New Test Equipment For School

Thread Starter

ElectronicsFanatic

Joined Feb 12, 2012
30
I just got a few items for when I start my first electronics class in a couple weeks and thought I would share them with everyone here.

Here is a Knight Electronics ML-2010 Lab Station.



Fluke 77IV multimeter plus I have a backup cheapo one that I can't remember the name of right now.



And a Tektronix TDS 1002b oscilloscope.



I don't know too much in the way of oscilloscopes, but I think this one will be OK for school. Let me know what you guys think, and any other items that you would recommend for school.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Digital oscopes are very cool.

They do have some idiocracies though. Because they sample a wave form, you can get some false readings and waveforms. Google "Aliasing".
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
My standard warning (because I made this mistake). Don't give the kids devices with fat legs. They damage the holes in the protoboard, and this one is way too expensive to be ruined by something that is so preventable.
 

chrisw1990

Joined Oct 22, 2011
551
yeh that thing is butch and expensive looking..
same spec as my oscope so im gonna say its good :p
one thing i will say.. little power supplies are always good..
the hand games console PSP has a 5V 2A power supply in an incredibly small footprint and while you can get knock off cheap ones, they can be good for little circuits, and students, to use because if they blow up, its not an expensive replacement.. we used to have fun in our old classes blowing components up but the psus would sometimes go too.. the teachers were never happy with us :p
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,707
TDS1002B is a good scope.
Advice on broken ends of wire in the breadboards - do not attempt to extract wires with needle nose pliers. Use the tip of a sharp Xacto blade to extract the wire.
 

KJ6EAD

Joined Apr 30, 2011
1,581
In addition to #12's advice, use 22 AWG jumpers for good contact and retention without damaging the sockets. If you install TO-220 devices, leave the leads full length to keep heat away from the breadboard and give the leads a 90° twist so the leads fit easily between the socket contacts. Make sure there is no tape adhesive or other debris on leads going into the sockets. If you have switches or other components with weak leads, thick leads or incorrectly spaced leads, mount them on a DIP or SIP socket, component carrier or header and solder if necessary to create a reusable module.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
While I have noticed a strong tendency of old school (and I mean really old you kids) to far prefer analog scopes there are strengths and weaknesses to both types.

An analog scope is very faithful at reproducing a wave at any scale, meaning it can show a peak level very well, and hint at other details of complex waveforms. They work at a very human level of pattern recognition.

Digital scopes of course are all storage scopes, but they produce a necessarily coarser digitized display. They do have an exceptionally good trigger able to wait very long delays after the trigger, and almost surprisingly can display some data from before the trigger.
 

Thread Starter

ElectronicsFanatic

Joined Feb 12, 2012
30
While I have noticed a strong tendency of old school (and I mean really old you kids) to far prefer analog scopes there are strengths and weaknesses to both types.

An analog scope is very faithful at reproducing a wave at any scale, meaning it can show a peak level very well, and hint at other details of complex waveforms. They work at a very human level of pattern recognition.

Digital scopes of course are all storage scopes, but they produce a necessarily coarser digitized display. They do have an exceptionally good trigger able to wait very long delays after the trigger, and almost surprisingly can display some data from before the trigger.
One day at school I saw one sitting in a corner with a bunch of dust on it and had no idea what it was. I was told what it was and I was like wow that is "old school" but i was told how useful they can be. Maybe I will be able to mess around with one in the future.:D
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
My standard warning (because I made this mistake). Don't give the kids devices with fat legs. They damage the holes in the protoboard, and this one is way too expensive to be ruined by something that is so preventable.
Also be careful with any component taped/glued to some paper strip (ammo-pack). They will tear it from the tape. And some glue may follow the component legs. This may very soon cause intermediate connections on the breadboard. So cut the components out of any tape. Before giving them to the students
 

KJ6EAD

Joined Apr 30, 2011
1,581
Also be careful with any component taped/glued to some paper strip (ammo-pack). They will tear it from the tape. And some glue may follow the component legs. This may very soon cause intermediate connections on the breadboard. So cut the components out of any tape. Before giving them to the students
That's good advice. I gave it back in post #6. :rolleyes: While cutting the leads is easiest, I usually clean them with adhesive remover to preserve the full length.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,707
Also be careful with any component taped/glued to some paper strip (ammo-pack). They will tear it from the tape. And some glue may follow the component legs. This may very soon cause intermediate connections on the breadboard. So cut the components out of any tape. Before giving them to the students
Good thinking, never thought of that.
 

Thread Starter

ElectronicsFanatic

Joined Feb 12, 2012
30
Also be careful with any component taped/glued to some paper strip (ammo-pack). They will tear it from the tape. And some glue may follow the component legs. This may very soon cause intermediate connections on the breadboard. So cut the components out of any tape. Before giving them to the students
You would think this would be common sense to people, but I would probably be one to leave some glue unintentionally on the component legs. Something I wouldn't of thought about since I am a beginner.

Good thing it will just be me using the board and equipment and no one else. That way if I make a mistake or have problems I will have no one to blame but me :rolleyes:.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
When I started college around 1975 the teacher had this concept that the school would let the kids use a protoboard (which were brand new back then) that belonged to the school. One major meltdown and a brown hole later disabused him of that notion.
 
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