Studio City, Los Angeles-based electrical engineer George Lydecker has one of the most well-equipped electronics workspaces we’ve seen in a long time. The super-organized space serves as an electronics lab, home office, amateur radio station, and technical library. Be prepared to be impressed, inspired, and even a little jealous of this dream workspace.
 
Tell us about yourself. What is your current occupation?
I’m a recently retired electronics engineer who has worked primarily in audio, video, RF, network, and computers. Past projects have included everything from designing audio and video facilities to developing many flavors of multimedia content. I’ve converted art departments from traditional art systems to computer graphics workstations, including networking, scanning, and color proofing. I also set up the first online presence for a major record label in early 1994 by installing their first T-1, web server, and authoring the first webpage.

I’ve been awarded eight patents in audio, video, and data standards. For my work in watermark selection, I was awarded the patent “Method and Apparatus for Testing the Quality of Recorded Information” (US5903701). And for my work in audio, I was awarded the patent “Method and System for Verifying Derivative Digital Files Automatically” (US7197458). My degree is in electronics engineering, and I have taken post graduate courses in geometric optics, computer graphics, machine tool practices, and packet filters. When I was the VP of research and development for a major music company, almost everything was and still is interesting to me. This includes amateur radio, astronomy, computers, and machining. 
 
Figure 1: Take a look inside this well-equipped workspace.
How would you best describe your workspace? What do you use it for?
I use my dedicated space as an electronics lab, office, amateur radio station and technical library. In the picture of the lab (Figure 1), you will see an extensive number of books. Having reference material at arm’s reach can be very helpful. In the center of the room, I have a desk which is used for online research. Added shelves above the desk hold ham radios for when I am on the air. Much of the time is spent at the bench working on projects or repairing gear.
 
Describe the location. When you designed the workspace, did you have any specific requirements? 
My lab was included in the design of our house when we built it in 2008. The intent was to create an office and lab space for my work. I have a second work area set aside in our basement garage. Now that I’m retired, I’m doing an upgrade of this second space with added shelving and improved lighting. I’m also installing shop air outlets to accommodate the use of air tools.
 
When I built the space, it was intended as a home office where I could do reading, research, and writing. It also needed to have a lab space where I could work on electronic gear for studios. This could be evaluating and modifying gear. On certain projects, this might be the development of custom test gear and test fixtures.
 
What about your technical interests? What sort of projects do you work on in your space?
As an engineer who worked primarily with audio gear I, not surprisingly, have a great deal of interest in vintage tube/valve equipment. When I was working, this interest was driven by the other engineers on the team who preferred to use more vintage tube/valve studio gear. Needless to say, when I discovered Elektor, I became an instant fan of Jan’s retronics articles. My copy of 80 Tales of Electronic Bygones holds a special place in my library.

Now that I’m retired, I have time to spend restoring older test equipment. That’s not to say I’m stuck in the past. My latest build is a Raspberry Pi/Arduino development station. The Raspberry Pi lets me experiment with the Arduino or can be used independently to try out various circuits. It’s featured in the picture of my workbench (Figure 2). 
 
Figure 2: The Raspberry Pi/Arduino development station is on the workbench.
Can you tell us about your equipment and tools in your space?
My lab is pretty well equipped. I have a good selection of power supplies, oscilloscopes, signal generators, frequency counters, and spectrum analyzers. Most of the gear is vintage and was acquired at ham radio swap meets or surplus stores. Many of the acquisitions required some amount of repair.
 
When I built my bench, I placed the work surface on top of two large toolboxes. This allows my hand tools to be within easy reach when I’m working on a project. Test equipment that is not being used is stored on wire shelving in the lab. I also have several larger pieces of Hewlett Packard gear. This includes a frequency counter, function generator, radio frequency signal generator, vector signal analyzer, and spectrum analyzer. Due to their weight and size, I have them in rolling racks that allows them to be moved up to the bench when needed.
 
