Re: Advise wanted on equipment purchase

On Wed, 2005-07-27 at 12:20 -0700, mike wrote:
> siliconmike wrote:
> > Forget RF. I'm quite knowledgeable at microcontrollers. Perhaps I
> > should have asked "what are the latest logic analysers around" or "what
> > are the latest multi-function oscilloscopes around".. ;)
> >
> > Mike
> >
> Everybody asks, "what's the best/biggest/smallest/fastest/your
> superlative here gizmo around. That's not a useful question.
> Best for me ain't best for you. And you can't afford the "best" anyway.
>
> Call up any vendor and tell them you want a demo of the latest analyzer
> and you've got $7,000 to spend. At least they'll get a good laugh.
> State what analysis functions you need and maybe someone can make a
> recommendationon some old gear. S.E.Equipment might be a better place
> to ask.
>
> You can't get "quite knowledgeable" without having successfully used
> scopes and analyzers to do the job. Start with what you know and branch
> out your search from there. What did you use? What did it lack?
> If you can't accurately specify the analysis tools you need, you gots no
> business starting a busniess.
>
> Putting more time in on the business plan will save you $7000 in wrong
> equipment.

Good advice. One more thing, there are lots of places that will RENT
expensive equipment. So if you have a job that requires a certain piece
of equipment you can rent it for a lot less. To get a good scope you're
looking at $30K+ and that's a lot of capital sitting around if you only
need it 3 times a year. For lots of debugging a $1000 scope off of ebay
will suffice.

I've picked up lots of deals on ebay. If you know what things are worth
then you can find good deals. I've got a scope, dual HP power supply,
HP bench DMM, and electronic load. The most I've spent on any one item
is $800 for the scope a few years ago. New its all easily worth $10K,
probably more.

Just make sure you deal with reputable sellers.

Cheers,

James.

.

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