help! newbie and eager to DIY

[gychang]

I have finished reading about the basic electronics and those funny stick figures... Although I am a handyman mainly woodwork, I have yet to solder...

I plan to upgrade my SI t-amp (in stock form sounds good but ...), with stealth mod as soon as I have the basic tools and some experience. I need to get hold of a digital multimeter, and solder iron station etc.

I have budget of $200 for tools, parts and etc.

where on the web and which tools/brand (if possible web page) would the pros recommend?

thanks in advance.

gychang

[preiter]

Are you just looking to upgrade your T-Amp?

Or is this a getting your feet wet in anticipation of a serious hobby of building amps and the like?

If the former, all you need is a $15 soldering pencil and a handful of caps and resistors.

If the latter, you will want a multimeter (can be cheap to start out with) and a regulated soldering station (Weller is a popular brand, check out the WES51). A PC is handy for generating test signals.

Someday you may want an oscilliscope, but that is rather outside of your budget.

[herm]

Here's a couple of links for you - just some inexpensive gear
to get started with. Once you get a feel for how much of this
stuff you are going to do, you can upgrade.

Action electronics Soldering

Action electronics meters

All Electronics Soldering

Goldmine stuff

MPJA stuff

More MPJA

I use a Weller temp controlled station (about $120), an HP
Oscilloscope, and several Fluke meters.

herm

[gychang]

Originally posted by preiter
Are you just looking to upgrade your T-Amp?

Or is this a getting your feet wet in anticipation of a serious hobby of building amps and the like?

If the former, all you need is a $15 soldering pencil and a handful of caps and resistors.

If the latter, you will want a multimeter (can be cheap to start out with) and a regulated soldering station (Weller is a popular brand, check out the WES51). A PC is handy for generating test signals.

For now I want to upgrade t-amp but plan on building another amp kit, amp-3...

is there a web page for "handful of caps and resistors"?, being beginner I am not sure where and what to get in USA...

thanks,

gychang

[gychang]

Originally posted by herm
Here's a couple of links for you - just some inexpensive gear
to get started with. Once you get a feel for how much of this
stuff you are going to do, you can upgrade.

Action electronics Soldering

Action electronics meters

All Electronics Soldering

Goldmine stuff

MPJA stuff

More MPJA

I use a Weller temp controlled station (about $120), an HP
Oscilloscope, and several Fluke meters.

herm

Herm, those are great, thanks so much I will order tools from your list, when I get a chance to look it over. Do you have any favorite, cost effective digital multimeter and soldering station??, I assume the resellers are reliable...

thanks, so much, these are great answers for the newbie like me.

gychang

[herm]

favorite, cost effective digital multimeter and soldering station

Favorite and cost effective are very different things!

I picked the retailers because they were close to you. Action electronics
is in Santa Anna, and All electronics is in Van Nuys. (I suppose that's
not really close, but better than nothing!)

I have had very good results using this Weller temperature controlled Soldering
station:

wes51

Their price is not bad, and if you have $100 to spend I say try it.

If you just want to get in cheap, try the little weller on this page ( WE-SP12 ):

WE-sp12

$15 is next to free.

If you want a good meter, go for Fluke. Undisputed quality and accuracy, but high
price to match. I will not use anything else!

Fluke

I'm sorry to say they may not fit your budget. But I recommend anything on that page,
other than the first one. It has fixed, short leads.

Here are some more cost-effective stores:

http://www.apexjr.com/index.html
http://www.cablesandconnectors.com/
http://sales.goldmine-elec.com/
http://www.elexp.com/online.htm
http://www.hosfelt.com/
http://www.meci.com/
http://www.web-tronics.com/
http://www.allelectronics.com/
http://www.alltronics.com/

and here are a few that are not exactly cheap, but very reliable:

http://www.digikey.com/
http://www.parts-express.com/
http://www.welbornelabs.com/

-herm

[preiter]

Originally posted by gychang


For now I want to upgrade t-amp but plan on building another amp kit, amp-3...

is there a web page for "handful of caps and resistors"?, being beginner I am not sure where and what to get in USA...

thanks,

gychang

Look in the Class-D forum and you will find many threads on upgrading the T-Amp. www.digikey.com is a favorite site for parts, but it can be somewhat overwhelming at first.

[phn]

Check eBay for multimeter. I got my Fluke 175 for 1/3 of retail price. It had never been used.

You could look for an old Weller soldering station as well. They last forever and tips are available for discounted models and cheap. You could get a "K-Mart"-type soldering station for about $20-40. A pro will break it in a weak. But it will probably last you a couple of years. If you plan to solder SMTs, you will eventually need a 60W soldering station. So don't spend money until you know what you need.

You will not need this for the T-amp, but I still want to have it said. There are some useful free software for your PC out there, like this: http://www.dr-jordan-design.de

Another seller that looks pretty good: http://www.circuitspecialists.com

[dangus]

Radio Shack tools and multimeters aren't the worst things ever. I particularly recommend their "flush cutters" (nippy cutters), which will cut leads close (flush) to the circuit board so they don't stick out.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2062764&cp
And these pliers look pretty good for the price:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062797

Here's a good guide: http://tangentsoft.net/audio/new-diyer.html

[gychang]

dangus:

thanks for the detailed tool recommendation, will get the cutter from RS.

gychang