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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2024
- Dave shows you how you can set up an electronics lab for only a few hundred bucks.
Multimeter, oscilloscope, power supply, function generator, soldering station, solder, wire, tools, microscope and magnifier, and components.
The prevous video: • EEVblog #168 - How To ...
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Links:
UT136B: amzn.to/2hjEmF5
OWON VDS1022I USB Oscilloscope: amzn.to/2hguCer
YiHUA 936 Soldering Station: amzn.to/2hjHkcV
Hakko Tips: amzn.to/2gnhcvm
Lab PSU: amzn.to/2gN3AuD
USB Microscope: amzn.to/2hjFdpn
Head Magnifier: amzn.to/2gN4uqS
Flux Pen: amzn.to/2gnf8Ub
0.3mm solder: amzn.to/2hjIwx0
Lead Free solder: amzn.to/2hjMF45
If your budget allows: Rigol DS1054Z: amzn.to/2gN7JPg
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I would love to see an 2020 update with total budget under 1k in two equal parts:
~$500 for tools & instruments
~$500 for mcu, arm, fpga and analog dev/eval kits
Asume small table, some drawer storage, light and laptop are already available.
I would love to see this, the 1.5k build Evvblog168 is from 2011, there must be a decent amount of instrument innovations since then
I also want to see this
still a good idea in 12/30/23
what is mcu and fpga
My favorite part of this video is how content-dense it is. 12 minutes packed with info. I often don't have time for your longer videos or know where they're headed so, this one was a real treat.
Great Video! One Pro tip I'd like to contribute: The older you are, the more you should spend on lighting and magnification.
I use my lungs to filter the fumes..
Some people really hate and/or are allergic to the fumes, but I kind of like it. Similarly, I like the smell of a wood fire, but there are people that hate that, too.
Mark L reality is the fumes are toxic, carcinogenic, but then I am a smoker..
I had a jacket that smelled like campfire for a for days, definitely got mixed reactions from that.
TheLinkoln18 yea, its not that bad for you, its just flux lol nowhere as bad as toboco smoke lol
It's only carcinogenic if the solder has lead in it. You can buy lead free solder for basically the same price.
I personally like the smell of warm resin.
i think there was a math issue at the soldering iron bit - you suggested an 11 and 21 dollar model but only added 5 to the total... are you trying to bankrupt us?
He actually added 21$. He just showed us 5$
That video will be useful to a lot of beginners!
@Shanae (oo(ok>>>+{p
Now this is a video I'd never even dreamt of seeing. Dave Jones, recommending ~20 cheap Chinese products. The fun part is, I agree 100%. If I may add some additional suggestions:
1) Transistor/ESR tester
2) 20€ diy osilloscope for simple waveforms
3) Cheap variable DC-DC power supply 500W range. + Fixed 12V AC-DC power supply
4) Various connectors
5) IC sockets
6) ESD mat
7) Voltage regulators + heatsink
8) Popular ICs: 555 timers, op amps, attiny, etc.
If you're careful and don't just go for the first five dollar one you see you can get a cheap multimeter that has transistor, diode and capacitance testing built right in. The one I still use today for everything from electronics to tracking down phantom voltage in my 120 year old house to appliance repairs I paid thirteen bucks for at my college bookstore about twenty five years ago. The only thing I've added is a five dollar kit of different universal leads because it only came with the long pointed probes and no alligator clips.
LordPadriac I have never in my life seen a multimeter with an esr meter on it
This is the one I have. You don't need a special meter to test capacitors; ANY multi meter will do it.
LordPadriac i think you forget the link
Weird. I know I pasted it in there. I wonder if TH-cam censored it out for some reason. Try this again. www.all-sun.com/manual/Dt830_en.pdf
Dave, 2 things I've learnt from watching your videos...Flynn's bloody good at getting in and she never seems to write much
Flynn is male btw
+EcapeMCP... yes I know who Flynn is...I was referring to Dave's saying 'that's all she wrote'...
I learnt that bees dicks are pretty small and can be measured in many different forms outside of meters ;)
Does he whack it in? ;)
Also, I apparently have an uncle called Bob.
Heat shrink tubing is also good to have! Also a wire stripper is needed. Fantastic what you can get for this little money.
