Above photo. The K3PRN 4 foot (1.22 meter) electronics lab.

No room for an electronics lab? Bank account not large enough for high-quality electronic equipment, but you still want to continue your hobby in electronics despite the lack of space and money? Here are some of the things I've learned in solving these problems.

I'd like to share my entire lab-assembly adventure to encourage others in electronic hobbies to venture deeply into the theory and practice of electronics. Equipment choices and costs vary greatly and I will mention titleernatives to reduce them. Simply saying, "I don't have the money, space, or time" really isn't valid in today's world.

In July 2004, I returned to amateur radio after a 40-year absence. I spent most of 2004 buying and operating transceivers. In 2005 I returned to the electronics side of the hobby and do-it-yourself projects, but learned that Heathkit test equipment I used in the late 1950's to build a scope, VTVM, signal generators and other items for amateur radio use, were a thing of the past. I wanted top-notch test equipment that my early experiences suggested, but I didn't have unlimited funds or space for a lab. I quickly learned that new equipment would cost thousands of dollars and that I couldn't possibly have all the test equipment I really wanted.

I talked to a friend who suggested that I look on e-bay for test equipment. While e-Bay offers a tremendous range of prices for identical items, the downside is that I had no way of knowing which items were good and which were “lemons” in the field and should be avoided.

The internet is where I found a wetitleh of information on every aspect of electronics. I also found knowledgeable individuals with a wetitleh of information and suggestions on what manufacturers' models to purchase. One individual is Todd VE7BPO and his website is http://www.qrp.pops.net/workshop.htm . With information such as this, newcomers don't have to “reinvent the wheel.”

Hobby space has always been a major consideration in my household. In our current situation, my wife and I have a small 3 bedroom, two-story townhouse. There are no basement or storage areas other than bedroom closets. I use the second bedroom as my library, ham shack, and new electronics lab. My wife's only requirement is that it won't look like a “garbage dump”!

The large bedroom closet is my electronics storage area. I put our file cabinet in the closet. I purchased a 30” x 60” writing desk to hold my transceiver, antenna tuner, SWR/PWR meter, laptop computer, and small ham radio accessories.

I needed an affordable workbench that was fairly large and strong, so I selected a 4-foot white composite-topped folding table from Office Depot for $39.00. I put this parallel to my writing desk and my office chair is between the two. Thus I can turn my desk chair around from my desk ham shack and work on my electronics work table. The 10' x 12' room has ample space even with four 6-foot bookshelves.

With a 4-foot work bench, I needed high quality, affordable electronic test equipment that will fit on the bench and still enable me to wire projects.

The tricky part is finding test equipment that's affordable and the right size. A lot depends on how much time and effort you can spend locating the equipment and still get the right sized equipment. I knew that I had basically four feet to work with and I cheated somewhat by getting a wheeled Tektronix K212 Instrument Cart that I placed next to the work table.

As for the quality of equipment, my last personal experience using test equipment was in 1969 (I am not an electrical engineer) when I was employed using Tektronix and Hewlett Packard test equipment. Back then, everything was new and factory calibrated! These two manufacturers would be the first two I looked into.

I knew the biggest and most expensive item would be an oscilloscope. I really wanted a Tektronix as I have felt that this brand is the standard by which others are judged! Initial research convinced me that the Tektronix 500 series tube versions were not for me. These scopes are aged, big and heavy. I began looking at portable scopes on e-bay and purchased a Textronix 454 which turned out to be defective. I returned it to the seller and it cost me $29 for return shipping. For information regarding the fine Tektronix 454 go to http://www.reprise.com/host/scopes/default.asp.

Then I asked several friends in the electronics field about scopes and was told that the Tektronix 2200 series were fine scopes despite that fact that they were made in the late 1970s and 1980s. With Internet research on the specifications of this series, keeping in mind that amateur radio is my main interest, I decided that I needed a scope with a bandwidth of 100 Mhz.

