Mobile toolkit for tinkering with electronics while I'm away from home? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 07:46:25 pm
content: I study in a university about 100km away from home. Away from home means away from my lab, where all my equipment and parts are.Since i don't have anything to tinker with at my uni dorm i just waste my free time away and i don't want that.There are also no hacker spaces of any sorts.So i would like to make myself a small mobile toolkit that i could throw in my car and whip out whenever i have the urge to play around with electronics.But what should i take? How big should it be?MOSFETs, resistors, caps, inductors? Microcontrollers? Dev boards? Breadboards?What about a DMM, maybe two? My VDS1022 scope ir pretty slim, should i take it also?I don't want it to be able to do everything because at that point i'd be carrying my entire lab with me.And i don't want it to be bulky because it would take a bunch of space and would be a bother to carry back and forth.But i still want it to be reasonably versatile so that i could explore any idea i might have at the time.What do you guys think i should take on the road with me to keep me busy?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 08:00:14 pm
content: the most interesting thing about being mobile and having tools is radio. probobly building receivers is the best you can do on a uni budget with minimal tool and part count. and you also most often use earbuds for testing so you don't need complex equipment. there is a ton of simple circuits to study, and it meshes nicely with a laptop and arduino, and it looks kind of cooli did many more miles then that back and forth every weekend so if you just don't care about campus life then try to get 4 days a week and go home and cook for your parents or something on the weekendgetting everything done in 4 days and driving alot is interesting in its own right

author: Fixed_Until_Broken
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 08:20:33 pm
content: What aspects of electronics interest you? A bunch of microcontroller dev boards, logic analyzers, and breadboard stuff won't do you much good if RF is your interest.If I built a mobile kit for myself I would be looking at a USB power soldering iron like ts80, USB Oscope/logic analyzer. I decent battery-powered DMM. basic hand tools. Basic consumables like solder, flux, wire, and solvents. But the stuff I picked is because I am into repair. I would not have a set of components I carried around but I would just what I needed as I needed if I didn't have a way storing parts.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 09:09:21 pm
content: the problem with repair is that there is a ton of mechanic work that goes into it usually, thats not dorm friendly

author: Fixed_Until_Broken
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 09:12:32 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on July 18, 2021, 09:09:21 pmAbsolutely correct! I was just explaining what would be in my kit and why. Don't try to do repairs in a dorm or your roommate is going to hate you. Even if you don't have a roommate you will probably make the dorm master unhappy.Edit: The point I was trying to make is without knowing what he is interested no one can actually give useful feedback. Its a useless thread without that info. I was just trying to say that in a nicer less direct manner.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 11:11:52 pm
content: Quote from: Fixed_Until_Broken on July 18, 2021, 09:12:32 pmThey won't care unless what you're doing causes damage to the room, creates a fire hazard, or disturbs neighbors. Even then, things like heavy hammering can still be done by going outside to where the noise won't bother anyone.

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2021, 01:19:19 pm
content: Quote from: Fixed_Until_Broken on July 18, 2021, 09:12:32 pmFortunately my roommate is chill, and my DIY stuff doesn't bother him much.Quote from: Fixed_Until_Broken on July 18, 2021, 08:20:33 pmI'd like to learn some more on micros but i also like discrete stuff.I'm not much into RF and i don't think that RF can be breadboarded very easily, manhattan style prototyping would work but that requires soldering.I want to avoid soldering for now because i don't want to take my soldering station with me. I have a 30W weller but it's one of those dumb soldering irons and takes forever to heat up.Currently i'm thinking to take all my micros (i don't have that many anyways), my logic analyzer, two DMM's, a pair of breadboards, resistor kit, perhaps my scope.Maybe a couple LCDs, some encoders, pots. And a bag of gereral purpose MOSFETs, i have some aliexpress fakes that should be fine for breadboard stuff.Too bad i don't have a capacitor kit to take with me also.Shouldn't take too much space imo.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2021, 02:15:15 pm
content: Hmm. An Analog Discovery 2 would probably save you humping and having to find space to store a lot of kit when breadboarding stuff. Get it with a student discount while you can!Its got 2 scope channels (which can function as DVMs with +/-25V range), a 2 channel AWG, logic analyser, pattern generator, and + & - 0.V=>5V supplies, all in one pod.That lets you get away with only one (decent, full spec) DMM as you can always take simultaneous voltage measurements on your breadboard with the Analog Discovery.On the soldering side of things you certainly wont be doing extensive assembly in dorms, but you do need *SOME* soldering capability - either aPortasol Technicgas iron or a TS100 or possibly something USB C powered - just to fix cables & terminals, mod solder jumpers etc.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2021, 01:33:24 pm
content: As said, a laptop and an Analog Discovery 2 makes a decent portable lab. Depending on your interests, a separate power supply may be necessary. It could be rechargeable batteries, wall warts or a bench supply.https://store.digilentinc.com/analog-discovery-2-100msps-usb-oscilloscope-logic-analyzer-and-variable-power-supply/

author: DrG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2021, 12:46:56 pm
content: This guy did a pretty nice job I thought. Although I did not check it out really thoroughly, it looks pretty darn good. May even work in a dorm (doubling as a table when not on the go).Portable Workbench & mini Labhttps://hackaday.io/project/9098-portable-workbench-mini-lab