Don’t need wire strippers, use the side cutters like nearly all professionals I’ve ever seen do lol (seriously)... less tools to keep track of and you already have it in your hand! Takes practice especially for 30ga, but the results are as good or better ; ) I’ve got probably $1000 or more in every type of pliers and cutters each $20 or more, and I’ve only ever seen maybe two on the bench in actual use, beefy needle nose and side cutters... if you really want to go “pro” get some electricians scissors, seen them used with with absolute precision and stripping wire are machine like speed
Consumables...
@@robertw1871i have used scissors for some time
Don't get the USB microscope unless you just want to take pictures. It's useless for soldering. Get a swing arm shelf mount magnifying glass from Amazon for 25 bucks It has a fluorescent round bulb you can replace later with a roll of LED's. Get a helping hand with small magnifying glass. Take the magnifier off and attach it to the swing arm under the big magnifying glass. You get the same magnification as a microscope. You can just swing the small glass out of the way for wider magnifier. Use the spare alligator clamps on another helping hand without a glass so you have 4 holding arms.
Amazon? Are you kidding? Banggood, AliExpress, eBay are the way to go when you want it to be cheap
@@bspringer Not anymore when trade war in US and enhanced customs rules in EU kicked in :(
@@KrotowX We'll see. I think in the EU I'm at least a little safer when it comes to China hate than in the US
@@bspringer Seems like that. And Banggood have at least two warehouses in EU. Direct purchases from China now is an greater game of luck. Two my acquaintances recently got taxed by customs for under 100 EUR worth purchases from Banggood Chinese warehouse and AliExpress - it never happened before.
That's really useful. Knowing what might be useful and what is plausible on a budget is good to know...
I've had bits and pieces of equipment for random projects I've done over the years. Crappy soldering irons, equally questionable multimeters (I have a Uni-T one nearby), breadboards, wire, some components...
But I really was buying stuff on a case by case basis and making do with whatever cheap stuff I could find, with no real idea of what might be good to have in general.
I always wanted a multimeter, but it never seemed like something that was affordable.
So anyway good advice really.
(oops. 9 months later I noticed I meant oscilloscope, not multimeter. XD)
I just found your videos. You really do a nice job with everything, and thank you for your time!
Man, you are just make my niece (she is still young) Christmas a very happy and electronic night! Thanks!!!!
Might be an opportunity for EEVblog to setup and sell electronics lab packages for us novices out there?
this is useful! but id recommend a helping hand with magnifying glass over the crappy microscope. adds another 15 bucks you could spend on a microcontroller kit or parts.
From my experience those $10 microscopes are worth it when its all you can get, especially when you're still getting your eye in with SMD soldering it makes 0.5mm pin pitch soldering feel like you're playing with SOIC.
gamerpaddy The generic helping hand is, in my opinion, useless. That thing is super easy to tip over, its not solid enough. There are better options but they are also expensive.
I ended up using glue and a scrap of a plywood sheet in order to secure the bloody helping hand
If you can find a logitech c270 camera , cost about $20 , they have a lens that you can unscrew to make it macro that allows you you get close enough to a pcb that you can view solder joints at 1280x720 in very good quality.
+Victor García I bought one years ago (without magnifier), and the grips on its "arm" positions are just not firm enough to hold the weight of even a small populated PCB. Mine just lowers its arms until its no longer holding anything.
get the right one,or just one of the mini rotating vise (the one with a ball joint) they are pretty handy. the magnifying glasses / headgear you allready got.
Awesome video! I think I'll be picking up a few of these things. Amazing how cheap some of these things are now. Amazing what you can get an oscilloscope for now!
VERY useful stuff, Dave. Thank you so much for all the recommendations.
Really nice choosing and mix of goodies. Nice work Dave.
thank you Dave. I actually didn't know you had a cheap side and it's refreshing to listen to the other side and get some recommendations that I think are very realistic for many people such as myself. however, I did get multicore solder, no games when it comes to solder.
Brilliant vid, bro. Thanks for a nice quick breakdown on how to get off the ground quickly!
Cool Dave - electronics on the cheap - love it :)
Yo Jillian I'm your subscriber
Love your videos, Dave's as well
You guys must get together and do an AWESOME video!
This is great, just got out of auto tech school and was looking to specialize in electronics. This guide will be perfect!
It's time for a new one!!! What a time to get into the hobby, from badass $25 open source soldering irons to free PCBs you name it every thing has gotten a lot cheaper since.
Great video. This is exactly what I was looking for.
I wish this was around before I got my lab...although i have far better equipment, I don't have a logic analyzer or a function generator and other crucial things. I focused on parts instead of gear more and also on getting higher quality items. So all totaled I will probably end up spending well over $3000, or 10X this video's suggestion for my lab.
