted at 11:11PM on Jan 21st 2008 by m.c.cookie
34. I've done this in NZ$ using Jaycar electronics (http://www.jaycar.co.nz )mostly as they are local I can go in and pick everything up other suppliers are listed.
Soldering Station $114.50 Part No. TS1440
0.71mm Duratech Solder - 200gm $4.50 Part No. NS3005
Side Cutters $5.95 Part No.TH1890
Needle Nose Pliers $5.95 Part No.TH1893
Precision Screwdriver Set $6.25 Part No.TD2017
Metal Desolder Tool $8 Part No.TH1862
Multimeter $15 Part No.QM1535
Pin vice $6.25 Part No.TH1772
Breadboard - 1660 tie points $22.50 Part No.PB8816
Mini bench vice $8.25 Part No. TH1764
Anti Static Wrist Strap $6.25 Part No. TH1780
Stainless Steel Tweezer Set $4.45 Part No.TH1752
Mini Glue Gun $8.50 Part No.TH1990
2x 7.4mm Glue Sticks For Mini Gun - Pk.6 $1.40 x2 Part No.TH1991
Drill Bits - Drill Pack - Pk.10 $8.50 Part No.TD2400
Step Drill Bits - 12-20mm (awesome for drilling out holes in panels) $16.50 Part No.TD2438
Light Duty Hook-up Wire Pack $16.50 Part No.WH3009
Twi-Wing screwdriver $4.99 http://www.consolesource.com/ecomm/catalog/Tri-Wing-Screwdriver-for-Wii-NDS-GameBoy-p-2481.html
Storage bins for parts from Jaycar I hate a dirty workbench for hacking
4 x small $3.85 each Part No. HB6317
2 x large $9.5 each Part No. HB6318
Cordless Drill generic brand about $40 at local hardware store
Bar fridge (I hate warm drinks) approx $136 (had to convert from NZ$) from a local applicance store
=$476
The rest on Misc common parts Resistors, caps, LEDs, beer etc.
A scope would be nice but better to build one using the sound card in the computer than spend half the budget on it.
Posted at 12:07AM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Ph4tanic
35. you guys have some pretty good ideas and
have found a few good deals
I bet everyone has spent way more than 600 on the very same stuff they are listing
myself I have the trunk or my car or the back of my suv is where I work from
and I know it sounds a bit off when all goes wrong my hacking tool of choice
cutting torch and a 4 lb hammer
I couldn't even try to put a list of tools I use together
just becasue it is all over the place
I use the basic stuff soldering iron srcew drivers pliers etc etc but
no one has mentioned a clamp meter at all I guess not many people like to place with high voltages I wouldn't go a day with out my ideal clamp meter does all the normal meter stuff
plus a nice clamp for measuring ac current
also my home build 12v led test light / logic probe
I do a lot of auto motive stuff having a test light that wont set off airbags is a very nice thing ps if anyone wants
the circuit for this just say so
hmm no one mentioned a cordless drill even a elcheapo
would be in my kit
Posted at 12:15AM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Rob
37. Hey, guys.
Be very careful with this business!!!
If you get caught your life will become a complete disaster and you will end up with something like that:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22144851@N03/2192771838
You see where all my budget goes...
;-)
Posted at 1:56PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Artur Petrovskyy
38. Lets see what we've got here.
Hand built logic tester - $10
Benchtop DMM - Fluke 8050A (Ebay) - $25
Big ol' Dremel look-alike kit - (Princess Auto) $89.00 (Sale)
Computer ATX Power supply conversion - 35$.