I fell in love with the Tektronix 2235. The prices on this scope varied from $150 to over $1000 - quite a price range but conditions varied and some were calibrated before selling. I got involved in a bidding war on one and fortunately lost the bid after posting $301.00! My suggestion for bidding on e-Bay is to:

1. Decide what you want to purchase.

2. Study the market prices on the item on e-bay and other sources.

3. Look at the customer feedback comments about the seller before bidding.

4. Make one bid that you feel is the best value for you.

Getting into bidding wars may cause you to spend far more money than you planned and may blow your entire budget. I felt dejected and called a friend who asked me if I really needed a portable scope? My negative answer led him to suggest that I acquire a Tektronix 7000 series scope. It just so happened that my friend has a warehouse of electronic equipment and could always repair this scope with replacement parts.

Then, the deal of a lifetime happened and my friend offered me the 7904 and all the plug-ins I wanted if I helped him in his warehouse for a few days - a deal I couldn't turn down! I now own a Tektronix 7904 oscilloscope and six plug-ins that sold for $28,000 in 1988! This scope has been selling on e-bay for $150-$250 in good condition. The plug-in modules can be acquired for $10-$50 for most units with the exception of the spectrum analyzer plug-ins and other specialized units. This scope far exceeds anything that I will need in an oscilloscope! With used scopes, many times manuals and scope probes are not always furnished. Many manuals can be downloaded for free from the Internet http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/ http://www.mods.dk/ or purchased on CD ROMs for $10-$20 on e-bay. Probes are often sold by themselves on e-bay, see Bill Ben-Veste website: http://www.reprise.com/host/tektronix/reference/voltage_probes.asp for details on how to select scope probes.

Also there is a tremendous amount of information in a Tektronix catalog in the years of your scope, if you can find one. Try to get Tektronix probes for Tektronix scopes to maintain quality and scope screen readouts. However generic probes, costing $25-$30 new, will work for passive 10X, 100 Mhz bandwidth.

You can purchase new scopes for as little as $150 up to tens of thousand of dollars. Most hobbyists realize that the high-end expense isn't necessary. The scope's bandwidth is probably the first criteria for selection. For audio work 20 MHz is fine, and for RF work 100 MHz is fine. Digital work requires very high bandwidth such as 1 GHz. Search the Internet for information on oscilloscopes such as “XYZs of Oscilloscopes” by Tektronix; www.tektronix.com

“Using Oscilloscopes” by Harry Lythall http://web.telia.com/~u85920178/scope/osc-o.htm

“The Oscilloscope” in the series of instructions at the St. Andrews University; http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/scots_guide/intro/electron/.htm

and “Amateur Radio-Using An Oscilloscope” by McCord http://www.mccord.plus.com/Radio/oscilloscope.htm

I've looked at the aforementioned sites, have printed them out, and have had them spiral-bound at Office Depot for $3.50 each. These articles will give you all the information on what to buy and how to use them at virtually no cost.

The next piece of equipment you may need is a bench power supply. I consider it a real necessity but batteries can be used at first while building your lab. I priced building the variable power supply described in Experimental Methods of RF Designs. The components and cabinet would have totaled $60-$70 dollars for all new components (I had no junk box). I looked at Elenco power supply kits and they were in the same price range. Better quality bench power supplies cost significantly more.

I remembered the HP supply I used in the late 1960's and began my e-bay search for bench type power supplies. I found a HP 6205C with dual 0-40 vdc .3 amps/0-20 .6 amp delivered to my door for $94.00. When I opened the package, I noticed that the unit looked brand new! There ARE a large group of bench type power supplies available - be patient and shop carefully. Do not attempt to use a computer power supply as I'm told that there is control circuitry on many motherboards controlling some of these power supplies. If you can get a free power transformer, then think seriously about building your own power supply.