What is your most important or valued piece of equipment or benchtop tool?
For me, the oscilloscope will always be the most valued tool on the bench top. Currently, I am using an LeCroy 960 WavePro. This scope is an upgrade from the Tektronix 7854 I was previously using. In addition to its functionality as a scope, I appreciate that it has the ability to measure time, period, voltage, and other parameters directly. This can save time for me by not having to hook up additional test gear for less critical measurements.
 
Is there anything special you’d like to point out about your space? 
My bench is the hub of the lab space. The dimensions are similar to the bench described in the 1949 book published by the Atomic Energy Commission, Electronic Experimental Techniques. Some designs are timeless. The goal was to create an ergonomic space where everything is at arm’s reach. I’ve recently upgraded the bench with additional lighting where I can control the brightness and color temperature. I have also added wire shelving to hold additional test equipment, projects, and parts. Since I was able to design the room for my needs, I included a number of 7.6 cm diameter conduits that run to the garage shop, roof, and outside. This allows me to add cables for things like antennas and fiber optic lines. (I leave a nylon cord in the conduit to make pulling new wires in easy.)

Any plans for your workspace? Maybe some additional equipment or tools?
I think my next upgrade to the lab will be a 3D printer. I’m just not sure how I will manage the space that it would require. In moving toward that goal, I have been taking time to learn what open-source CAD solutions are available. Currently, I am investigating FreeCAD and OpenSCAD.
 
Out of all your electronics projects, do you have a favorite? What did you build and why?
I’ve built a number of projects, both for myself and for my job. This has included a controller for my home-built CNC mill, a system for doing listening tests, for which I was granted a patent, and a UVC sterilizer for masks and mail. My current favorite is an analog ESR tester and is probably one of the simpler things I’ve designed and built. It’s become a favorite because it has been so handy in finding bad capacitors in everything from vintage equipment to motor capacitors in our air conditioner. I’m sure my next favorite will be the Raspberry Pi/Arduino development station I mentioned earlier. I look forward to growing my Python and C language skills.
 
What are you currently working on?
For my Arduino project, I want to build a replacement device for the thermal printer used in the Tektronix 1503 time domain reflectometer. The thermal printer is hard to maintain, and the paper is even harder to find. Coming up with a solution that prints or outputs to a digital file makes sense.
 
Variations of this project could be useful for other gear that has analog X, Y and pen lift outputs. My other fun project was inspired by Walter Trojan’s series on AI. I recently purchased a Nvidia Jetson Nano to do some experimenting with Google TensorFlow. Right now, the project is in the early build stage of getting everything running, including the Linux operating system. I chose the Nvidia because of my interest in GPU architecture. Also, Nvidia has some great resources including some GIT repositories with test programs.
 
Do you have a dream project or something you would love to tackle?
My dream project would be a huge undertaking. I have a DEC PDP 11 in storage that I would like to bring back to life. This computer is old enough to have genuine core memory. A project of this scope would definitely stretch my abilities as an engineer. The goal would be to run the UNIX operating system on this computer. The project would require collecting peripherals, documentation, and software. I have collected certain pieces already, including some 8ʺ floppy drives and a set of schematics.
 
Do you have any advice or words of encouragement for other engineers who plan to put together an electronics workspace?
Of course, this series in Elektor is a fabulous resource. I love browsing through the other Elektor workspace submissions to see what others have done. I will also confess to looking for ideas online. Do a Google image search for “DIY electronics workbench” and you’ll find lots of ideas. For finding and repairing test equipment, I recommend joining groups and forums. I’m active on Tektronix and Hewlett Packard groups, and that has been very helpful in getting gear working again. I can also recommend the book Build Your Own Electronics Workshop by Thomas Petruzzellis. And, finally, remain curious.
 

Want ideas for your own dream workspace? Take a look at these electronics workspaces.
 

Tell Us About Your Dream Workspace

Would you like to share info about your home workspace with Elektor's global community of engineers, students, and makers? Take a few minutes to fill out this form so we can follow up with you!