The Analog Discovery has a Logic Analyzer, Waveform Generator, Network Analyzer and Power Supplies!
It will do a lot more than just a scope. Should help a lot with the price.
I love the smell of molting solder in the morning
Very good and informative video, Dave. Thanks.
1mm wick is useless - it saturates too quickly. Just cut the end of wider (3-4mm) wick to a point.
I agree, it does saturate too quick, but it's still good to have on hand.
Some people love dicking around cutting....lol
About right, just gotta get started! I’d recommend a vice of some type to help holding stuff while you solder, I use a panavise, well worth the stupidly high price as you get what you pay for, but any old small table top vise will do. Also a cheap ESD mat kit, not so much for ESD, but it’ll keep your mom or the wifey from goin off when you burn the table!
killer rundown. Great job!
I prefer a manual range multimeter over an autorange one every day of the week. They are just so much faster once you now what range of voltages you expect and you are not making errors reading the numbers when the instrument has changed the range yet again...
you can set most auto rangers to a manual range for faster readings.
im a 1st year EEE student, thanks for this, currently in the process of learning of all these things are :)
don't forget dumpster diving! it's amazing what good kit gets thrown out
Brilliant video!
Dave, where were you when I started out 10 years ago?!!! Really could have done with something like this. Pat on back.
Good advice. I remember setting up my first lab (kitchen table) when I was 6 back in the 60's. It was a soldering iron and a test meter that I found and repaired. I stocked up my supply rack (cardboard box) by salvaging parts from old Tv's that I found on the local dump. Total cost £0.00. Did not have a scope for nearly 10 years but acquired equipment as the money because available and I now run a company that develops electronic systems. You can never have enough equipment but you can also make do with almost nothing when beginning if you really want to so if you do not have any money then you can still do a lot.
I really enjoy listening to this dude.
absolutely brilliant!. thanks for the video :D
I've been doing electronics for over 30 years, yet I still watched this video start to finish. Really great advice! The one thing I would add, don't be afraid of CROs! Those old oscilloscopes might lack the modern day digital features, but if you can track one down on the cheap, nothing wrong with using it! My CRO is older than I am! Still works though!
Same here, 30+ years a tinkerer and an old analogue scope is certainly better than no scope at all.
I have 2 really old scopes, they work just fine. One cost $75 including shipping from ebay. Just be sure to tell the buyer to pack it well.
Great video as always mate. Thanks.
Another great vid David!
The Yihua 936 is a no brainer : I use it almost everyday for a year now, never gave me up ;)
Great idea! I'm about to graduate from uni as a Electrical Engineering major and I'll definitely have to do something similar!
Very good Dave...Thanks!
This is exactly how I started. even older used oscilloscopes are nice if you know what you're looking for. But I buy a lot of stuff off eBay for the quantities alone. only issue I have is when you get counterfeit ICs. but, for a quick circuit, they have always done the job.
Nice one Dave! I must read up on this trilateral agreement you mentioned... hadn't heard of it before.
about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2010/pr10_058.htm
Dave has a great plan for a budget of ~ $300, it would bring together a rather
functional hobby lab. This would be a great list for a parent or grandparent towards a Christmas present. However, Dave you forgot an important item- an HP 50g engineering calculator
Good info, found it very helpful. thanks
Great video Dave! Just a note on those blue through-hole resistors: the color bands are *impossible* to read. For beginners, much hair pulling will be saved by making sure you get the standard tan colored ones. :) (voice of experience speaking!) Again, great video!
Ryan Griggs i have tan ones and on monday i am getting MANY blue ones and will let u know how much trouble i have
oH well,lord! Hardly expected a reply like this a year later. Im deep into electronics and dont have tooooo much of a problem with blue resistors. Worst case I use my Fluke 87V for accuracy checks.
@@Wes8761 It's good practice to check their value with a multimeter anyway so their is really no issue
Excellent video - very informative.
I would also recommend one of those microcontroller based component testers (usually sold as "transistor tester"). Measures everything, identifies pinouts. Also measures capacitor ESR in-circuit, which is great to find faulty caps. About $14 shipped.
Yes! They're quite fun too.
If you just search for "transistor tester" on ebay, a lot of these will come up, with names such as LCR-T4, GM328, etc. A small board with a graphical LCD screen and an ISP socket. Sometimes with mini grabber type test leads included.
That was funny to watch, you basically listed my setup point by point ;)
Except the oscilloscope, haven't found a used one I like yet.
