to buy

(updated 2005-11-19) If you want to send me any of this stuff as a birthday or Christmas present, I would be ever so happy. If you have any recommendations, please tell me.

"Expensive? No, expensive is trying to do without a tool you need." -- John Russ

contents:

• stuff I'm thinking about buying for other people (Christmas and b'day presents)
• stuff I plan to buy
• stuff I wish I had (wishlist)
• o'scope details
• #unsorted

related local pages:

• todo.html
• to_program.html
• hardware_david_uses.html
• search_tools.html has some product reviews and price-search links
• robot_links.html
• movies DAV hasn't seen yet

stuff to buy for other people (Christmas and b'day presents)

• (shh! it's a secret!)
• calendars ?
• electric stapler
• [buy HP48 off Ebay ?] http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Programming_HP_Calculators
• filing cabinet ?
• Mom wants ceiling fan in her bedroom.
• Mom wants FISKARS(R) Razor Edged(TM) Softtouch(R) Scissors http://www.hancockfabrics.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=22204&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=fiskars
• dictionary: one that stays flat open
• Tape recorder (recorder, not just player) to use with ___'s method of improving vocabulary: [FIXME: document in learning.html ] ($25 for microcassette recorder, $1 per tape, at Office Depot -- or would full-size recorder and tape be better? )

stuff I plan to buy for me to use

Stuff I plan to buy for me to use ... but I'm waiting until after Christmas in hopes that someone will get them for me.

(tools and materials I want in my home workshop)

see also http://massmind.org/techref/supplies.htm

• chocolate.
• post-it notes (do they make 3x5 inch?) (3x3 inch)
• wireless card for laptop. ($60 Linksys Speed Booster PC Card for Notebook Computer WPC54GS at http://Walmart.com/) ($50 D-Link Notebook adapter: 802.11 b/g)
• wireless router ($80 Linksys Speed Booster Router WRT54GS at http://Walmart.com/) (Is this the same as the $70 Linksys wireless router at Office Depot?) (is the $60 wireless-G router: D-Link at Office Depot adequate?) (I want to run the software from http://SeattleWireless.net/ on it)
• UPS ($125 APC Backups Pro: 1100 VA, 670 W, "Desktop + 21 inch monitor: 39 minutes" at Sams club) (how do other UPSes compare?)
• rubber spatula (The kind that's best for scraping the last bit of peanut butter out of its jar)
• Business cards. Simple, with just my name (David Cary) on it. And perhaps my phone number (918·813·2279). And maybe a few other tidbits of information. and what else ? email address ?

  Some business card ideas:

  • Bar-codes on ICs and Business Cards http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Bar-codes_20on_20ICs_20and_20Business_20Cards
• Work bench. The "test bench" photo at http://timefracture.org/lab.html shows what I'm looking for. (The rest of that lab is also cool).
• "clamp" "extra hand" "third hand". The one at the corner of the workbench above would be great, but a little overkill for my needs. Panavice sells some nice ones through DigiKey: http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T043/1257.pdf Digikey: PanaVise: $21 for the base, $34 for head = $55. ($54 when purchased together). $54 396PV-ND Wide Opening Station (366 head / 300 base) (... or perhaps I want the $33 Circuit-board holder head 315PV-ND)
• kitchen timer. (Do any exist that, after it counts down and goes "ding", it counts back up ?)
• label maker
• digital camera http://visual.wiki.taoriver.net/moin.cgi/PhotoWiki , http://www.communitywiki.org/odd/ComputerComponent/WikiNode /* was http://www.communitywiki.org/odd/ComputerComponent/WikiNode */
• oscilloscope and other test equipment -- see #scope
• glomper clips
• GPS reciever -- preferably one that can connect to a notebook (via serial port, USB port, or Bluetooth) (It does *not* need a LCD screen, buttons, maps, or any of the stuff that the $99 "handheld" recievers have -- just a cable to plug it into my laptop)
• The Art of Electronics book by Horowitz and Hill
• Head First Java and Head First Design Patterns book by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Freeman with Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates ISBN 0-596-00712-4 it's not ForDummies. Rather, it assumes the reader is "wickedly smart" and has quite a thorough grounding in JavaLanguage (from OreillyAndAssociates' HeadFirstJava book, in fact). The examples are all in Java, and it compares rolling your own pattern implementations with using the classes and interfaces in Java's standard library. A couple characters, Mary and Sue, seem to be PairProgramming the pattern solutions. -- http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HeadFirstDesignPatterns
• ''Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity'' book by David Allen "a must read" -- http://speakeasy.org/~lion/nb/html/footnotes.html#000002 , http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GettingThingsDone , http://riters.com/transitiveworld/
• manila file folders $1/10 at Big lots; $6/100 at Office Depot
• books to read: "Good books about TimeManagement" recc. at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TimeManagement
  • * TimeManagement from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern ISBN 0-8050-6469-9
  • * SevenHabitsOfHighlyEffectivePeople by StephenCovey ISBN 0671708635
  • * TheProcrastinatorsHandbook by Rita Emmett ISBN 0802775985
  • * GettingThingsDone by DavidAllen? ISBN 0670899240
• http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?StructureAndInterpretationOfComputerPrograms book
• [FIXME: robot_links.html#parts ]
• parts for "Build a Variable Voltage Supply for Cheap" http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200112/variable.html
• are the Printed Circuit Boards PWBs designed for PIC (but sold unstuffed) http://www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/jameco/home.d2w/report?search=&sort=&startRowNum=1&totalSize=69&cgrfnbr=874&cgmenbr=91&ctgys=505%3B560%3B874%3B&Next.x=34&Next.y=15 worthwhile ?
• Bible on audiotape -- in Epanol (Where can I buy this ?)
• Bible on audiotape -- in Deutsch (Where can I buy this ?)
• buy small scales (maybe up to 2 pounds) to help design UAV, get correct amount of postage on packages, etc. $19 at Office Depot
• video capture card
• "To build 'bots, you need tools." http://www.robotmag.com/misc/gifts.html
• Small electrical type pointed nose pliers
• Small electrical type side cutters
• Desolder wick
• $14.99 PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/77e6/
• "Which digital logic family should I buy ?" http://massmind.org/techref/logic/family.htm
• "simple green"
• 5x8 inch writing pads (about $5 for a stack of 12 pads, 50 sheets each) (I go through a whole stack every couple of months)
• USB hub (I have several USB things I want to plug in, but my laptop only has 1 USB port) (Should I get the kind that only plugs into the laptop, or the kind that also plugs into the wall?)

