Equipment and Supplies

Greetings!

Over time, I have collected a decent set of equipment, tools and supplies that has served me well and, in some cases, not so well. I created this page to list some of the better options I’ve come up with (excluding the not-so-great options). I am not a professional electronics engineer. I am a hobbyist. So the equipment, tools and supplies I list below fit accordingly. For example, the oscilloscope that I use cost me a few hundred dollars (USD) to purchase – not several thousand.

I truly hope you find this list useful. If you know of any equipment, tools, or supplies that I should check out and review, please let me know!

Equipment

Diagnostics Equipment

ProductAvailable On
Siglent SDS 1202X-E OscilloscopeAmazon
USB Logic Analyzer – 24MHz 8 ChannelAmazon
USB Voltage and Current Tester – 5.1A 30VAmazon

Solder Station, Etc.

ProductAvailable On
FX-888D Hakko FX888D-29BY Digital Soldering Station, Iron holder Cleaning spongeHakko FX-888D 29BY Digital Soldering Station. Instruction Manuals are located here.Amazon
Digi-Key

Tools

ProductAvailable On
TL866II Plus EEPROM Programmer. Not only is this an affordable EEPROM programmer, it can also test many logic and RAM IC’s as well.Amazon

Audio/Video

ProductAvailable On
RCA Composite Video Audio to HDMI Converter. Great for connecting Commodore 64 & VIC-20 to modern monitors/TV’s.Amazon
Analog NTSC UHF VHF CATV Tuner RF Demodulator. Used for converting RF modulated signals (e.g., from a TRS-80 Color Computer 2) into Composite RCA output. Can be used in conjunction with the adapter shown above to display using HDMI.Amazon

Supplies

General Supplies

General Components

ProductAvailable On
DS18B20 Temperature Sensor. Great for use with MCU’s, this 1-wire digital temperature sensor is accurate to ±0.5°C with up to 12 bits of precision from the onboard D/A converter.Amazon
Digi-Key

Commodore 64 / VIC-20

ProductAvailable On
5 Pin Male DIN Plug to 4 x RCA Phono Male Plugs (2m). Works with the VIC-20 and C-64 (though the 8 pin version works better for the C-64)Amazon