First bench power supply for a high schooler

Bronco

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 3, 2003
Messages
495
Location
Los Angeles
I have an academically gifted niece who just finished her sophomore year in high school. She is gravitating pretty heavily toward the STEM fields and, for the time being at least, has indicated that it would be her desire to further pursue one of these disciplines in college. In the meantime, she gets a lot of enjoyment out of rigging up her own little DIY home electronics projects. Most of these that I've seen operate on your standard array of 1.5v to 9v batteries.

I got to thinking she might enjoy having her own little bench top variable power supply. This would be her first experience with any equipment of this nature, so of course my first thought goes to safety. Bouncing around the web, I happened upon this unit which is compact, affordably priced and has a high percentage of positive reviews. Power-wise, the unit is limited to 30v and 5A.

Does that sound like a relatively safe and sane purchase for a 16 year old just learning the ropes? Or would it make more sense to wait until she has received some more formalized training before introducing her to this kind of equipment?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBCLJSY/?tag=cpf0b6-20
 

NoNotAgain

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
2,364
Location
Blue Ridge Mountains, VA
IMO, if you wonder over to that auction place and plug in item number 222194057146, these units are built like tanks. Should weigh close to 15 lbs, meaning nice heavy copper could and old fashioned repairable components.

I've got digital and analog power supplies but find I use the analog supply the most.
 
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