stuff I wish I had

• the top books on my list of books to read: book.html .
• "lead holder" -- a mechanical pencil that can hold lead of at least 1.0 mm diameter. (see 43folders: Pencil )
• portable soldering iron -- perhaps http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/
• FPGA development kit -- perhaps
  • The NanoBoard supports multiple target devices in the form of swappable FPGA daughter boards, providing an FPGA vendor-independent and reconfigurable development platform. http://altium.com/nanoboard/ (see http://www.altium.com/learningguides/AR0125_HoneyIShrunkTheBoard.pdf )
  (see todo.html#FPGA )
• tools to buy: spectrum analyzer ?
• software tools to buy: consider "Mathcad, Cadence (SPICE and Layout), Electronic Workbench" -- recc. http://www.circuitsage.com/procedure.htm
• software tools to buy: consider Mathematica (I think Erik Weissmann recommends this -- http://mathworld.com/ )
• function generator. Perhaps $189.95 Jameco #66069 Mfg Ref #FG-8002 (0.02Hz-2MHz) (list of Jameco function generators with prices)
• Tiny R/C Digi Q Cars http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/5ad6.shtml "World's 2nd smallest R/C car with overall length of 50mm" infrared control [machine vision]] ... (see robot_links.html#caterpillar_mini_rover
• "SENSOR PIEZO FILM DESIGN KIT" from Measurement Specialties Inc. http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Criteria?Ref=5159&Site=US&Cat=32375445
• I have a scanner ... but it's slow and annoying. I hear that Fujitsu and PaperPort scanners are much faster and more pleasant to work with.

oscilloscope o'scope details

• [o'scope and other tools] Test equipment http://homepages.which.net/~paul.hills/TestEquipment/TestEquipmentBody.html
• "You can easily get a decent used scope off of www.ebay.com. I got a good dual trace one for $35.00" -- ???
• o'scope (PC based ?) see http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm

  $350 PC-based o'scope (?) http://etcsk.com/

  open-source oscilloscope software:

  http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm points to http://slashdot.org/askslashdot/01/12/07/191220.shtml Building a Cheap Oscilloscope Using Your PC? and also to http://massmind.org/techref/idea/ebb.htm

  Xoscope http://xoscope.sourceforge.net/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/xoscope/ http://icewalkers.com/Linux/Software/53420/oscope.html X*oscope is a digital oscilloscope using input from a sound card and/or a ProbeScope/osziFOX. Features include 8 simultaneous signal displays, 1 us/div to 20 ms/div time scale, built-in and external math functions including inverse, sum, diff, avg, xy, and FFT, 23 memory buffers, 5 automatic measurements, and file save/load.

  Xoscope is compatible with "BitScope ... an "Open Hardware" RS-232 serial device" http://bitscope.com/

  Vodsp/xodsp - Triggering-oscilloscope-like program. http://icewalkers.com/Linux/Software/5970/vodsp.html | mirror http://66.70.82.83/softlib/app/app_00097.html

  KStereo is a combination of an x-y-oscilloscope and astereo channel correlation meter. http://icewalkers.com/Linux/Software/51420/KStereo.html

  Bsosc is a Bitscope oscilloscope to handle the Bitscope data capture device. QtDSO is a simple frontend for the Velleman PCS64i digital oscilloscope. XPortShot RT: An oscilloscope simulator capable of displaying multiple data channels. ETC LxScope is a set of Linux software drivers for the M221 and M621 digital oscilloscope cards for PCs. BitScope is a low cost data acquistion device configured as an RS-232 peripheral. Project BAMBI: The design, construction, and initial observational results of a 4 GHz amateur radio telescope are described in this first report from Project BAMBI (Bob And Mike's Big Investment). STM: The goal of this project is to build a simple Scanning Tunneling Microscope that can resolve atoms, with a cost of materials less than $100. Xoscope (or oscope) is a digital oscilloscope using input from a sound card and/or a ProbeScope/osziFOX. http://opencollector.org/summary.php3

  GKrellMSS (GKrellM Sound Scope) http://freshmeat.net/releases/70972/

  http://www.berka.com/D.pl/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Hardware_Support/Oscilloscope/

  ETC LxScope: First Oscilloscope for Linux: M621 - 150 MHz Digital Oscilloscope ; M221 - 100 MHz Digital Oscilloscope http://www.etcsk.com/linux/

• ODAS : Open Data Acquisition System http://medo.fov.uni-mb.si/mapp/odas/ Uros Platise seems to have a good idea here. (also points to Atmel AVR Micro-Controller info)

stuff I already recieved

• A soldering iron, say 40W
• A roll of solder with flux core (electrical solder not plumber's)
• dremel tool -- from Paul
• can opener
• microprocessor development kits already got both the Microchip PIC dev kit and (I think) a Atmel dev kit. (OK, I bought these myself)

unsorted

• [books to read] How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HowTheMindWorks

started 2004-05-01:DAV

errors , bug reports to

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