The problem is not learning how to use all of the equipment,it's actually remembering how to use it long (or shortly!) after you've learned
My bench (which is an absolute disgrace at the moment,so I will not be posting any pics) looks like an auxilliary NASA location.
The number of knobs,screens,switches,buttons,meters,displays and connectors would make you think I could pilot the space shuttle by remote control.Even with gear I have been using for decades I am often reaching for the manual for a quick ''refresher'' before performing some operation I only do infrequently.
They say the memory is the first thing to go...but so long as I don't forget where the manual is,I'm still doing fine.
Yeah, my bench is a freakin' nightmare too. But you know what? I'm unapologetic about it because if you're working on your bench it's going to get messy:
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I clean it up between tasks. But when I'm working it can (and often does) get like this.
I'm mulling over redesigning the whole setup, since I recently got some new test equipment. So I look at these threads with interest, as some of you have layouts that make more sense than mine.
I might be run out of town 'cause of my amateur-rats-nest-pile with home-built signal gen, and Heathkit decade boxes, and dumpster-salvaged power supply... and absence of real test equipment. Alas, I am not a technician, I'm just a hack electrician trying to fake-it 'til I make it. All I know is that a wire has two ends, and a schematic is some kind of a treasure map... that always needs to be Red-lined when I walk away from it .
I have water-damaged CV D9s under the bench... and I exited the dryer vent right under the bench to keep my feet warm in the winter (because of the lint build-up on my shoes). I have black-plastic-Sony crap buried in 1" of saw-dust and dirt that just doesn't seem to kill them... and a Trophy Wall of cheesy old idlers that are my only friends...
I think Non-linearly, and my work area reflects it... Anyone seen a pair of wire cutters lying around? I have like 8 of them...guess I'll go buy another...
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and PROUD
.
Those are from 6 of the 35 companies I've worked for in the last 22 years... no soup for me !Love the hard-hat collection!!
I look at your avatar and I get... distracted.Gosh... You guys are AWESOME! I look at the inside of a flashlight and I get perplexed... LOL
It's like the old saying "a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind". I feel the same way about a bench.I might be run out of town 'cause of my amateur-rats-nest-pile with home-built signal gen, and Heathkit decade boxes, and dumpster-salvaged power supply... and absence of real test equipment. Alas, I am not a technician, I'm just a hack electrician trying to fake-it 'til I make it. All I know is that a wire has two ends, and a schematic is some kind of a treasure map... that always needs to be Red-lined when I walk away from it .
I have water-damaged CV D9s under the bench... and I exited the dryer vent right under the bench to keep my feet warm in the winter (because of the lint build-up on my shoes). I have black-plastic-Sony crap buried in 1" of saw-dust and dirt that just doesn't seem to kill them... and a Trophy Wall of cheesy old idlers that are my only friends...
I think Non-linearly, and my work area reflects it... Anyone seen a pair of wire cutters lying around? I have like 8 of them...guess I'll go buy another...
View attachment 1087807 View attachment 1087809
and PROUD
.
Those are from 6 of the 35 companies I've worked for in the last 22 years... no soup for me !
It's like the old saying "a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind". I feel the same way about a bench.
Mind you, I do straighten up between tasks, but it always looks like that when I'm working. And I'm comfortable when it's like that.
If you hadn't always been caught snitching hardhats,you wouldn't have had to change jobs so often
Okay, I'll play. The current main workbench setup includes a professional video monitor, vectorscope, and other video test equipment from my old career, as well as new stuff acquired for audio design work in retirement. Highlights include a Tek 350MHz 4-ch scope with RF spectrum analyzer, Keysight 120MHz arbitrary function generator, Stanford Research SR-1 dual channel audio analyzer, and an EMS 600V 1.6A power supply. I keep a collection of other power supplies in reserve, because a guy can never have too many power supplies for tube amp breadboard work! The audio patch panel is from an even older career that ended in 1984: managing a high-end audio service shop. I'm on the hunt for a pair of high-efficiency speakers to supplement amplifier listening test capabilities.
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I might be run out of town 'cause of my amateur-rats-nest-pile with home-built signal gen, and Heathkit decade boxes, and dumpster-salvaged power supply... and absence of real test equipment. Alas, I am not a technician, I'm just a hack electrician trying to fake-it 'til I make it. All I know is that a wire has two ends, and a schematic is some kind of a treasure map... that always needs to be Red-lined when I walk away from it .
I have water-damaged CV D9s under the bench... and I exited the dryer vent right under the bench to keep my feet warm in the winter (because of the lint build-up on my shoes). I have black-plastic-Sony crap buried in 1" of saw-dust and dirt that just doesn't seem to kill them... and a Trophy Wall of cheesy old idlers that are my only friends...
I think Non-linearly, and my work area reflects it... Anyone seen a pair of wire cutters lying around? I have like 8 of them...guess I'll go buy another...
View attachment 1087807 View attachment 1087809
and PROUD
.
OCD is a strange animal... My work bench looks like a grenade wrapped in 20 spools of solder was tossed at it, but I just put some tater-tots in the oven for my kids and my wife shook her head at my arrangement... They looked like little sailors, soldiers and rowlocks (uncle was a mason) in alternating rows.
"What?" I say " if there is an even amount of space (+/- 1/8" tolerance ) between each tot, they are more evenly baked"...
and PROUD