I stumbled across the Tektronix Classroom Series of test equipment designed for colleges, small labs and vocational schools. They are the Tektronix Cxx250 series, and this equipment is high quality, reasonably priced, and small-sized.

I purchased the Tektronix CDM250 Digital Volt Meter and the Tektronix CFC250 100mhz Frequency Counter on e-bay for $95 shipped to my door. I also purchased the Tektronix CFG250 2mhz Function Generator for $148. These units are 9” x 7-1/2” and 2-3/8” high and can be stacked to save even more space. Again all three of these items do not need to be purchased immediately. A portable DVM selling for $30 can be used in place of a bench DVM. Instead of a frequency counter you can use a communications receiver if you have one with digital readout for frequency determination. You can build small signal oscillators (generators) with adaptors for sine, square, and ramp signals with fixed frequency outputs easily and very cheaply.

My final purchase was an RF Frequency Generator. I had planned to purchase one that puts out a single RF frequency but my friend suggested a Wavetek 2002 A RF Sweep Generator. I found one on e-bay for $95 delivered. Again the price of this unit varies very greatly. There are a lot of old tube RCA, Pico,and Heathkit RF Signal Generators in the market place that will work fine and are very reasonable.

When buying from e-bay, many times the used test equipment doesn't come with probes and test leads as they would have if you purchased them new. I decided to buy new test leads and saw that Pomona Electronics was still in business. Their test leads are very expensive but are designed to be used eight hours a day, five to six days a week. No doubt, they're better quality, but I ended up purchasing RSR Electronics test leads, from Electronix Express http://www.elexp.com .

The big advantage of Electronix Express or C&S Sales, to mention only a couple of sources, is that they have product drawings photos that enable you to select products you feel will be useful.

With test equipment, you may need BNC with hooks (minigrabbers), banana male connectors, and alligator clips. Or you may need banana jacks on one end and the above-mentioned connectors on the other end. Get them in both black and red colors for eliminating confusion when connecting them to your projects. Another handy item to purchase is an alligator lead set in multiple colors ( jumper cables) with alligator clips on both ends. These test leads and jumpers are about $38 and they hang on a hook behind the door of my library / ham shack / electronics lab out of sight. You can assemble these test leads in your lab but you won't save much money. I feel that the quality of generic test leads is fine and will be satisfactory for many years.

I wanted to be able to quickly assemble simple circuits without soldering, so I looked into “breadboards”. Numerous companies make them in various sizes, with and without built-in power supplies. I selected an Elenco Model 9438, 7” x 9” (not too big), with four binding posts and without a power supply. www.cs-sales.com. Components plug into tie points, tie points are connected by #22 solid wires. There are busses for power and binding posts to put power on the board and to take signals in and out of circuits. This item was $22.50 with a colored wire jumper kit. Again, these vary in cost and size and bigger isn't necessarily better!

Certain tools need to be purchased for your electronics lab. They do not have to be purchased all at once! The first item to be purchased is a soldering iron. For assembling electronic circuits, the 25-watt iron is the place to begin. I use the Weller SP23 which sells for about $8 and has interchangeable tips. Having tips in different sizes and shapes is very important in wiring electronic projects. Select a soldering iron for which you can easily find replacement tips is the key. For example, Home Depot in my area sells the Weller SP23 but doesn't carry replacement tips! Radio Shack has many irons. They're fine and replacement tips are stocked, but are a little expensive. A one pound roll of rosin core solder that is .032” in diameter will handle most jobs and sells for $6 and up. Smaller diameter solder is necessary for SMD (surface mount devices) and requires good eyesight and patience. Only buy this smaller diameter solder as needed. Buy a soldering iron stand for $4 for safety purposes. Get a roll of desoldering wick for desoldering parts from projects for $3.

