Thread by @dcuthbert

Based off @wimremes's request yesterday about what you need, equipment-wise, for a hardware lab, I thought maybe it useful to start a thread for the basics (well some bits aren't that basic and ill highlight them when they appear)

First a disclaimer, this is my personal lab

I surround myself with super-intelligent people who are far better at this than me. I'm lucky in that they've educated me and we also have a friggin' amazing commercial lab in the office where I learned a lot.

Before you start building/hacking/prototyping anything, you need to ask yourself this simple one question:

What is it you want to achieve?

This sets the basis for the rest of the thread.

Do you want to extract firmware from ICs and memory?
Do you want to prototype stuff?

Do you want to fix stuff?
Do you want to learn how it works? what the protocols are?

Don't just rush out and buy shit, understanding what it is you want to do is vital.

Anyway here is, what I feel is the bare minimum to get you started.

TOOLS.

You need good tools. @iFixit make amazing kits and I love their stuff. Add a good tweezer set, some good cutters, a good wire stripper and this will set you right.

Buy the best you can afford.

Digital multimeter.

You don't need a fluke. They are amazing, believe me but they are expensive. Get one with additional test lead probes such as clips for when you want to free up your hands. You will use this a LOT!

Burning lead.

A good soldering machine + hot air gun is vital if you are going to desolder/solder stuff. Again buy what you can afford and get extra tips.

Soldering brings all the geeks out to everyone's yard. There's so much crap you can get but I find the below works best for most of what i've had to do so far. Good paste, different solder, brushes and nail polish remover (acetone), electrical tape and solder wick.

If you are building or even tearing apart, a bench power supply is really useful I've found. It's not vital but again it helps a lot and they aren't super expensive.

Oscilloscope

I'll admit this still makes me feel like an imposter. It does have a high learning curve, don't let anyone convince you otherwise but once you get your head around it basically being a time machine, then you are good.

This isn't vital, think of it as aspirational

Logic Analyser.

Buy a @saleae now. Honestly, this team is amazing, and their hardware/software. Version 2 of their app now has community extensions and be still my beating heart, I love them!!

You'll use this to sniff what is happening on the board/between components etc.

Microscope and goggles.

You may laugh but my eyes are old now. A huge thanks to shitty CRT monitors in the 90s means I can't see as well as I used to. My microscope helps me SO MUCH as well as my jewellers goggles for soldering etc.

Label machine.

Laugh all you want but this is where all the cool kids hang out. Hardware means lots of shit, if you don't organise the stuff you will forever be hunting for it.

Easy to grab, you know where it is. Order and control.

Then when you start building, you need components like capacitors, resistors, and many other things. They are cheap, buy sample books and boxes.

Also, my Vernier calipers are hugely important, for example measuring PCB traces to find power

Ok so now we are interacting with things©

Remember I asked you to think about what you want to achieve? well, this is where it comes in. You'll probably need many things here.

I'm a huge fan of @LucaBongiorni's github.com/whid-injector/…

Oh and a box of wires and shit.

Crimping.

Don't use shit tools. If you find yourself crimping a lot, buy a proper crimper. Trust me.

Hands off.

I am not an octopus. I need things to help me hold things when I do things with my other things. These things help me do those things.

Not shown here is Prestik (howzit boet) or as others know it as blue tack or sticky shit. It does help with soldering header pins

Component tester.

I do not know all resistor values. I know some out there do, weirdos!! This is cheap af and tells you a lot about what you are plugging/fiddling with.

I've touched upon organisation before. Believe me, you might laugh and proudly show off your messy workbench but it doesn't help.

Having stuff neatly organised and labeled and easily accessible saves time for you to do what you want to do and not hunt for stuff.

Finally reference material.

There are a few people I look up to who've literally written the book on this.

First up Dr Carney. Yes we are hoping to update this, aren't we Dr?

github.com/unprovable/Pen…

Mr @joegrand's book is also vital, along with @bunniestudios and the new one from @colinoflynn (which I can't wait to get and read, I'm beyond excited)

So who do you follow here to learn more? Well that's a whole new thread but my main mentors who I'm super lucky to call friends too are

@notameadow @_MG_ @StackSmashing @securelyfitz @RealSexyCyborg @kenshirriff @cybergibbons @RoganDawes

there are many more and I have a list

twitter.com/i/lists/107175…

So I hope this somewhat helps?

Remember you build up your lab as you learn and grow. I'm still a n00b and feel like an imposter every damn day but that's ok as no-one is an expert.

Learn. Share. Ask questions.

The hardware community is super small but the most friendliest

I forgot one really useful thing I did recently. I'm a klutz by nature so using sticky back magnets on my cutting mat means I can add all the small screws and other bits AND it stops them rolling off.