Imagine this. A young person comes to you wanting to get started in the electronic hobby. They ask what five things should they buy to get started. Make your list. We’ll wait. We bet we can guess at least two of your items: a multimeter, and a soldering iron. [LearnElectroncsRepair] recently showed us a review of the Zotek Zoyi ZT-N2 which is a soldering iron and a multimeter in one unit. You can watch the video review below.
Honestly, when we heard about this, we didn’t think much of the combination. It doesn’t seem like having your probe get red hot is a feature. However, the probe tip replaces the soldering iron tip, so you are either soldering or measuring, but not both at the same time.
The soldering iron part looks a lot like a T100 iron with a USB connector and a little LCD screen. The device is portable, so it has a little cheap soldering iron stand. As a multimeter, it does all the basic tests, but it is only usable for low-voltage applications under 36V.
The negative lead plugs into the USB connector, so the meter runs off an internal battery. While it looks like it is usable, we couldn’t really think of many cases where this would be handy unless you are really trying to pack a lot in a small space. We’d rather throw a small meter in the bag and call it a day.
In 2017, these little soldering irons were a fresh fad. Now, they are pretty common.
Looks actually really cool, aside from the lack of a capacitance and diode range.
At this point im surprised there’s no open source oscilloscope/iron/multimeter/PSU/power bank/solar charger/logic analyzer all in one. Some company could basically replace 100% of a hobbyists gear in a handheld package for like $100.
We can argue pricepoint, but its simply that there are very few hacjers left taking on big projects.
A couple of years ago had was writing hopefully about someone intending to write custom firmware for the old rigol, nothing much happend.
Now, we habe the mso5k (and otherd) that actually run linux, leaked source code is availabe, doom has run, but crickets.
Or the GW 1.21 of eevblog. We have full schematics, a common electronics platform based on stm32, but other then a few attempts, nada.
Even with all the ‘lets re-do it in rust’ folks, nobody is taking ob these things sadly.
I blamr socials, youtube, gaming gobbling up bright minds, to do …. nothing.
Such a shame that other people aren’t doing the things you want them to do. Perhaps you can take the lead and inspire someone, perhaps not. Fork it, do it yourself.
I think the problem is people ARE taking on big projects, it’s just that a lot of hackers don’t like the modern tech ecosystem, so they build a lot of really cool stuff, but not much that I’d like to actually use or help work on.
They like diy language interpreters, small CLI utils, 7400 projects, etc, but not as much stuff tuff like SyncThing, Meshtastic, and FreeCAD.
Also, OSHW is hard because you can’t really compete with commercial gadgets unless you’re willing to do hundreds of tiny SMD joints, or you can make 5-10 of them to make assembly costs affordable.
While we are discussing soldering irons, there is e.g. IronOS which has grown to a relatively big project and is much more advanced than the original firmware.
As for oscilloscopes, there is quite a bit of reverse-engineering needed to actually get good results. Often there is also FPGA side involved. For scopes like DS203 where original source code was available and the original firmware was severely lacking, there were several alternative firmwares. But for a Rigol, where the original is a bit meh but relatively good, there is not as much incentive to do the effort. Especially when it soon gets replaced by a better model.
Just add a screwdriver!
With suitable tips it could be a screwdriver too!
And a toothbrush!
Just do not mix up the leaded paste and the toothpaste
Don’t get lead-free toothpaste on your whiskers!
I am so tired of tin whiskers on my face, and 350C toothbrushes, maybe leaded toothpaste really was better.
And a laser cutter!
I don’t really see the point in this when you can already get a proper multimeter for a little over 20 bucks, like for example the Aneng AN8008.
These multimeters are quite good for low voltage/low current electronics and will beat something like this soldering-iron-combination hands down. They have their limitations of course, they should not be used for possibly lethal voltages/currents like mains voltage, their protection isn’t good enough for that.
Interesting idea but it seems like it would be very frustrating to use – solder those few connections, wait for the tip to cool enough to remove before you can check for any solder bridges etc with the meter, then you can’t just fix it as you have to convert the tool back again.
I think I’d like the concept lots more if it was more like the Ifix kit with the battery box controll lump that happened to also be a multimeter, or maybe something similar to the TS100 but a little bulkier to add connectors to put the multimeter leads on it – no breaking down the tool to change modes, just put the hot iron back on its stand and it can be used as a multimeter almost instantly just by plugging in those probes. Maybe even immediately ready without further action if again the stand is actually the multimeter with the probes already attached and the iron is just the display and perhaps control interface – though in that case the only reason to make the iron that smart would be so it can be used stand alone, which seems a little pointless – so put the brains and controls in the stand and keep the iron dumb?
The smart irons already exist for like $20, and being able to replace them if they’re broken is important, and they use barrel jacks and USB-C.
No need to even include an iron at all, just make the meter have a holder/stand, and a power supply from a few sodium ion cells. Which then also solves your need for a bench supply, and the need to power the meter.
1x PD or 2.1mm adjustable output for the iron, 4x 5v supplies for your desk lamp, HEPA filter for the fumes, phone charger, and the actual thing you’re building.
Put some 1/4-20 holes on the sides, use the existing ecosystem ultracheap ball heads and now it’s a baseplate for for your light/helping hand/a proper stand.
Then all you need is a few barrel jacks, any old random cheap DMM AFE chip, an ESP32, and a screen. Use a bitbang USB driver to allow more accessories on the C ports. Maybe add a Mikrobus click thingy, or the first few rows of a RasPi header.
All the tech to do it really nicely already exists!
Lets spice things up a bit… Here are my ideas: Soldering iron with integrated
– Signal generator
– Lab PSU
– HV Insulation tester
– ESD simulator gun
Temperature probe
Hair dryer / heat shrink gun
Arc welder
Clock
100 shot Red Ryder BB gun (Christmas is coming)
Cute idea and implementation but really not very practical, at least for me, if I’m circuit noodling I like to be able to solder, measure, solder, cut, tweak etc in “flow” and this tool would really disjoint that.
Regarding the top 5 items, I’d say the top 4 are multimeter, soldering iron, USB oscilloscope/logic analyzer combo, power supply. Number 5 is a toss-up, and could be any one of the “helping hand” PCB/wire holders, mini reflow oven, hot air rework tool, desoldering tool, hot plate, or heck even an iFixit disassembly kit.
i loved the comments. the idea of putting every kind of signal generation and signal measurement / sampling in one tool is awesome. i was just looking at the bus pirate and it’s kind of amazing how much is in that, and how much it’s still missing! move over, level-shifting. make room for auto-ranging up to 500V!
but soldering is a total red herring in that list. you want a separate soldering iron. come on. art should inspire a response so i have to acknowledge it’s a hack and it’s art. but this art made this viewer angry. i’m at a point in my life where i will pay more for convenience but i remember when i was limited by my tiny tool budget but i never faced that limit. thank god for the cheapest meter and the cheapest soldering iron
Just add a vibrator!
“We’d rather throw a small meter in the bag and call it a day.”
That’s actually an annoyance for me. I’ve been looking into small affordable multi-meters but the manufacturers don’t seem to care about size for some reason. I pretty much need two functions: V(dc) with max 24v and continuity testing with an audio signal. Resistance is nice to have but not a requirement. I don’t need anything else, as I want to keep it on me while driving one of my vintage bikes.
The problem is, when I think small I’m thinking watch pocket small. Most manufacturers don’t consider the size. I think they assume they are only used inside. I have colleagues that travel and take these giant Fluke 114’s or better meters with them all over the world and it’s very annoying for them as it takes up a large amount of space in their luggage. They already take the protective rubber cover off them to save space and even then it’s just huge.