Build Your Own Test Equipment (Paperback)

~ Carl Bergquist (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Contains information on how to build several pragmatic testing devices. Designed to be highly practical and space conscious, this book uses only commonly available components. Numerous construction tips are included, as pesky anomalies crop up in every project.

From the Back Cover

Test equipment is among the most important tools that can be used by electronics hobbyists and professionals. Not only does test equipment help you while constructing or troubleshooting electronics, building your own test equipment can carry you a long way toward understanding electronics in general. In addition, building your own allows you to customize the equipment to your actual needs.

Build Your Own Test Equipment contains information on how to build several pragmatic testing devices. Each and every device is designed to be highly practical and space conscious, and use commonly-available components.

Projects include: prototype lab, multi-output test bench power supply, signal generator and tester, tri-state logic probe, bipolar transistor tester, IC tester, portable digital capacitance meter, four-digit counter, digital multimeter, digital function generator, eight-digit frequency counter and solid-state oscilloscope.

Product Details

• Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: Prompt (DPI - 8/01); 1 edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0790611309
• ISBN-13: 978-0790611303
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,147,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book. Just keep a few things in mind, May 17, 2004

By	W. Carver "crafty_bastage" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I originally bought this book about 5 years ago and subsequently lost it. I recently found a discounted copy, and snached it up right quick. This book is probably one of the most helpful pieces of text for the electronics hobbyist ever written. It will lower your lead time on almost any project, and will save your multimeter from too much adapter abuse. The projects are diverse, and each one has a multitude of uses. I bought this book primarily for the "Frequency Counter" project. And here's where this book gets four stars instead of five: Mr. Bergquist must have been sponsored by Harris/Intersil when he wrote this book, as you'll see by the unnaturally high percentage of their chips/semi's in every single project. In particular, the aforementioned Frequency Counter utilized a ICM7216DIPI, which is no longer made by Harris/Intersil or anyone else for that matter. However, I was able to locate a set of these chips in an Indonesian chip bank at about $30 US each with shipping. The same problem was encountered with other specific H/I chips throughout the book. (ICL7107 in stock trim, ICM7217IJI in particular)
If it wasn't for the relative scarcity of the project IC's, this would be a hands down "everyone buy this" type of elextronics book. Perhaps it could be rewritten with modern chips or some NTE replacement part number lists?

UPDATE (9/2008): I have found an inexpensive (and no minimum order) source for both the ICL7106 and the ICL7107!!! Contact me if you are interested.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on this subject available!, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This is a truly informative book that helped me not only build several interesting , and useful pieces of test equipement, but also helped me understand the entire field of electronics better. I also like the author's style of writing.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Grate for knowledge, but some projects are not worth building, October 22, 2006

By	J. McCown (Idaho USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is grate in showing someone the basics when it comes to test equipment and how they work. Some of the projects in this book like the o-scope have a lot to be desired. An o-scope w/ a LED display is not my cup of tea, now a LCD display would be cool. This book is grate for building knowledge, but the quality of some test equipment makes it not worth building.