Next Piece of test gear.

[perfect_disturbance]

I know this question gets asked a lot but 1. The answer changes so asking again periodically seems like a good idea and 2. For the life of me I can't come up with the right search terms.

I recently got a small inheritance of 600 dollars.  And I'm looking to use it to upgrade my lab.

Currently I have:
DS1052e
Hakko FX-888
Agilent U1242B
Amprobe 37XR-A
Mastech HY1803D

And assorted other smaller multimeters, hand tools, etc.

What should I spend my 600 dollars on?

A few things I've considered are selling my DS1052e and buying a DS2072
or buying a DP832 and saving the rest for a DG1022.

What does everyone think?

[ddavidebor]

A waveform generator! Super handy!

[alm]

You already have a decent amount of equipment, so you should have some knowledge of how much you use each item and if you run into its limitations. Is there something you miss or have trouble doing? Does a particular item feel of inferior quality to you? We can come up with long lists of additional equipment that might be useful (eg. the already mentioned function gen or an LCR meter), but if you don't need it, then there's no point in buying it.

In my opinion, unless you have problems with the limitations of the DS1052e, a better power supply and function gen will provide you with more new abilities. Buying a better scope because you often use it and will enjoy the extra screen size and features is also a perfectly valid reason for hobby purchases, however.

[c4757p]

I agree 100% with alm. One extra point I'd like to make, though, is that the I think the DP832 would be a waste of a large chunk of that $600. You can find used power supplies with similar capabilities in the neighborhood of $200, or less if you're willing to take a chance that repairs will be necessary (they tend to be ridiculously simple if they are needed at all). Sure, it has a few capabilities the old all-analog ones often lack, but will you really use them? I don't really think it makes for a balanced, useful lab to spend almost as much on a power supply as on an oscilloscope.

I'd still upgrade the PS, though. I had a HY1803D and it sucked. But you should have a lot of money left over.

[grego]

I agree 100% with alm. One extra point I'd like to make, though, is that the I think the DP832 would be a waste of a large chunk of that $600. You can find used power supplies with similar capabilities in the neighborhood of $200, or less if you're willing to take a chance that repairs will be necessary (they tend to be ridiculously simple if they are needed at all). Sure, it has a few capabilities the old all-analog ones often lack, but will you really use them? I don't really think it makes for a balanced, useful lab to spend almost as much on a power supply as on an oscilloscope.

I'd still upgrade the PS, though. I had a HY1803D and it sucked. But you should have a lot of money left over.

DP832 is only $409 list from tequipment and you can get it discounted from that, so sub $400 easily.

Not disagreeing with you just wanted to make sure the right numbers are being used.

[Oracle]

wave gen for sure! If you re lucky you can find some "refurbished" stuff which is calibrated on ebay... I built up my lab this way in less than 1 year!

[c4757p]

DP832 is only $409 list from tequipment and you can get it discounted from that, so sub $400 easily.

Not disagreeing with you just wanted to make sure the right numbers are being used.

Right. Thank you. The cost is still way too close to the cost of the oscilloscope for my comfort. It's just a power supply FFS

[perfect_disturbance]

Is the prevailing opinion then that up grading the oscope a smaller bang for buck than my power supply and getting a function gen? If so what would people recommend for an approximately 600 dollar power supply and function gen combo?

[TerminalJack505]

One of the the best equipment investments I ever made was on a stereo microscope.  You can get a pretty decent one for about $300.

If I had money to burn I'd probably upgrade my workbench.

[rolycat]

Is the prevailing opinion then that up grading the oscope a smaller bang for buck than my power supply and getting a function gen? If so what would people recommend for an approximately 600 dollar power supply and function gen combo?

I think the DG1022 is a good choice for a function gen.
It provides a lot of functionality for under $400, although it has been slated on this forum in the past. The Ultrawave software now works with Windows 7, but my DG1022U still varies the output amplitude when sweeping over a wide range.

Spend the remaining $200+ dollars on a used power supply from HP/Agilent or another good make.

[farrell]

I hope this does not come off wrong, but if you need to ask what to spend money on, you should probably save the money until later on. When you need an item, you will know it. Wait until you are limited by your tools, then acquire more.

For example, if you are playing with microcontrollers: you will probably need a multimeter and a logic analyzer early on. Then problems will arise in the "analog domain" (bus contention, logic levels, etc.) and you'll really benefit from a storage scope. If you start playing with RF stuff, you'll want visuals of the "frequency domain" and might save up for a spectrum analyzer. And so on...

Figure out what YOU need, and when you actually need that tool, buy it. Things get better and cheaper as time moves on, so there's little reason to buy stuff before you have a use for it.

-Farrell

[lgbeno]

One of the the best equipment investments I ever made was on a stereo microscope.  You can get a pretty decent one for about $300.

If I had money to burn I'd probably upgrade my workbench.

Yes everyone needs a microscope

[jpb]

I hope this does not come off wrong, but if you need to ask what to spend money on, you should probably save the money until later on. When you need an item, you will know it. Wait until you are limited by your tools, then acquire more.

Figure out what YOU need, and when you actually need that tool, buy it. Things get better and cheaper as time moves on, so there's little reason to buy stuff before you have a use for it.

Sensible advice, but I don't entirely agree with it. Sometimes you don't know how useful something is until you have one to use. For example, I have a TTi PL320QMD power supply which as well as current limiting, tracking etc has accurate meters for both voltage and current. I find it very handy to know what current a circuit is drawing but I didn't really think of this until I had such a supply I found myself using that feature a lot (obviously you can set things up with a separate multimeter but it is messy and inconvenient).

A good linear bench power supply with at least two outputs is a really good thing to have, you can then concentrate on your prototype circuit without having to worry about batteries or knocking together a power supply first.

[perfect_disturbance]

Ok so I just plunked down 150 for a used (but supposedly working) Agilent e3610a on ebay.

That leaves me with 450 left but that's kind of a soft limit since I can maybe just wait and save up a little extra cash if something is close.

[ddavidebor]

A bench esd mat?

[perfect_disturbance]

A bench esd mat?

Good idea. I have a brother in law that works for 3m I think they make some of that maybe he can get me a deal.

[ddavidebor]

They're world best in that