Hi Dave,
As this isn't officially noted as being closed, and I lucked out in the YT draw, I figured I'd try an entry here. Willing to accept any judgement on being 'too late'
Since my kids have reached the magical age where spending time with Mum or Dad is no longer a thing, and inspired by all of the retro computing repair videos around these days, I've decided to get into electronics. Much to my wife's dismay, I've been slowly building up a workbench of tools and components to help this happen. I haven't really done much in electronics since I designed and built a DC Power Supply based on the LM350T back in Gr 12 Physics (1992!) but I have always been interested.
My current stretch goal is to make a top quality benchtop DC PSU, which would in some way rival the Keysight E36313A, and maybe make it available it kit for for the enthusiast.
![](http://www.xorotude.com/~collin/comps/eevblog/kulive/Keysight_E36313A.PNG)
I have a long way to go to get to this level, but I think it will provide a pretty good grounding in the basics I need to make a diverse range of projects. My current focus project is a DIY Reflow Soldering Toaster Oven, something like this:
![](http://www.xorotude.com/~collin/comps/eevblog/kulive/Reflow_Oven.PNG)
Along the way I hope to expand and improve on Louis Scull's DC Electronic Load, by upgrading the MCU to a bigger AVR IC and introducing GPIO extenders for the keypad and a TFT LCD panel, and make the improvements available to the community, and possibly be able to supply kits for people who would rather pay someone else to do all the parts gathering.
![](http://www.xorotude.com/~collin/comps/eevblog/kulive/scullcom_DC_Load.PNG)
If I had a choice in which of the giveaway units, I'd go for the desktop multi-meter, as I'm already working towards making a DC PSU and I bought and built a JYETech DSO068 'scope, which should serve me ok for now. I don't see a use for a signal generator, at this point in time. The multi-meter is probably the last thing I would budget in to purchase, but could definitely benefit from when designing a power supply. Accurate measurements would be good. It would also make the Mrs happy that I didn't take another chuck of money out of her budget, and I wouldn't have to answer the dreaded "Why do you need that, you already have a ($10) multimeter" question. Second preference would be a 'scope.
I've already begun haunting the beginner's forums and asking the dumb questions I need to ask, so you may be able to find some more examples of things I'm working on to reach the current focus project. I'm currently mulling over the idea of starting up a web log, as I find a lot of the stuff I am trying to learn is only partially covered by the myriad of content published online. Seems to be a lot of beginners making beginner videos which go no further than what all the other beginner videos cover. (Or YouTube's search algorithm is broken and likes to send you to the same videos everyone else watches. Search engine assumption win!)
I didn't want to make this too long, so I hope this whets your appetite for my plans and how I would put anything in the giveaway to great use.
Cheers,
Collin B.