Beginner Enthusiast

[Jubbsta]

Hey! I’m brand new here and looking to get into electronics at a hobbyist level. Don’t ask me specifically what I’d like to learn more about because truth is, I don’t even know enough to answer that. A bit of back ground, I work as a full service repair technician fixing automobiles at a dealership, all of my knowledge is oriented around 5/12V circuits as well as a BASIC understanding of how sensors work in automobiles (negative temp coefficient, potentiometer, etc) work. I’d like to set up a lab at home - with that being said what do you guys recommend i start with? I currently own pretty much all hand and power tools, as well as a Fluke 117 with various leads, I do own helping hands and soldering irons though they’re the low wattage type. I figured i’ll need a good soldering station set up, as well as a power supply and oscilloscope (oscilloscope i’d love to learn to use for my job as well!). Is there anything else you recommend i purchase? And will my fluke 117 be sufficient? What electronic component kits do you recommend i purchase to start?
Thanks!!

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Hi,
you have a good multimeter, the Fluke 117 is fine!

A good soldering iron is useful, I'd highly recommend an Antex temperature controlled type. It does not have to be a soldering station, we use Antex TCS irons, which have the temperature control built in.

However, a little 15V iron is fine as long as the bit is good and stays tinned well.
Regardless of which iron, only get tin-lead cored solder; 63/37 or 60/40 alloy.

I's suggest you get a some mixed packs of resistors, capacitors, semiconductors and LEDs from ebay or amazon etc. to start with; that will give you a range of parts to experiment with.

Also a plug-in protoboard for quick experiments and some stripboard (veroboard or similar) for more permanent circuits.

Other parts really depend on what type of projects you want to do - LED flashers (the above parts are plenty), audio, digital logic / microprocessor or whatever???


A component tester is extremely useful for checking transistor connections etc., and they are available very cheaply on ebay etc.
This style of thing - there are many sellers:

LCR-T4 MEGA 328 Transistor Diode Capacitor ESR LCR Meter MOSFET PNP Tester | eBay

Capacitor: 25pf – 100,000 uf. Resistance: 0.1-ohm Resolution, Maximum 50M ohm. Test Ranges.

www.ebay.co.uk

A scope can be incredibly useful at times, but you may not need it for days or weeks at a time; the little handheld ones are better than nothing, but for bench use either a multichannel USB scope (eg. Hantek) or a two (or more) channel bench scope is ideal. The USB ones are great if you have a PC on your bench/desk anyway, as they are lot smaller than a stand-alone scope and can be extremely good, if you get a decent one. I have a four channel Hantek 6104DB at the side of by desk here, plus a two channel 200MHz Sigilent that normally lives with my mobile test gear.

 

[Jubbsta]

Thanks for the reply! I’ll take a look around amazon for everything you mentioned. That Hantek looks pretty convenient for me to haul to and from work, and once i become more familiar with the use of scopes and get a better idea of what i’d like to do and what to look for in a scope it’s cheap enough to retire to my toolbox at work
Edit: im building a cart on amazon, i cant seem to find the antex soldering iron on amazon, but i did find this which does come with a built in hot air rework station, would that be a good choice?

 

[rjenkinsgb]

i cant seem to find the antex soldering iron on amazon, but i did find this which does come with a built in hot air rework station, would that be a good choice?

OK, sorry, it appears Antex only make UK standard irons now.. Looking on Newark.com, all the Antex stuff they supply is sourced in the UK.

I have a somewhat similar soldering station, as it happens, a KS8586. I got it for the hot air tool, with the iron as a backup for the normal ones. The hot air tool works well for surface mount, but I've never even turned the iron on, so cannot really comment on that.
Just be sure spare bits are easily available!

 

[Jubbsta]

Just be sure spare bits are easily available!

Will do, thank you!

 

[tepalia02]

I think you have already included all the basic tools. Also add a good digital multimeter in your purchase list. For the basic components, you can buy a kit like this: https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-CK-1000-Basic-Electronic-Parts/dp/B0002HBQHC

 

[transconductance]

The best way to learn electronics is with a project. The project will force you to learn what you need to know to complete it. A home-made linear power supply is a good first project. And then you will have a bench power supply you can use in the future.

 

[Jubbsta]

I think you have already included all the basic tools. Also add a good digital multimeter in your purchase list. For the basic components, you can buy a kit like this: https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-CK-1000-Basic-Electronic-Parts/dp/B0002HBQHC

Thank you for the link, it’s much appreciated!

The best way to learn electronics is with a project. The project will force you to learn what you need to know to complete it. A home-made linear power supply is a good first project. And then you will have a bench power supply you can use in the future.

