Low Voltage Microcontroller "Maker" Development / Test Equipment Buyers Guide - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Jarrod Roberson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2014, 07:03:49 pm
content: I have been writing software professionally since 1983, self taught from the beginning and living in a very rural part of the Southeast USA, I always had conceptual problems understanding the hardware side of things and never had anyone for a mentor. Software concepts no matter how conceptual were always very obvious.Hardware was always a mystery! I took stuff apart to figure out how it worked, and most of it never worked again because it never got put back together! Not anymore!I have learned a lot from EEVBlog, Dave really fills in the holes in what I always wanted to know!I have unlimited access to IEEE whitepapers and resources through my current employer, and can find just about any information I might need on the Internet, and in almost every case anything that isn't explained in detail, EEVBlog has the missing parts that I need to understand the concepts fully!I am putting together a development bench to implement some basic hardware that I have been wanting to build for a long time.Nothing super high tech, basically cobbling together various ICs, Sensors and Microcontrollers and some FPGA/CPLD possibly. Mostly basic servo/stepper motor control, wireless communications AD/DA conversions and MIDI controllers and some basic Audio processing. Mostly very low power stuff for RC Airplanes, Multi-rotors and Cars as well as other small "maker" style hardware prototyping that will just communicate with server side software.The problem is I don't know what test/debugging equipment is appropriate for these tasks, price or capabilities wise.Either things are complete garbage or they are extremely expensive it seems.Here is what I have collected so far after watching hours of EEVBlog and Mike's Electric Stuff and RCModelReviews on youtube.Solder Station - Hakko 888DBench Power Supply - Tenma 72-8695Digital Multimeter - Extech MN16ASaleae ( Clone Hardware ) for an 8 channel logic analyzer. If this fits my needs I plan on getting a legit 16 channel one, since their software does exactly what I need with the SDK and what not if it doesn't I can make it do what I need and I want to reward them for their hard work on the software.Episode #168 "How to set up an electronics lab" has been invaluable but in some cases it just raises more questions than it answers.What I am not sure about is how to choose an Oscilloscope and Spectrum Analyzer.I know these things are expensive just because of what they do. But I am having a hard time trying to gauge what is "enough" version what is "overkill" for my expected usage scenarios.I am not expecting to be doing anything super high speed but it is painfully clear that the mini-DSO style Oscilloscopes are probably not a very good investment even in the short term. But I do like the idea of their portability. USB / iOS based stuff is an option as well, for the portability of doing field testing on RC stuff.Dave has a lot of great information in the "shoot out" videos, that is what steered me to the Extech MN16A was his opinion on the EX330 and detailed explanations of what to look for and what to avoid. I didn't need the high voltage detection stuff and the MN16A is slightly smaller and has all the same specs otherwise.I think a couple of "Buyers Guide" type videos once a year with current models of equipment would get a ton of traffic and views! Especially for the "prosumer/advanced hobbyist/maker" crowd, especially if the mid-range stuff is explained on what it would be reasonable expectations that it would be useful for and what it isn't useful for.I think including "discontinued/obsolete" equipment in episodes would be invaluable was well, teardown videos and opinions of the Tenman is what got me to find one on ebay for $76US!

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2014, 10:44:37 am
content: I can't say what would be "sufficient" in an oscilloscope, but there are a few that seem popular in the forum. For example, Rigol DS1052E for cheap, then DS1074Z, and finally DS2072. There are a few other manufacturers/brands mentioned, too.