Electronics Lab
How To Set Up One?
Every electronic hobbyist have a dream of setting up a lab at home. This will certainly help to learn, explore and of course have fun with Electronics. But most people don’t know how to set up a lab. There are lot of questions to answer – How much space I need? What are the tools I should buy? How much it will cost? To help answering these questions i have prepared this guide to setup a Electronics lab at home. I hope this will be helpful for all budding Electronic Engineers and Hobbyist.
Workspace
This is the first thing you need to set up for your lab. The workspace should consist a large wooden work bench, desk or table that should have ample amount of space for you to work with. While the size of the bench is subjective. Choose a size that will hold the components and tools while you are working. Ensure that work area is well lit and comfortable to work with even for a long time. Your workspace should be accessible to household electrical power socket.
Also install a Desktop or Laptop computer in your workspace which will be really helpful in referring to datasheets of components or IC’s. Also it will come handy when you are working with Microcontrollers to program and test them.
Equipments To Buy
These are some of the important tools and equipment that you should consider buying. The list is sorted to show the most important tool least important one. This list is subjective and the priority can vary based on project you likely to work with. This is intend to give some idea about the tools.
BRYMEN BM789 Digital Multimeter - EUR €195.71
BM789 series are reliable true RMS digital multimeters with 60,000 display counts. It can measure up to CAT III 1000V AC/DC.
Equipped with audible and visible alarm, this series can provide warning expecially when measuring high voltage/current and temperature. For the our lab circuit we use two multimeters, one to measure the voltage and another one to measure the current. So we need to buy two same models of multimeters.
AIXUN T245 Solder Station - EUR €151,90
Aixun-T3A, the world’s first 200W Full Intelligent soldering station. It have many soldering tips to choose.
Equipped with 200W super power supply, it only takes 4 seconds for C245 soldering iron to rise to 380 ℃. Intelligent recognition of welding target and environment, intelligent power compensation and automatic protection. 2.4 inch color display, 100-480 ℃ temperature adjustable, with real-time dormancy. Automatic identification of handle model and working state. Personal habit temperature self memory, three channel temperature fast switching, knob adjustment. The host has built-in environment temperature sensor to avoid high temperature operation. Maximum support of 24 V-8A current output, with DC power supply and burning function.
4 ARM Soldering Station - EUR €56,30
Aluminum Alloy CNC 4 Arm Soldering Station with Removable Clamp Holder for PCB.
Dimension of Aluminum Alloy Base is 230x185mm. Standard Version comes With 4 Clamp Holder and Flexible Single Arm. Arm Length is 290mm and Weight is 620g.
FLUITIN 60/38/2%, 0,75mm Solder Wire - EUR €54,18
Wire with five flux cores. Contains 2,2% flux, flux residues need not be removed. Commonly used solder for fine and contact soldering.
KNIPEX 78 71 125 ESD Pliers - EUR €26,15
Precision pliers for the finest cutting work in electronics and precision engineering: shear cut with controlled micro.
Extremely sharp cutting edges made from oil-hardened, high-grade special tool steel. Work involving dexterity: low weight and smooth operation. ESD protection to prevent uncontrolled electrostatic discharge.
UNI-T UT622E LCR Meter - EUR €172.79
The UT622 Series Handheld LCR meters feature powerful functions, high accuracy, fast speed, and long standby time.
With a clear and intuitive 2.8-inch TFT LCD display, large-capacity rechargeable batiery, and up to 100kHz test frequency, the meters can be used for longstanding accurate and convenient measurement in any occasion. They are suitable for the measurement and screening of inductance, capacitance, and resistance in laboratories, production lines, maintenance points etc.
AIXUN H310D Hot Air Rework Station - EUR €258,91
AiXun smart hot air gun rework station leading the technological innovation with internet technology. It is the first smart hot air gun that supports segment and curve desoldering with built in technical desoldering parameters which can be revised, recalled, saved and added by users so as to build the exclusive database. The 3.5inch IPS HD display screen is benefit for observing temperature changes. It owns multiple advantages includes WiFi networking OTA upgrade, bluetooth interconnecting, silent brushless air blower and 1000W high power heating core. Besides, it is designed with three working modes: standard mode, soft mode (connector desoldering) and top speed mode (fast chip desoldering), which can be switched quickly through the shortcut channel buttons, help beginners fix chip and motherboard easily.
UNI-T UTI320E Infrared Thermal Imager - EUR €638.81
Handheld Thermal Imager Camera with WiFi and PC Software monitoring function. UTi320E is an anvanced handheld thermal imaging camera for industrial use, measuring temperature from -40℃ to 400℃. It is at high performance/price rate. IR resolution 320*240. 3.5″ large IPS Screen. Temperature Range:-40℃ ~400℃. Thermal Camera and Visible Light Camera. 16G Miscro SD Card for pictures Storage. Auto-tracking and Auto-alarm of High/Low Temperature. PC Software monitoring and analysis. WiFi connection to cellphone. IP54Waterproof and 2M drop test.
HEAT INSULATION SILICONE PAD - EUR €26.73
With 490x350mm dimensions and 5mm thickness it make your repair work easy. Resistance to high temperature of 500°C. Heat-trapping, nti-skidding, productivity improvement. Sevaral hole location to set screws,IC chips and small parts. This is Silicone Insulation Pad, Can swab with the thinner/PCB cleaning water, Thermostable, Anti-corrosive. For maintenance platform, for Soldering Stations, for Laminating machine, for Remover Bubble machine.
KNIPEX 97 33 02 MultiCrimp - EUR €233,76
Lever Action Crimping Pliers with changer magazine. Just one tool for the most common crimping applications. Crimping dies changed quickly and easily without any additional tool. Sorted and protected storage of the interchangeable dies in a round magazine. Comfortable, powerful crimping pliers in professional quality. Same reliable crimping results as with fixed crimping dies. Consistently high crimping quality thanks to precision dies and ratchet mechanism (unlockable). Special quality chrome vanadium electric steel, oil-hardened. Round magazine: glass fibre reinforced plastic.
KNIPEX 12 52 195 PreciStrip16 - EUR €200,00
Automatic Insulation Stripper. Simple, precise stripping of fine wires and solid round cables with a wide capacity range from 0.08 to 16 mm² with only one pair of pliers. Good grip provided by semi-circular grooved metal holding clamps, exact cut thanks to parabolic stripping blade. A patented automatism regulates the depth of the cut; the neutral point of the automatism can be adjusted in fine steps in special operating conditions (insulation material, temperature). With adjustable length stop for precision work repeated accurately each time. Inscription area for customisation. Comfortable operation with ergonomic dual-component handle With tether attachment point, suitable for KNIPEX Tethered Tools accessories. Easily replaceable blade cassette.