What equipment to use ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Jane
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:13:54 pm
content: During repairing process of various devices,it can be useful to record the disassembly process so that I can easily put the device together later.Can you recommend a device that can come in handy for the recording of a repair?I was thinking about an Adjustable Head-mounted Phone Camera but it would be great if I could also zoom in and zoom out with the device and also see what I am recording on line.Do you have any experience with such/similar devices? Or do you know that such device is available on the market?

author: Laval
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:21:07 pm
content: Most of the devices I repair are either test equipment or simple home appliances. For the later, there is not really a need to record anything. For the test equipment, most of the time I find teardown videos on internet. I only use my phone once in a while to take a few pictures when necessary. You could probably just get some tripod to set your phone. Unless of course you want to make videos for educational purpose or for YouTube, that a different story.

author: tinymini
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:22:24 pm
content: I like to keep things simple, so I just keep my phone for periodic photos.Other than that, trays with magnets, or with separators really helps for screws.If it's really complex, I'll use a masking tape and sharpie to tag the heck out of it.

author: Laval
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:23:16 pm
content: Quote from: tinymini on October 04, 2024, 07:22:24 pmThis is so true!

author: Jane
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:26:13 pm
content: Yes, for the educational purposes it would also be good to have it.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:40:17 pm
content: My kids all used spiral bound notebooks when they were in middle and high school and they always had four or five books every year that had a left over portions of the book that they didn't use. I took their old notebooks and used them to keep notes about the item's model and serial numbers, symptoms, disassembly notes, hand drawn schematics, test points, voltages and current readings, what parts were bad ,etc, etc when I made repairs. Then about once per year I would go through the note books and tear out the (pre-preforated) pages and put them into three rings binders sorted by equipment brand and model numbers.Using a camera sounds like a good idea but it takes up a lot of time and then you have to keep up with the memory cards, etc so in the end it was just quicker and easier to keep notes in a notebook. OTOH if you plan on posting your repair videos on U-tube or somewhere then a camera is a necessity. But if that's the case, then you need to get a good one and mount it on some kind of stand and add the necessary lights, back drops, etc to your work bench. I'm sure that you've already seen some of the very amateurish looking videos on U-tube where someone tried to do a repair while holding their camera in one hand at the same time!

author: watchmaker
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 07:58:54 pm
content: Quote from: Jane on October 04, 2024, 07:13:54 pmJane,For years I have used a digital camera (started with Sony Mavica floppy drive camera) to take pics of complicated watches as I disassemble. Each layer with the removed parts near their location. I still do this with a piece I have not seen before.HDD space is cheap. I have a folder of subfolders with each movement I recorded. I have not needed videos and for mechanical disassembly pics of stages are easier to flip thru and study.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2024, 08:27:21 pm
content: My approach is old-fashioned: a small digital SLR with a zoom or macro lens (depending on field size), writing the short file number in the notebook along with a description of the activity. Later, if useful, I transcribe the notebook and relevant jpegs into a Word document.