Equipment to use for Learning the Art of Electronics.

[Bazsy]

I plan on starting with LtAoE soon and wondering on which PS and Function Gen I should buy. Stuff that's enough for these labs would probably be enough for me for the next 5 years so I'm not afraid of buying too simple.

My plan is right now to buy a Korad 3305P (linear, the bugs are mostly corrected and the noise should not be that terrible) and a FY6900 (fw bugs are mostly sorted out and I could fix the protective earth cable).

Question is if these would be good enough for the labs and maybe similar builds or if I missed something and should look for more capable or safe devices.

I'm in Europe btw and used gear from the big names are not within budget here.
My step up would be the Rigol 832 and Siglent 1032X but that combo costs more than double as much and I would have to wait and save some more money.

[tv84]

There's also Rigol DG811 with DIY "upgrade" to DG992 (or thereabouts).

[Bazsy]

That's still 2.5-3 times the price and I have no need for that if the fy6900 is enough. That's why I wonder if it is.

[tv84]

That's still 2.5-3 times the price and I have no need for that if the fy6900 is enough. That's why I wonder if it is.

If the price is essential (which I always say it should be) then forget my suggestion. AND, forget also your 2nd scenario.

[pcprogrammer]

Why not a Hantek DSO2D10. Then you kill two birds with one stone. It has an AWG and an oscilloscope to make signals visible. Search for it on Banggood or Aliexpress to find the cheapest one. Even the FNIRSI 1014D might do for learning. It is slightly cheaper then the Hantek, but also offers less quality.

Another option could be a three in one handheld like an Owon HDS2XX. This gives you an AWG, DMM and an oscilloscope.

For learning electronics you need something to show what a circuit does, so the minimum would be a DMM. Just a power supply and an AWG will not get you far.

[bd139]

If you’re just doing LTAoE then any old shitty analogue FG is fine that’ll hit 2Mhz. Look out for old HP 6236b power supplies as well on eBay. Those are cheaper than two korads and entirely fine and have three outputs usable for just about everything in the book. In fact they’re the earlier version of the E3630A that is mentioned in the equipment list.

[2N3055]

Like tv84 said.
Just go with those two. Later, if you keep doing electronics, you will buy more PSU and other equipment as you need.

[Bazsy]

Why not a Hantek DSO2D10. Then you kill two birds with one stone. It has an AWG and an oscilloscope to make signals visible. Search for it on Banggood or Aliexpress to find the cheapest one. Even the FNIRSI 1014D might do for learning. It is slightly cheaper then the Hantek, but also offers less quality.

Another option could be a three in one handheld like an Owon HDS2XX. This gives you an AWG, DMM and an oscilloscope.

For learning electronics you need something to show what a circuit does, so the minimum would be a DMM. Just a power supply and an AWG will not get you far.

OK I see now I should have mentioned that I already have everything else.
Have a Rigol 1054Z, both Brymen manufactured EEVBlog DMMs and also an Amprobe A Riden 6006 with a MW PS. (And yes I can use these properly)
Also a s*itload of different leads, probes, cables, connectors, tools and a very decent parts stockpile.

I'm an engineer and had EE classes and labs during university and realized last year that I loved those so I started it up as a hobby and plan on taking it to the next level:)
Gone trough all experiments in Make electronics and am halfway trough make more electronics and also built some fun projects at home (like an selfdesigned BBPS with 4 selectable voltages and LED dimmer with 555 that goes almost to 100% duty cycle (with that fun method using diodes).)

So this is the background that I wanted to spare in the first post And thats why I need a 2-3 channel PS and an AWG.

[Bazsy]

If you’re just doing LTAoE then any old shitty analogue FG is fine that’ll hit 2Mhz. Look out for old HP 6236b power supplies as well on eBay. Those are cheaper than two korads and entirely fine and have three outputs usable for just about everything in the book. In fact they’re the earlier version of the E3630A that is mentioned in the equipment list.

I know I know BUT I am in Europe and that means a used HP is 300-400 USD on ebay or 80 USD + a LOT of shipping fee + customs + VAT (25%) + admin (10 USD) which will end up on a similar level (300-400 USD). This is the reality we fight with on this side of the pond

[bd139]

In Europe too. It’s a matter of lurking on eBay until something comes up if you want to save money.

I recently got a new E3630A for 100GBP as an example.

[Bazsy]

Sometimes I see them in the UK but you guys are outside EU now which means expensive shipping, customs, vat, and admin....

[tv84]

Sometimes I see them in the UK but you guys are outside EU now which means expensive shipping, customs, vat, and admin....

They want the TE all for themselves...

[bd139]

Actually we’re mostly pissed about it because all the good stuff was in Germany 

[tv84]

Actually we’re mostly pissed about it because all the good stuff was in Germany 

   That brexit always seemed like a german undercover operation...

[Bazsy]

Ok you guys got me thinking about the rigol 811 with home "upgrade" that feels like a more stable thing and maybe I could stretch my budget. Is it still readily "upgradable"?

[bd139]

Yes. See towards end of this thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-rigol-16-bit-function-generators-dg800900-series/

It's dead easy (thanks to tv84's work).

Mine was a DG811. Now it's a DG992

[Bazsy]

Just to check this before I put in orders. The difference between the KORAD 3305D and P is only the memory and USB and RS interface? I get the same hardware, functions, etc. sans the interfaces? I dont really have a use case for those and neither the memory and the price difference is some 40 USD. The UI is a bit different and I wonder if the D model still has OVP and OCP as there are no buttons for those.

If these are the only differences I would go with the 3305D+ (The new black one with green+red digits).