Congratulations, great channel!
A few other things that are handy
- LEADS - plenty of test leads: alligator, test hooks, banana, bnc. All handy. You can buy longer leads off ebay and cut them in half or quarters and put whatever end you like on them. However, it's nice to have flexible leads so search for silicon wire (various colours) and buy a few metres of each. You can buy bags of alligator, banana and test hooks off ebay. Make sure you solder them and not just crimp.
- Quite regularly I'll buy the 240vac to 12Vdc 450ma modules for about $2ea. Great for all sorts of projects but even better for powering and isolating different circuits power requirements (like powering an LED voltage display separate from the power it's measuring). The displays only power up from 4.5V so no good if the power you're measuring is sitting at 1V!
- Second hand scope - $20!
- PBC stand off's. Buy a kit of various M3's.
- Build a transistor tester - saves time identifying leads, types and various (not 100%, but pretty good and also does diodes and bonus wave generator).
- male/female header pin kit
- heatshrink kit (buy a medium clear case, various lengths/colours/sizes and make yourself)
+EEVblog Could you do a video for equipment that is 1 step 2 step and maybe 3 steps better than ones recommended so if we have a spare few bucks? that would be so cool . Loved this one too
Great video. For scrap wire I cut open old ethernet cables (everything under CAT5e is uselless these days...) and use the wire strands when I need to connect things on a strip board...
Another thing to note, in the US you can often find awesome deals on multi channel techtronix analog oscilloscopes. I picked up a 4 channel for under $100.
thank you Dave for the info
I also have a 936 ripoff soldiering station and its awesome.. I've gone through about 4 of those regular guns and this is way better.. Well worth the $15.
For Oscilloscope Digilent markets the Openscope nowdays which is really pretty nice for $99. 2 scope channels, -4 - 0 -4 v power supply, 16 ch logic analyzer, 2 ch function generator etc. Works on WiFi if so inclined.
I like the converting the computer ATX PSU where you stick in a 10Ohm resistor to make it stay on. Total cost less then $1.00. Has protection too that works well for oops moments.
it doesn't really have any protection. well, except for itself, but who cares about a "free" part when your 6 week project goes up in smoke? It's a good provider; throw a meter and cheap CV+CC buck in front for a half-way decent "bench PSU"
Happy New Year to Dave and all.
Some of the comments below about soldering fumes are hilarious! :-)
I picked up a used Weller soldering station for $10 on ebay and for years I used an old 500w computer power supply as my bench supply. It was free and gave me lots of +12v, +3v, and +5v leads to work with. ;)
There is always ways to scrounge what you need. Just keep an open mind and see what you find. lol
The part that gets me is how cheap it is to have an oscilloscope on your desk. Used to be a $5000 item when I was in college, now just $20. (More if you want a stand-alone unit, but still, dirt cheap!) And the features they have today would blow my mind back in high school.
excellent video. good pointers thanks.
Nice! That's even within the christmas present budget for some.
Hey Dave, would you recommend the analog discovery (version 1 or 2) over a scope like the rigol? What's the big difference? Sorry for asking this if you've already answered it elsewhere.
Dave, if you opened a shop for this kind of stuff, you could make a killing, selling Lab startup kits and supply crates!!
No way he could compete with ebay on the shipping, especially on all the things like resistor kits.
Correct.
EEVblog I think you could compete. I know a ton of people who refuse to buy from ebay because they don't trust it. it would be a family/community servicing business, make it a selling point. schools would buy from that too.
The problem is that for low end stuff like this the profit margins are negative when you realize you have to spend hours working on it.
He's better off doing affiliate Amazon links like Louis Rossman does.
I got oscilloscope off eBay for 65 us bucks delivered. HP digital storage, had faults but I found the only wrong was someone put tabe behind some of the buttons. Awesome score. I had search for months for this one.
Many thanks for this video.
Excellent, Thanks Dave. I want to start playing around with audio amps but no space for an old analogue scope, no money for a compact modern rigol etc. I can however store one of those Owon scopes. Nice one.
Great video the for the new person/student wanting to get his/her feet wet in electronics without a large cost commitment. Well done.
Great video! I like that you are not trying to mislead us by including crazy discounts that are available just once a year
One suggestion though: you didn't mention banggood or AliExpress. These are mostly cheaper than eBay for small electronics
Thanks for this I'm trying to get into electronics while on the benefit.
