MOTM

From one faceless loser to another: congratulations on deciding to 
build your own!  It's a very do-able thing, belive it or not, even if 
you don't really understand what's going on.  What makes is do-able 
is the simple fact that Paul has created the ultimate kit.  Great 
instructions, everything you need, and really good explainations of 
the circuits.

I have an $89 yellow Radio Shack brand meter that has served me 
well.  It even has a frequency counter and capacitance measurement.  
So if you're gonna spend two hundred clams, you should be stylin'.

If you spend another $150 on a soldering station, you will be OK.  
Mine has digtal temp setting and has been a real pal for the over 40 
kits I'vve built so far.

When I goof up on a kit, Paul has always been helpful and reasonably 
kind.  SOme of my mistakes were, uh, humorous to him I'm sure!

Let us know how it goes...

Mike

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "klstay" <kevinstay@e...> wrote:
> First of all, forgive my ignorance. (I got through Serway's 3rd 
> edition of Physics, but that was a fair number of years ago. I 
freely 
> admit to being one of the faceless losers for whom electricity 
> is "magic stuff" that comes out of the wall socket.) I understand 
we 
> will need at least a voltmeter for some of the newer modules. I 
would 
> like to be able to perform the full range of calibrations on the 
> various modules. So, any advice on which multimeter would be a good 
> choice? (Someone mentioned extech instead of fluke because 
> the "higher resolution" was better for calibrating oscillators at 
> lower frequencies.) I'm willing to spend a few hundred dollars on 
one.
> 
> Next up on the parade of topics which yield highly opinionated 
> responses - a soldering iron. I have decided, perhaps foolishly, I 
> might be able to pull off a 1/5 or 2/5 difficulty kit without 
burning 
> the house down or irreparably damaging multiple digits. (Since I 
have 
> 2 eyes I figure I can live with the inevitable "poking out" of one 
of 
> them.) I want a quality soldering iron that will last but also 
don't 
> need one somebody who does this for a living would get. 
> Unfortunately, the Weller model everyone seems to like looks to 
have 
> been discontinued.
> 
> The rest of the tools needed to "venture forth" seem pretty 
> straightforward. I would prefer to get the soldering iron and 
> multimeter right the first time ;-)