I’ll throw this on my list for early projects, thank you! I’ve found a few ideas that seem incredibly interesting so far, one of my favorites that’s on the list is building a homemade electrocardiogram - i do suffer from minor heart disease and have an higher than normal amount of arrhythmia, so i think it’d be really cool to compare a home made ecg reading to one that i have done at the Cardiologist’s office - of course i wouldn’t be building this to make any medical decisions at all, just a fun project

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thank you for the link, it’s much appreciated!

I’ll throw this on my list for early projects, thank you! I’ve found a few ideas that seem incredibly interesting so far, one of my favorites that’s on the list is building a homemade electrocardiogram - i do suffer from minor heart disease and have an higher than normal amount of arrhythmia, so i think it’d be really cool to compare a home made ecg reading to one that i have done at the Cardiologist’s office - of course i wouldn’t be building this to make any medical decisions at all, just a fun project

Been there, done that - mine was continually varying from 80 to 180 following a heart attack.

This graph was created from my Garmin walking GPS, which has a wireless connection for an optional heart strap monitor, and clearly shows my heart rate leaping about - although by the time of this graph it was somewhat controlled by 'seriously nasty' medication, so not as bad as when I was in hospital. It's lot's better now, following three heart operations in one.

You can get heart strap monitors that will connect to mobile phones, mine is older and only has the older ANT+, while later ones use BlueTooth (or both) - some phones will connect to ANT+, but neither of mine will.

So if you want to actually monitor your heart rate, then get a heart strap monitor that will connect to your phone.

To build an ECG, google for Arduino ECG, there are numerous examples out there - such as this one https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/linkan_majumder/ecg-monitoring-system-00e6d6 or this one: https://circuitdigest.com/microcont...rduino-to-diagnose-various-medical-conditions

 

[tepalia02]

For ECG, you can buy SparkFun Single Lead Heart Rate Monitor - AD8232

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

For ECG, you can buy SparkFun Single Lead Heart Rate Monitor - AD8232

You mean like in the links I posted

 

[For The Popcorn]

If you have afib or other cardiac problems, don't mess around with homemade solutions. For $100, you can buy a Kardia 6L EKG that provides professional quality EKGs that your doctor will believe and base decisions on. This is an amazing piece of technology that is about 1" × 3" × ¼" that provides a single lead EKG if you hold the ends by the fingers of each hand. You can do a "6 lead" EKG by holding the device and touching the back to your knee or leg – don't ask me how you get "6 leads" with 3 contact points, but it works.

Back in the summer, it was discovered I had afib. The journey through echocardiograms, PET stress tests, angiography and cardioversion began. My first cardioversion only lasted about 5 days. Since then, I got the Kardia and last week I had the second cardioversion. I've got rhythm now. The Kardia has been very useful since then, and gives my cardiologist solid information to alter my meds when my heart rate has dropped too low.

The doctors and cardiac nurses who have seen the EKGs have been truly impressed and I can carry the device in my pocket and have an EKG any time in 30 seconds.

Absolutely recommended if you have any cardiac issues.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If you have afib or other cardiac problems, don't mess around with homemade solutions. For $100, you can buy a Kardia 6L EKG that provides professional quality EKGs that your doctor will believe and base decisions on. This is an amazing piece of technology that is about 1" × 3" × ¼" that provides a single lead EKG if you hold the ends by the fingers of each hand. You can do a "6 lead" EKG by holding the device and touching the back to your knee or leg – don't ask me how you get "6 leads" with 3 contact points, but it works.

Back in the summer, it was discovered I had afib. The journey through echocardiograms, PET stress tests, angiography and cardioversion began. My first cardioversion only lasted about 5 days. Since then, I got the Kardia and last week I had the second cardioversion. I've got rhythm now. The Kardia has been very useful since then, and gives my cardiologist solid information to alter my meds when my heart rate has dropped too low.

The doctors and cardiac nurses who have seen the EKGs have been truly impressed and I can carry the device in my pocket and have an EKG any time in 30 seconds.

Absolutely recommended if you have any cardiac issues.

The hospital fitted me with a portable 3-wire ECG recorder a couple of months ago, that I had to wear for 24 hours and take back - apparently it recorded to an internal SD card.

I had surgical ablation for my afib (as my chest was split open anyway - for two other procedures), have they discussed cather ablation with you?. Presumably the current procedures are been tried to see if they can sort it out without resorting to ablation?.

What meds are on?, I was on Amiodarone for a number of months after the operation, but was taken off it once things had settled down somewhat (and my kidney function had started to recover). A nasty drug to take, hence it's usually only short term, with regular liver and kidney blood tests, as it damages both.

 

[For The Popcorn]

On the way in a few minutes to discuss an ablation. My regular clinic can't even get me an appointment with an EP until December 22nd, so seeing an outside doc this morning.

