Basic Radio Workbench items

[PACNWDude]

When I was young, Jensen Tools was in the S.E. Phx/Tempe area and it was easy to find specialty tools, albeit at a premium price.

Now, I'm on a fixed income, so where can one get Wiha and other specialty stuff without the premium price and no, Harbor Freight is not a valid answer for a lot of stuff. Tarps, perhaps, but not micrometers.

Amazon has been a great source for Wiha and Wera tools in my case. I have yet to get something that appears to be a knockoff or counterfeit product. The Wiha Bit Selector sets in the green cases work well for me and were a little cheaper this way.

 

[AB4BF]

Excellent, excellent suggestion for the illuminated magnifier. Both of mine are 5 power and make doubly sure they are glass, not plastic! That will save you from destroying the magnifier if you should hit it accidently with your soldering iron and the solder spatter will peel off easily.

I also use my phone camera a lot to take pictures of circuitry before I tear into it to try to repair something. That has saved me many times. I can remember 30 years ago like it was yesterday. I just can't remember yesterday...

 

[Skyd]

Excellent, excellent suggestion for the illuminated magnifier. Both of mine are 5 power and make doubly sure they are glass, not plastic! That will save you from destroying the magnifier if you should hit it accidently with your soldering iron and the solder spatter will peel off easily.

I also use my phone camera a lot to take pictures of circuitry before I tear into it to try to repair something. That has saved me many times. I can remember 30 years ago like it was yesterday. I just can't remember yesterday...

Nice tip on checking to be sure it's glass.

I also tend to take pictures, I love to take stuff apart and it's a bummer if you can't get it back together - LOL. It's also a habit I developed from working on fire and security alarm systems, especially brands I wasn't familiar with. Napco panels were especially foreign to me, lots of pictures taken.

 

[xmo]

It's pretty easy. You start with your basic list. Maybe add a few things from suggestions you get here and then get started doing.

One day, you will say to yourself; "self - this would be a lot easier if I had 'X'" Or. Damn, I can't do this project without 'X'

So you buy 'X'

You start with a simple bench, you get more stuff, you build a bigger bench, you get more stuff, you build an even bigger bench, you fill that so you build another bench.

 

[StoliRaz]

It's pretty easy. You start with your basic list. Maybe add a few things from suggestions you get here and then get started doing.

One day, you will say to yourself; "self - this would be a lot easier if I had 'X'" Or. Damn, I can't do this project without 'X'

So you buy 'X'

You start with a simple bench, you get more stuff, you build a bigger bench, you get more stuff, you build an even bigger bench, you fill that so you build another bench.

Wow, everything is so nice, neat and tidy. I would feel so lost. It needs to look like Frankenstein's lab after a tornado went through, only then will I feel at home

 

[Skyd]

You can be assured my workbench will never be that neat. HAHA - I can be pretty organized but also I usually have projects scattered about. I've got at least 2 or 3 projects from various hobbies or repairs at any given time.

 

[EWC_BDN]

I haven't seen it yet, but the best tool for working on radios is. A metal whip cutoff ground to a point on one side and a flat on the other side. Used that for everything. Lifting tables on connectors. Lining the FPC back up with the connector. Holding SMD parts while soldering. Really anything.

I don't do radios anymore honestly I miss having a little pointed stick around to poke stuff on the PCBs that needs poking. No supply of antenna cuttoffs so I might have to just buy a real pick.

 

[littona]

Nice tip on checking to be sure it's glass.

I also tend to take pictures, I love to take stuff apart and it's a bummer if you can't get it back together - LOL. It's also a habit I developed from working on fire and security alarm systems, especially brands I wasn't familiar with. Napco panels were especially foreign to me, lots of pictures taken.

I'd also take pics when working on brake drums. So many parts! But now those seem to be going the way of the dinosaur, and I'm okay with it!

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

The way I felt working on anything Surface Mounted technology

.

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Actually, in fairness, this was our reality.... this is a a scope mount'd to several video displays.
(seen doping a microwave transistor)



...................highly recommended


Lauri

.

 

[prcguy]

Nice looking setup.

Reminds me when I got loaned out to a GaAs chip lab for 6mo where I worked in a class 100 clean room in a full bunny suit every day. We cut all the individual RF ICs out of wafers then attached tiny 2 mil square bypass caps with conductive epoxy and wire bonded the caps to different inputs and outputs of the circuits using microscopes before we could run RF testing. I will say I'm glad I got the experience but I don't ever need to do that again.

Actually, in fairness, this was our reality.... this is a a scope mount'd to several video displays.
(seen doping a microwave transistor)

View attachment 136206

...................highly recommended


Lauri

.

 

[richardbritt]

Here is a snapshot of my problem as of this morning. What's a girl to do??? I got no room for bench #4.

View attachment 136035

View attachment 136036

View attachment 136037

Looks like you just need more time to finish your projects

 

[richardbritt]

If you can find a used IFR1500 cheap, get it. It basically is a signal generator, deviation monitor, oscilloscope (low bandwidth mainly for tracing audio), spectrum analyzer, wide range receiver, audio generator, SInad meter, all rolled into one. Works from around 1Mhz up to around a 1 gigahertz or so. Also built a octopus tester. Easy to build and makes troubleshooting to component level easier.

