Reddit reviews Tekpower TP3005T Variable Linear DC Power Supply, 0-30V @ 0-5A with Alligator Test Leads

There are no issues with plastic containers- I can only get melting when I try to do it on purpose.

No, these are much higher quality LEDs than found in UFOs and will give off roughly twice the light per watt.

In a five gallon bucket with foil sides and the COB eight inches from the plant, with a Bridgelux Vero 18 at about 10 watts your plants will be at about 500 uMol/m2/sec of light (35,000 lux). This is a really good level for veging.

With 20 watts on the Vero 18 you'll be saturating your plant at 1000 uMol/m2/sec (about 70,000 lux). This is perfect for flowering. You can drive the LED harder but there will be rapid decreasing gains.


If you want to know about building COB grow lights from a competent person then you should check out growmau5's YouTube page. Outside the professional arena and even in it, this person likely knows more about COB LED grow light design than anyone else.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSwmwj8ZLXObtBJmz-76rw

I often use lab power supplies as variable LED drivers. I bought two of these recently to replace some others. If you do much work with LEDs then these sort of power supplies are real time savers.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

look up: Vero 18 3500K CRI 80 gen 7 (the Vero 29 costs three times as much but will be even more efficient)

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/bridgelux/BXRC-35E4000-D-73/976-1421-ND/6152431

edit- corrected "3800K" mistake

It's this one. I got it early this year. It's worked great for me.

> Answer for New to electronics, where to start?

Everybody learns differently. Some people are theoretical learners, while others are physical learners who need to touch things with their hands to learn anything. And others still are some hybrid between the two. As such, it is very difficult to answer the question "where to start", because there is no one-size fits all solution.

Further complicating the issue is the issue of budget. Not just monetary investment, but time investment as well. No doubt, the best education possible is to simply go to a multi-year university and dedicated multiple years of your life to the trade, but this is more than the typical hobbyist can afford.

Assuming infinite time and money, the ideal learning environment is a lab environment surrounded by high-end, precise and accurate equipment (often costing in the thousands of dollars) with which you can measure, test, and experiment to the heart's desire. For example, accurate variable power supplies that can operate in voltage-mode or current-mode... signal generators to create square, triangle, and sine waves, and a high-end, very accurate Tektronix Oscilloscope so that you can actually see the voltages and currents as they happen. Indeed, this is what your typical lab environment inside a college would be like.

Dedicate yourself to graduate-level college subjects, and you will also get you access to very high-end material, such as scanning electron microscopes, clean-rooms, VLSI integrated circuits, FPGAs and custom PCBs to tie it all together. Mastery of these subjects, aided with state-of-the-art software for simulations will put you into the upper-echleons of world-class electrical engineering.

But learning how to use such complicated equipment is itself a learning curve that takes not only money... but time as well. There are plenty of hobby-level electronics users who make due with both simpler and cheaper equipment.

AA or 9V Batteries provide cheap sources of nearly ideal voltage sources (at least, while the batteries have juice in them). Digital Multimeters can be bought as cheaply as $20... although most people will recommend spending around $100 for a solid precise and accurate multimeter (better accuracy costs more money). Add on $50 to $100 for a breadboard and some typical components (a light bulb, a motor, resistors, capacitors, and some basic chips like a 555 timer or an Op-Amp, and wires to hook it all together), and you'll be well on your way to learning electronics.

Finally, there's the issue of subject material. There are complicated analog components, like building power-supplies, or radios... and then there are complicated digital components like logic and even computers. The two worlds require different math to understand (Discrete mathematics for Digital, Calc3 / Differential Equations for Analog).

There are also software packages to help students learn on the cheap. There are programs that are free for hobbyists, like LTSpice for simulations or Eagle for schematic drawings / PCB layout.

--------

I'm sorry for the long-winded answer, but this is a deep subject with many valid paths forward. This all comes down to the following:

1. You need to learn some degree of theory to get started.
   
   
2. You can accelerate and/or augment your theoretical learning with software tools such as PSpice. Its a lot cheaper and faster to simulate an effect rather than to actually use real components.
   
   
3. You need physical equipment. Software will never replicate the smell of burning components when that resistor catches on fire for the first time. Some things can only be learned when working in the lab.
   
   Theory
   ============
   
   Here are a list of recommended books:
   (Someone else: make a list of good beginner books, I dunno of any).
   
   There are also free online courses:
   
   

• MIT's 6.002: This is the first course taught at MIT, and all of the video lectures, exams, and class material has been posted online for free.
  
  
• All About Circuits: This messy webpage actually holds a lot of good information about circuits and electronics. I find that paid books are better, but if you don't want to spend any money, this is a very complete reference.
  
  Software
  ===========
  
  The primary software you need as a beginner is a "SPICE" simulator. You can place components like resistors, capacitors and inductors and the software will simulate the components.
  
  
• Partsim is a free website that can simulate your basic electrical components.
  
  
• LTspice: Linear Technology wants you to buy their stuff, so they made a free program that accurately simulates their chips. Can't argue with the results or this marketing scheme though, free software is extremely good and useful for the beginner.
  
  Tools and Hardware
  ===========
  
  
• Uggghhhh. I'm tired. Work in progress, will continue writing later.
  
  
  WORK IN PROGRESS
  ==============
  
  
• Finish First Draft
  
• Edit down my wordy language to be shorter
  
• Come up with good beginner books (paid books generally are easier to read and are better edited)
  
• Figure out some decent beginner kits: both digital world (something Arduino based with a decent free web-lessons), and analog world (opamps and stuff).
  
• Work out a set of beginner tools, in order of "cost-effectiveness" (Ex: Digital Multimeter, cheap USB Oscilloscope, etc. etc.)

This one had good reviews when I bought it and hasn't burned down my house in the last 11 months! $80, if that's "inexpensive" to you.

I have this one. It's a little heavy but works nicely and has o.c. protection.

I know theres not much love for the cheap import stuff in this thread, but i have this one, and its been verrry good to me for the price:

Tekpower TP3005T Variable Linear DC Power Supply, 0-30V @ 0-5A with Alligator Test Leads (110V Input) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_S9nYBb4J9SGFW

I've got this one, works well enough, no complaints. Plenty of power for charging up some lithium cells.

Tekpower TP3005T Variable Linear DC Power Supply, 0 - 30V @ 0 - 5A with Alligator Cable and Power Cord,Upgraded TP3005D,HY3005D, Mastech

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_JAxJyb86T5GFC

Say I'm building a mini ECU simulator. I need to provide 12v @ 5A DC over OBD-II. What's the best way to do this, with something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Tekpower-TP3005T-Variable-Linear-Alligator/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=zg_bs_318022011_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=P1DKJT59MMVX11ZWARXM ?

See that. Changed it to "power". A simpler supply? Any examples? I found this one too: https://www.amazon.com/Tekpower-TP3005T-Variable-Linear-Supply/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1487919457&sr=1-3

This one seems to have good ratings. There are probably a couple dozen similar ones out there that are just as good.

https://smile.amazon.com/Tekpower-TP3005T-Variable-Linear-Alligator/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541456044&sr=8-3&keywords=lab+power+supply

There are also multiple-output ones too -- it all depends on what you plan to do.

EDIT: After reading some of the reviews, do look at what they say about the way this one sets up the voltage. It might not remember the voltage setting on power-up, so you may have to set it each time before you connect it.

I've never handled ones that looked like that. I'm more familiar with this type;

http://www.amazon.com/Tekpower-TP3005T-Variable-Linear-Supply/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1463512378&sr=8-4&keywords=5a+dc+power+supply