Electronics
Our electronics area contains various test equipment, tools and supplies to help repair and build various electrical/electronic items. We have a four channel digital oscilloscope, a dual 30V 2A bench PSU, two Fluke digital multimeters + various cheap ones, two temperature controlled soldering stations, and desoldering/reworking stations as well.
Analog Electronics
We have a number of S66D six transistor AM (medium wave) radio kits available that are a good introduction to through-hole kit construction. They aren't great radios but when carefully constructed and properly aligned, typically work as well as most comparable '70s commercial Transistor Radio designs. Unfortunately the kit instruction leaflet is in Chinese but we do have the English instructions to refer to during construction. Also, here's an English language blog post of an Australian biomedical engineer & maker, building the same kit.
Micro controllers
Collectively, we have experience with:
General
and with:
- PCB design
- PCB making
- Toner transfer method
- Etching
- Tinning
- Solder mask (UV Exposure)
- SMD stencil etching
however it is hard to justify making PCBs 'in house' due to the low cost, quick turnaround, and superior quality of the various far East PCB prototyping services.
- Soldering techniques
Soldering tutorials and links
Over forty years ago PACE released a series of training films to the electronics industry. More recently PACE re-released them on Youtube.
- PACE Basic Soldering (Lessons 1-9) - Still probably the best introduction to soldering through-hole components and point-to-point wiring out there!
- PACE Rework and Repair (Lessons 1-8) - You've found the fault, but the PCB itself is damaged or you are unsure how to tackle replacing a component. Watch this series and learn how far the professionals can go to save a high-value board!
Repair links
- Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ - "This site features Samuel M. Goldwasser's latest and greatest "Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of..." series of comprehensive repair guides for consumer electronics equipment and other household devices. There is also a great deal of other information of interest to the electronics hobbyist, experimenter, technician, engineer, and possibly even the dentist and poet. Included are the now quite comprehensive and massive "Sam's Laser FAQ", many new schematics, and links to over 1,000 technology related sites. In addition, there are a variety of documents from other sources on electronics troubleshooting, repair, and other related topics."