Regards Richard

 

[richardbritt]

It's pretty easy. You start with your basic list. Maybe add a few things from suggestions you get here and then get started doing.

One day, you will say to yourself; "self - this would be a lot easier if I had 'X'" Or. Damn, I can't do this project without 'X'

So you buy 'X'

You start with a simple bench, you get more stuff, you build a bigger bench, you get more stuff, you build an even bigger bench, you fill that so you build another bench.

How deep is the bench with the Motorola R2001, Current limited power supply, and bird dummy load/wattmeter? Looks very professionally set up.

Regards Richard

 

[prcguy]

If you can find a used IFR1500 cheap, get it. It basically is a signal generator, deviation monitor, oscilloscope (low bandwidth mainly for tracing audio), spectrum analyzer, wide range receiver, audio generator, SInad meter, all rolled into one. Works from around 1Mhz up to around a 1 gigahertz or so. Also built a octopus tester. Easy to build and makes troubleshooting to component level easier.

Regards Richard

A 1200S is usually preferred over the 1500, it does just about the same thing and is lighter and smaller. However an HP/Agilent 8920 or 8921 runs circles around the older IFRs in features and performance for not really much more $. For the cost to repair my aging IFR1200S I got a beautiful HP 8920B with all options just last month.

 

[PACNWDude]

+1 on the HP/Agilent 892x series test sets. These test sets are rugged and if the power supply should ever fail, re-capping is easy. This happens a lot on the 8920's that get taken to the field often and suck in dirt and debris near their power supplies. But, still a great test set if you do not/want/afford autotest digital capabilities.

 

[KevinC]

Actually, in fairness, this was our reality.... this is a a scope mount'd to several video displays.
(seen doping a microwave transistor)

View attachment 136206

...................highly recommended


Lauri

.

No safety glasses. Tsk, tsk…

 

[Fixitt]

I'd also take pics when working on brake drums. So many parts! But now those seem to be going the way of the dinosaur, and I'm okay with it!

I learned early when working on unfamiliar brakes to work on one side at a time.

If the guys in the shop saw me taking pictures… like why I never wore hearing protection. Now the tinnitus is so loud sometimes I am surprised someone standing next to me doesn’t hear it.

 

[KI5EDJ]

Going on personal experience, I would get a second work bench so when your primary work bench gets buried 2ft deep in projects, parts, test equipment, wire clippings, trash, you will still have a place to work. I have three work benches and took me a week to clean the third one to get a few projects done because bench 1 and 2 are hopelessly buried.

You described my ammo bench to a T! I've got two presses in it that are yellow with pollen, won't load a single bullet in their condition, and need a bath! I use that bench for everything from gunsmithing to loading ammo to electronic repair and even fixing my kayak. Many of the items are common:
Work lights
Exhaust fan
Small screwdrivers
Small pliers
Hammer (no joke)
Variable power supply
Fireproof container (for bullet molds and newly built battery packs)
Soldering irons and torches.
Desoldering tools
Files and polishing sticks (not so much for radios, can be used to polish or lap heat sinks though).
Copious amounts of Red Bull

Hammer. Bigger the better. Gets your frustrations under control.

An oxyacetylene torch works better. Depending on what you stick the flame into, the results can really brighten your day!

 

[G7RUX]

Hey all - first I don't mean this to be a rehash of a similar thread about test equipment every ham should have.

Also, I've done extensive searching both on the google machine and here and I'm coming up a bit short (or maybe not) on the info I'm looking for. Perhaps my Google-Fu isn't good enough but I've found it very difficult to find a listing of radio radio repair tools and equipment. So let me tell you what I'm looking for and the items I already know about and see if I can get some input.

Hopefully this will also help anyone with similar questions in the future.

So I've dabbled in electronics since I was a kid and I have alot of the basic tools needed to perform basic repairs and diagnosis but I'm trying to put together a list so I can begin building out my workbench to do some radio repair.

My interest lie primarily in radios that are post vacuum tube era but pre SMT era. So mostly 80's and 90's stuff which is when I grew up and first got into radios and electronics. So without further ado, here's the list of things I already either have or know I should get:

- Flush cutters
- Wire strippers
- Digital Multi Meter (analog might be nice too)
- ESD safe tweezers
- Various pliers (needlenose especially)
- Precision screwdrivers
- Crimping tool and connectors
- Soldering Iron
- Solder sucker
- Solder, desoldering wick, tip tinner
- Flux pen
- 3rd hand
- alligator clips
- RF/SWR Meter and Dummy load
- Solder fume extractor

Eventually and/or nice to have:
- Oscilloscope
- Antenna analyzer

What else should I have or plan to get in the near future? I'm also not only willing, but prefer any test items I can either kit build or homebrew from scratch.

Thanks in advance and apolgies if this has been covered a zillion times, I couldn't find much other than what I've got pieced together already. I feel like I'm missing some useful items that I haven't found or thought of.

The TinySA and NanoVNA are well worth looking at since they provide excellent functionality at tiny prices considering what they can do.