Dave, If you build kits and sell on Amazon you will make a good money. especially for different range of budgets
hey Dave, youre my favorite electronics youtuber, but to be honest I don't know anything about electronics but i just love your videos and seeing the inside of stuff, I wanted to ask you, would you mind doing a sort of beginner's electronics tutorial or something? not the complicated stuff but maybe what parts are and what they're used for, and some more basic stuff! I would really appreciate it! thanks again!
+eevblog
At the beginning of this year I finally got my first ever soldering Iron. It was an Aoyue 936 and as the name suggests it was indeed a Hako 936 clone. I would recommend this over the YiHUA because with a limited inspection from the exterior the internals of the Aoyue station seem to be of higher quality than the YiHUA. I think the Aoyue might be slightly more expensive but well worth the money.
StoreBrand Try "ersa" soldering irons. I have some of them more than 30 years (the oldest). 16W, CEPT certified, for almost 20 years , no tempeture adjustment, every day use (I'm professional)
I went from a terrible 2$ uncontrolled garbage soldering iron to a complete soldering station kit for 25$ and man was it a change! it works fantastic and the tip is still good as new. The kit even came with a solder sucker, third hand and solder included, the weller ZD-99 is really good for the price (its the blue one dave scrolled past lol)
I have found several different clones of the Yihua brand. Some are junk but one I bought that was on amazon was a 852d+ hot air and soldering iron and I was really surprised. $59 and it was quality built inside, including using PID microprocessors to control the heat. Only problem I had was one of the pots used to control the air volume went bad, but otherwise for $59 I can't complain.
The problem is that ZD-99 isn't temperature controlled. It has a simple TRIAC dimmer inside, you can adjust power, not the temperature. I've had one, and the thermal coupling between heater/tip is very awful. It seats in the stand nice and hot, you touch the joint and the damn thing sticks to it.
that's a very good point, if your joint sucks up most of the heat the iron wouldn't know to add more power; that said it gets pretty hot and can keep up with most jobs by adjusting said power I think ... if you want a really good soldering iron its probably not the right one though! For a little extra you can get a much better soldering station or one of the cheap all-in one Chinese soldering stations which also has the hot air rework.
Thanks, exactly what I'm searched for!
Right now I'm building my own little electrics lab but portable... I've want to mount everything into a big plastic box so in case it is needed you only have to grab it and start working without setting everything up.
If your budget allows, check out something like the pine64 pinecil for a portable soldering iron.. full soldering station programmability... in the size of those 2 dollar cheapies. Powered of usb-C PD or qc 3.0 power supplies.. its literally useable with cheap cell phone chargers in your car or using any usb charging device for laptops (starting to get REAL common now days) and even some battery banks or a LiPO battery pack (4-6 cell)... And if that doesn't work, you can power it off your power supply using a barrel connector... It's a bit more than the soldering iron Dave here recommended.. BUT I feel the benefits of doubling to tripling the costs while keeping it super portable and very temp controlled... Honestly I feel it's equivilent to the ts100 iron that costs nearly 70 dollars...
Awesome video for all beginners. Anyway it doesn't take in account shipping costs which if you buy all those items separately will be high (although some are free shipping)
I still own (and use) the Owon 1022i. it's not amazing but it's isolated. Probably saved my laptop, PC and me a couple of times.
I recommend making a simple MIDI / USB console for it. Saves a lot of desk space not having to move a mouse.
excellent video idea!
Good video, thanks
the cheapo 30v 5a supply is nice, but you definitely want to add a resistor across the temp switch, so the fan is slightly on all the time. Without it, the fan will switch on even with very low load after a few minutes, making very annoying noise.
I recommend the fluke 17b+ as a cheap multimeter.
great work E
It would be great to do a video covering basic tools (pliers, tweezers, screwdrivers, etc), electric/electronic tools (multimeter, logic analyzer, osci, etc) and general parts on two or three budget tiers.
I followed this about a year ago. Im pretty damn happy with my lab.
your first video is how i found the eevblog and because of that video my lab has grown so thanks dave and ps the bad thing about buying from Chinese you've got to wait 25 days but there stuff is so cheap
Thats what i called "right in time", thx so much!
Lots of "salvage" alternatives. A PC power supply can supply a variety of voltages once you understand how to "turn it on", and for the most part supplant a "bench" power supply for a lot of uses.
Here in sillycon valley, there a a few "surplus" stores that have interesting selections that can be used for "salvage" parts.