Certain hand tools will have to be purchased for working with small electronic circuits. The regular-sized electricians / mechanics' cutters, needle nosed pliers, and some other tools are simply too large. Hand tools, like everything in life, vary in price and quality. The least expensive place to purchase tools is Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com/. You can find Harbor Freight retail stores in many areas. A set of six pliers and cutters is available for $8. The quality isn't the finest but they do work! Because I enjoy good tools, I went to Sears and purchased a set of six for $32. Home Depot and Lowe's also have many types of tools of varying quality. As a minimum, you need mini diagonal cutters, mini needle (long nose) pliers, and end cutters. Also, small 5” wire strippers are very useful. Other tools can be purchased later as your budget permits.

A set of small screwdrivers - both straight and Phillips blades - are nice to have. Sears, Lowe's, and Home Depot have screwdriver sets for $20-$30 dollars. A set of precision (jewelers) screwdrivers are a must when working in electronics and can be acquired for $8-$20. Nutdrivers also make construction easier and save wear and tear on component nuts and shafts. Finally, Allen wrenches (hex wrenches) both SAE and metric are needed in some situations.

Other items that make life easier are small vises, helping hands (alligator clip) vises, magnifier lamp (depends on your personal eyesight), Exacto knives and tweezers. Catalogs will have other tools that may help solve circuit building problems. These items may be purchased as your budget permits. Studying catalogs will also increase your knowledge of electronics.

The next area I would like to share is the selection of electronics books. The cost of specialized electronics books is in the $50-$60 dollar range which sometimes equals the cost of many used, high quality pieces of test equipment. You need to be the judge of where to invest your money.

I love books but their cost has become extremely high, especially specititley books in electronics. I am going to suggest three books for purchase and they can also be acquired over a period of time.

The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications is a tremendous source of information for the electronics experimenter as well as the amateur radio operator. This should be your first book purchase. It is published every year but most of the information doesn't change every year. If you can find a clean, used copy from 2000 to current, that's fine. If you purchase a new copy it costs $39 from http://www.amazon.com and you save the shipping cost of $8 charged by the ARRL.

The second book that I recommend is Experimental Methods in RF Designs by Wes Hayward W7ZOI, Rick Campbell KK7B, and Bob Larkin W7PUA published by the ARRL, You can find this at http://www.amazon.com for $50. This book has a lot of information for amateur radio operators but also includes discussions of circuit design, test equipment and their usage, and many items of interest for any field of electronics.

The final book is The Art of Electronics, Second Edition by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill published by Cambridge University Press. This book should be purchased by people who may want to learn more circuit design and / or in-depth circuit studies. It avoids heavy math (this book goes as far as you can in electronics, without a good knowledge of differential equations and calculus) and has a lot of practical tips in the field of electronics. Unfortunately it's $50. Many electrical engineers turn to this book for real world practical circuitry and sound advice. This book is also available from http://www.amazon.com.

There are hundreds of books advertised in catalogues that I would love to look at and own but my budget is limited. Great books are listed at http://www.electronics-tutorials.com/book-shop.htm (many amateur radio books). Most electronics parts catalogs also sell limited electronic specititley books.

I feel the greatest source of electronics information today is the Internet. Searching the Internet takes time but can save you a lot of money and acquire more up-to-date information than printed media! Many of the finest minds in the world (my friends in England, Canada, and Australia have inspired me) include their writings and projects on their websites. When you use information of interest on their websites, take a moment to send them a brief e-mail “thank-you.” There are many sites for courses in electronics and projects. On the Internet, education is virtually free!

In conclusion, much of the information I have mentioned in this article has come from others in the electronics field. Please share your knowledge freely with anyone who asks. My hope is that by reading this article, you will begin experimenting with electronics and venture into one or more areas of this broad science. As I mentioned, my personal areas of interest in electronics are RF and audio. Find an area of electronics that interests you and begin the adventure of learning, to whatever depth you desire. Encourage other people, to enjoy the love of electronics, a fine hobby that will last a lifetime.

Copyright 2006 Donald C. Ruokonen

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