Organization and plenty of space to work on projects are the main elements of Dean Boman’s workspace (see Photo 1). Boman, a retired systems engineer, says most of his projects involve home automation. He described some of his workspace features via e-mail:
My test equipment suite consists of a Rigol digital oscilloscope, a triple-output power supply, various single-output power supplies, and several Microchip Technology in-circuit development tools.
I have also built a simple logic analyzer, an FPGA programmer, and an EPROM programmer. For PCB fabrication, I have a complete setup from MG Chemicals to expose, develop, etch, and plate boards up to about 6” × 9” in size.
Photo 1: Boman’s workbench includes overhead cabinets to help reduce clutter. The computer in the foreground is his web server and main home-automation system controller. (Source: D. Boman)
Boman is currently troubleshooting a small 1-W ham radio transmitter (see Photo 2).
Photo 2: Here is his workbench with the radio transmitter. (Source: D. Boman)
Boman says the 10’ long countertop surface (in the background in Photo 3) is:
Great for working on larger items (e.g., computers). It is also a great surface for debugging designs as you have plenty of room for test equipment, drawings, and datasheets.
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Photo 3: Boman’s setup includes plenty of room for large projects. (Source: D. Boman)
Most of Boman’s projects involve in-home automation (see Photo 4).
My current system provides functions such as: security system monitoring, irrigation control, water leak detection, temperature monitoring, electrical usage monitoring, fire detection, access control, weather monitoring, water usage monitoring, solar hot water system control, and security video recording. I also have an Extra Class ham radio license (WE7J) and build some ham radio equipment.
Here is how he described his system setup:
The shelf on the top contains the network routers and the security system. The cabinets on the wall contain an irrigation system controller and a network monitor for network management. I was fortunate in that we built a custom home a few years ago so I was able to run about two miles of cabling in the walls during construction.
Photo 4: Boman has various elements of his home-automation control system mounted on the wall. (Source: D. Boman)
Boman uses small containers to hold an inventory of surface-mount components (see Photo 5).
Over the past 10 years or so I have migrated to doing surface-mount designs almost exclusively. I have found that once you get over the learning curve, the surface-mount designs are much simpler to design and troubleshoot then the through-hole type technology. The printed wiring boards are also much simpler to fabricate, which is important since I etch my own boards.
Photo 5: Surface-mount components are neatly corralled in containers. (Source: D. Boman)
Overall, Boman’s setup is well suited to his interests. He keeps everything handy in well-organized containers and has plenty of testing space In addition, his custom-built home enabled him to run behind-the-scenes cabling, freeing up valuable workspace.
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