Post a pic of your Electronics Bench

Hey, HEY, just what are you trying to say, huh?? :D But seriously, I need to remove that wallpaper, just been procrastinating. It's leftover from the previous owner of the house, and they had very poor taste in wallpaper.

I have not yet calibrated the 8903, just the 8175. The 8903 seems to be pretty close, and looping it back into itself with a 1KHz @ 1V signal and the 80KHz low pass on gives me a reading of around .002% distortion. I can get it to about .0014% with the overhead lamp off. Not too shabby.
The people I bought my house from had wallpapered almost every single room. It was a nightmare to remove. I still cringe every time I see wallpaper because of that!

I don't think the 8903B would benefit from calibration. It exceeded the performance test for distortion when I checked it out. And for what we do, there's really not much that you'd need to have calibrated. Maybe a counter or signal generator for FM work.

I went way overboard for timing. I had picked up a distribution amplifier in a lot of test equipment, and bought a GPS disciplined oscillator from the auction site. I use it to clock all my time based equipment that has an input for external clocking. My AM/FM generator doesn't, but my counter (which does have an external clock in) shows it's good out to 4 decimal places. Not good enough in the metrology world but more than good enough for an FM tuner. One of those things that I just did because I could. Although admittedly it does come in handy for the occasions when I repair test equipment.
 
I am not a fan of the 8903A. But if you can get one for a deal then it might be fine, if you do not have anything else.

Today, I had the pleasure to finally have a Pioneer SX-1250 to play with. So why not post a pic of it with the T/E I used to tune it up.
The FM reception was weak, it needed a FM FE alignment. Thank god it was not the tuner itself, it would not be fun to have to repair it. The ass'y is all hand done using flying/point-point wiring, just like a prototype.
I have been collecting this old gear from eBay auctions over the years.
From the bottom, 8901A,8656B,3325A,5316A,3478A,8904A,Amber 3501, DPO4034 sitting on top of a homemade lab power supply. For what I paid for the gear vs what it was worth new, it is the ultimate bang for the buck imo. My HP museum in the basement :) The old 400D VTVM (beside the spare/parts 8656B up top) was my parting gift when I left the Motorola cal lab onto another avenue in my career.

Enjoy
Rick

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I am not a fan of the 8903A. But if you can get one for a deal then it might be fine, if you do not have anything else.

Today, I had the pleasure to finally have a Pioneer SX-1250 to play with. So why not post a pic of it with the T/E I used to tune it up.
The FM reception was weak, it needed a FM FE alignment. Thank god it was not the tuner itself, it would not be fun to have to repair it. The ass'y is all hand done using flying/point-point wiring, just like a prototype.
I have been collecting this old gear from eBay auctions over the years.
From the bottom, 8901A,8656B,3325A,5316A,3478A,8904A,Amber 3501, DPO4034 sitting on top of a homemade lab power supply. For what I paid for the gear vs what it was worth new, it is the ultimate bang for the buck imo. My HP museum in the basement :) The old 400D VTVM (beside the spare/parts 8656B up top) was my parting gift when I left the Motorola cal lab onto another avenue in my career.

Enjoy
Rick

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So you have a background in metrology too? Very cool. I was co owner of a lab in the mid 90's. Thankfully my partner was (and still is, I'm sure) a bona fide genius. We'd have gone out of business in 6 months otherwise. I'm good with electronics but have about zero business acumen. He excelled at everything he tried his hand at. I learned a lot from him.
 
I am not a fan of the 8903A. But if you can get one for a deal then it might be fine, if you do not have anything else.

Today, I had the pleasure to finally have a Pioneer SX-1250 to play with. So why not post a pic of it with the T/E I used to tune it up.
The FM reception was weak, it needed a FM FE alignment. Thank god it was not the tuner itself, it would not be fun to have to repair it. The ass'y is all hand done using flying/point-point wiring, just like a prototype.
I have been collecting this old gear from eBay auctions over the years.
From the bottom, 8901A,8656B,3325A,5316A,3478A,8904A,Amber 3501, DPO4034 sitting on top of a homemade lab power supply. For what I paid for the gear vs what it was worth new, it is the ultimate bang for the buck imo. My HP museum in the basement :) The old 400D VTVM (beside the spare/parts 8656B up top) was my parting gift when I left the Motorola cal lab onto another avenue in my career.

Enjoy
Rick

View attachment 1184179 View attachment 1184180 View attachment 1184181
Arts also prefers the Amber for distortion analysis.

Must be a Canadian thing. :biggrin:

Nice complement of test equipment, BTW!
 
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Latest pic of my bench. More equipment, less bench space.
Next addition: Lazy Susan for easy access to equipment undergoing surgery.
When you started this thread I saw a bench with most of the test gear on shelves toward the back of the bench. That was the inspiration for me to redo my bench.

I like it, as it frees up bench real estate for equipment you're working on.
 
When you started this thread I saw a bench with most of the test gear on shelves toward the back of the bench. That was the inspiration for me to redo my bench.

I like it, as it frees up bench real estate for equipment you're working on.
Yep! There is actually more space in front of my bench than there was in the first post. I am always working on more ways to have the equipment close at hand while maintaining maximum workspace. All this is done with the prime directive of using materials at hand. I am a scrounge-master! I love seeing other members’ bench pics in case I can compliment them by copying their good ideas.
 
Yep! There is actually more space in front of my bench than there was in the first post. I am always working on more ways to have the equipment close at hand while maintaining maximum workspace. All this is done with the prime directive of using materials at hand. I am a scrounge-master! I love seeing other members’ bench pics in case I can compliment them by copying their good ideas.
+1

A good working bench is constantly evolving.
 
Next addition: Lazy Susan for easy access to equipment undergoing surgery.

I picked up one of these from home despot for about twelve buck. 12'' diameter,with high weight capacity. Couple of squares of plywood top and bottom and Bob's your uncle.At the moment I'm using a rubber door-stopper wedge as a brake;I really didn't think that part through.....

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When you started this thread I saw a bench with most of the test gear on shelves toward the back of the bench. That was the inspiration for me to redo my bench.

I like it, as it frees up bench real estate for equipment you're working on.

Same layout here,but I still don't have enough room,and some items are just not where I want them. Please refer to quote below:

+1

A good working bench is constantly evolving.

By the time my bench is ''just perfect'' I'll be a drooling,doddering old geezer going into a ''home'' (or worse...):(
 
Right now theres a big ol Parasound that needs finishing up HCA-2200II. Taking up the entire bench. It fried a couple miswired crossovers to the point of a dead short before it started blowing fuses.So far the only components I've found damaged is 5 fuses.DSC04180.JPG DSC04181.JPG
 
Right now theres a big ol Parasound that needs finishing up HCA-2200II. Taking up the entire bench. It fried a couple miswired crossovers to the point of a dead short before it started blowing fuses.So far the only components I've found damaged is 5 fuses.View attachment 1184997 View attachment 1184998

I feel sorry for the poor crossovers - probably not much of them left. The amp? Probably just those fuses :dunno:

I saw a little bit of that bench. You can't hide it that easy.
 
Here are a couple of "casual" picts of my bench, working on some tape delays. Not always is that messy, but most of the times looks +- like this. I free up a half of the table, and the other half is a bird nest full of tools all +- of the same color (black with red) what makes them difficult to find. I've tried a plastic tray or a flat box to keep the hand tools, but they always end again on the table.

I'd love to have one of those "surgery room" like benchs, according to "5S" standards, but I can't do it. Tried to organize it many times, this is a half way between my way of working and the organization I'd like.

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