I've been on amiodarone since the first cardioversion didn't last. It's got nasty side effects if you're on it too long.

It's been a journey.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

On the way in a few minutes to discuss an ablation. My regular clinic can't even get me an appointment with an EP until December 22nd, so seeing an outside doc this morning.

I've been on amiodarone since the first cardioversion didn't last. It's got nasty side effects if you're on it too long.

It's been a journey.

Tell me about it

It's often referred to as 'the drug of last resort'.

Interestingly, when I was recently out of hospital after surgery (and obviously not allowed to drive) I had to have taxis to and from regular visits to my doctors surgery (to see nurses - not a doctor, all the doctors seem to have been hiding at home with the curtains drawn and the the doors locked since Covid!). As I was still decidedly 'fragile' and 'decrepit' (I could just about lift a cup of coffee), and going to the doctors, they usually asked what was up. And one of the drivers had recently had catheter ablation - and he claimed it was quite painful?, something I'd never heard suggested before?.

So if you end up having that, you might ask your doctor about it?.

 

[For The Popcorn]

I had a good discussion with the doctor. He does ablations under general anesthesia; he didn't mention there would be any significant pain after.

I'll probably find out soon.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I had a good discussion with the doctor. He does ablations under general anesthesia; he didn't mention there would be any significant pain after.

I'll probably find out soon.

Should be fine then, as far as I'm aware the taxi driver wasn't under general anaesthesia, and the pain was as it was been done, not afterwards.

Good luck, and I wish you well.

 

[Jubbsta]

Yikes! Hopefully everything works out well for the both of you! I’m in my 20’s and was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at the age of 14 - i’ve been in AFIB before and my highest count of PVC’s was 17% on a 14 day holter monitor - i was on an anti-arrhythmic but had to be taken off of it as my ejection fraction dropped to 35% - apparently once you get to 35% the risk of sudden cardiac arrest climbs exponentially while on an anti-arrhythmic. My doctors have been contemplating catheter ablations, especially since 99% of my PVC’s are on the outflow tract (easiest type to correct). To clarify though, i’m not interested in building an EKG for medical purposes - i actually own a kardia device myself. Instead I think it would be a fun, relevant project for me, and being that i have very regular EKG’s performed it would be awesome to compare the accuracy of a homemade ekg to one used in a cardiologist’s office. I really appreciate the links and insight!

 

[crutschow]

If you want to learn more about basic electronics, read some tutorials, such as found here.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Yikes! Hopefully everything works out well for the both of you! I’m in my 20’s and was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at the age of 14 - i’ve been in AFIB before and my highest count of PVC’s was 17% on a 14 day holter monitor - i was on an anti-arrhythmic but had to be taken off of it as my ejection fraction dropped to 35% - apparently once you get to 35% the risk of sudden cardiac arrest climbs exponentially while on an anti-arrhythmic. My doctors have been contemplating catheter ablations, especially since 99% of my PVC’s are on the outflow tract (easiest type to correct). To clarify though, i’m not interested in building an EKG for medical purposes - i actually own a kardia device myself. Instead I think it would be a fun, relevant project for me, and being that i have very regular EKG’s performed it would be awesome to compare the accuracy of a homemade ekg to one used in a cardiologist’s office. I really appreciate the links and insight!

Good luck with your medical issues - my operations were just over a year ago, and it took about 9 months before I started feeling really well - and that was following a phone call from the cardiac doctor, who then prescribed water tablets for me. The effects were really rapid, within two to three days there was a huge improvement - and my breathing improved miraculously, presumably I had fluid in my lungs? - my legs got much thinner as well, and are slowly continuing to do so. I'd also like to think that perhaps my mitral valve repair is 'getting better'?, following a scan in January I was told it was still leaking, but only 'mild to moderate' - which considering I was never told the degree of leakage before, didn't really help me - I 'should' be receiving an appointment this January for another scan, to see how it's going.

As for ECG's, it's not rocket science, it's basically a slow speed oscilloscope fed from an instrumentation amplifier (op-amps) - I would suggest building the Arduino based one I linked to above, using the Sparkfun board and sensors. Looks a fun project to play with. Assuming you later on get a digital oscilloscope, you could use the Sparkfun board with that as well, and display your ecg on the scope. But the strap sensor I use (which I had years ago for walking/gym use) seems perfectly fine at showing afib, or it's absence.

And talking sensors - I was covered with them - the ambulance fitted a set, to confirm a heart attack and to monitor while going to hospital (and while waiting in the corridor). Then A&E fitted another set for their monitoring - and when I eventually was sent to a ward, they fitted yet a third set of sensors. At no time did anyone consider removing any of them, nor simply using the ones that were already there.