Newegg P/N N82E16817103428
Additional circuitry to make a variable voltage output from computer ATX supply - $55 (0-48VDC)
PC Based oscilloscope Oscilloscope DiSco - $170.00 (http://www.hobbylab.us/)
Various guage wire spools - $60
Various solder spools - $55
Flux pen - $19 (Digikey)
automatic wire stripper - $15
Soldering Iron (100W) - $50 (Ebay)
Techs mini tool kit (needlenose pliers, small assortment of screwdrivers, side cutters) - $17
If you really want to break the bank (and I did because some of the more expensive things on my list are already mine with no purchase necessary)
Throw in the LAP-16128U 16 Channel USB Based Logic Analyzer (http://www.saelig.com) 299.00
Posted at 2:38PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Sparks
39. $300 for tools purchased at garage sales
$300 for parts cannibalized for items purchased at garage sales
this is how i have 3 chests of tools and 4 boxes of parts
Posted at 7:44PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by bigboy
40. Wow I only wish I had $600.00 when I started.
I have an old 20mhz dual trace oscilloscope that was donated.
Lots of hand-tools that were bought generally one at a time.
But the most useful things are the ones I have built. Like my backlight lcd screen for working on display projects using an old overhead projector screen and some white leds, or my circuit board vice that has a camera mount for my wifes digital camera, various probes and cables for different projects. I do not buy anything that I can make in the true nature of hacking. So how do I put a price on this. Or did I misunderstand and this is dreaming.
Posted at 9:06PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Brett Hoff
hack a day serves up a fresh hack each day, every day from around the web and a special how-to hack each week.
All contents copyright © 2008, Hack A Day. All Rights Reserved.
21. Most comments so far keep repeating the same standard tools that everyone already has or already wishes for: an oscilloscope, a good multimeter, a soldering station, a Dremel. While that's a quick way to reach $600, it lacks the innovation that would make it a worthy hack.
Instead, I focused on more obscure tools, and included a few that most hackers will not have, and may not even know that they want. A fun assortment of small hand tools and a couple larger tools.
Here is my $580 plus tax:
- Velleman VTBT11 100-PC Screwdriver Bit Set $9.95
- Black & Decker LI3000 Cordless Screwdriver $40
Security bits and a nice cordless driver to use them in, to open anything and everything.
- Techni-Tool Tweezer Kit 758TW546 $95.25
- Techni-Tool 00D Tweezers 758TW450 $26.71
Excellent quality tweezers for precision work. Makes surface-mounting a lot easier, and no poor-quality tweezers can compare.
- Xcelite Precision Driver 7pc 272SC019 $22.99
Jeweler's Screwdriver assortment by Techni-Tool.
- Hemostats, half dozen assorted sizes, about $5 each, $30
- Dental Picks (decent quality stainless) about $10 for the set
Generally useful implements for electronics. Hemostats, both straight and curved, are exceptionally useful for soldering through-hole components. Dental picks have a million and three uses.
- 10x Watchmaker's Loupe (Bausch & Lomb) with headband, $21
Good magnification is essential. While this is no substitute for a $400 binocular microscope, it does help.
- 5-Piece (approx) Stainless Steel Precision Pliers (needlenose, cutter, etc), about $20
- Nibbler Tool $20
- Tapered Reamer (2 sizes, $5 each) $10
Various useful hand tools for holding things, cutting slots, and enlarging holes.
- Small Bench Drill Press, $50
- 29-pc HSS drill bit/index set, $25
A hand drill just cannot compare to even a cheap drill press. Great for drilling panel holes, making starting holes for the nibbler tool, etc.
- PanaVise Multi-Purpose Work Center, Model 350, $75
Everyone needs a little vise in their life.
- Harbor Freight 1 Ton Arbor Press, $32
Good for all sorts of crimping and squashing and pressing. Also the cheap way to attach IDC ribbon connectors.
- 24x36" self-healing mat, $50
- Xacto Standard Knife Set, $28
The mat makes a great work surface, and it protects your bench while using the knives.
- Quality Stainless Vernier Caliper, $15
When accuracy counts, no ruler can compare to even a relatively inexpensive caliper.
Posted at 10:29AM on Jan 21st 2008 by CaladanJen