I've got a syscomp CGM-101. It has a built in bode plotter and exports data as csv, it's incredibly useful for audio work, probably not so useful in radio frequency range. Signal generator and logic analyser is also win.
If you want to try electronics as a hobby you can start of with an iron, solder, multimeter, battery packs- boost converter as power supply and a selection of diy kits.
But first watch many hours of youtube videos. Find out as much as you can about components.
What would you recommend for the visually impaired electronics enthusiast? It'll cost a lot more but I wonder if your Tagano (however it's spelt) microscope would do and double as a video magnifier?
I don't really do anything with electronics. I just like to watch other people do stuff and I am interested in the theory. But about a year ago I bought my first multimeter. It's just a £20 cheap piece of shit but GOD it is useful!!!
I use it to test batteries, check for ground loops, check for blown fuses, dodgy wires, resistance in audio cables, etc.
If anyone is like me and is considering buying a multimeter for general purpose use, do it! Everyone should have one.
Hey Dave, are you considering an updated version of this video with the new soldering stations, or even the TS100/TS80?
I started with electronics using one of those starter kit from eBay.
Those kits usually just pack a small amount of each component and charge a big price.
For example they might give you 20 LEDs, and 20 jumper wires, while separately
you can buy 100 LEDs or 80 jumper wires for $1 each.
They do help beginners learn the basics of electronics, and which components they want to have.
But I think the audience that would need an oscilloscope or a signal generator, is already familiar with basic electronics, and would better prefer buying LEDs, resistors, diodes, breadboards and all the other items on those kits separately, and get much bigger quantities of common components.
Might want to try craigslist for an old stereo microscope too. A good scope is essential for a lot work on boards.
It really is amazing how cheap some of this stuff is. I will say, if you can splurge on anything, get a good set of side cutters (Klein, Knippex, Xuron are all good).
As a cheap power supply I used a Tatoo power supply from eBay at some 12-14 USD, there were a 90-250 Volt ac to 24 DC power supply inside and then a LM317 regulator and a panel meter, I did remove the 2 pieces of 1/4" jack sockets and replaced them with a red and a black binding post.
Yes it is not the best PSU in the world, but I can get from around 2 to 18 Volt out of it and around 1 Ampere, so it suit most needs I have and I often use it, much more often than my 2*0-30 Volt 5 Ampere lab PSU.
So as a starter PSU this is ok and more safe than a PC PSU which can blow the hell out of to much electronic if you do not take care.
Harbor freight has multimeters for free with a coupon on certain days. Even if a purchase is required, buy cheaper than $15, and your dollar just went further. The $15 can be spent on other stuff on your list as well. A win, win, win!
i used one of those for years; long-lasting battery and balls-on accurate
Don't forget one of those little suction balls for desoldering. Makes it way easier. Just squeeze it & the vacuum from it refilling will reclaim the solder
Now for some suggestions for super cheap starter work stations(anyone who actually does these safety hazard corner cutting methods assume responsibility for any damage or injury that may result. I can't be held responsible for the recklessness of others):
*To save money on isolation for the oscilloscope,ust clip the ground off the PSU & power connector for whatever dumpster laptop I connect the scope to. That cuts out the need for isolation and when dealing with lower power circuits shouldn't be a big enough safety issue
*To save money on a power supply, get one from a dumpster desktop. That will get you 3.3V, 5V, & 12V, which will cover most novice circuit development needs.
*Get a sub $10 soldering iron with 2 settings(high & low). The low setting should be hot enough to solder components while the high setting is a more for desoldering quickly, though not really recommended. I recommend blowing a small computer fan at the components being desoldered to reduce the chances for overheating the component.
*Boost(or create) your component supply with desoldered components. Components need to be in good working order before hand & this really should only be done with components you can test afterwards. This one's a time vampire & you've got a chance to burn up components, which is why you need to keep it to things that won't burn up in the desolder process or at least can be tested after. If you're doing this step, I can only assume you're homeless & reading this from a public library computer.
Apparently, there are DIY kits for a function generator($7ish) & an oscilloscope($20ish). If I ever get $30ish to burn, they are on my to-buy list just to see how godawful they are. Who knows, they might be enough for a hobbyist on a budget(but I really doubt it).
For years I got away with a converted AT (yes AT, not ATX) power supply...still have it, still use it for fixed voltages and portability. Just build an LM317 circuit for adjustable voltages. Also, I did without a scope for basic stuff for years too. And when you decide you do need a scope, look for second hand ones, my 40mhz hitachi was $20