After 25 years at a world-class R&D lab, I started freelancing in 2004. The freelance projects I worked on spanned from a chip set software development board to the design of an electronic stove controller. The product shown in Illustration 1 is a cellphone battery charger with flashlight that won a 2007 CIS award for innovation. While working at the R&D Labs I never had to work with inferior equipment, so I was surprised that my first scope, a "good" USB based scope, did not have the sampling rate to provide accurate waveforms for the advertised bandwidth. I quickly picked up a Tel TDS3032 on eBay for a 50% discount. Recently the LCD screen started to "wiggle" so the flat screen addition is saving the day. Incidentally, at my day job now, also at a premier company, I'm raving about my Keysight scopes. I have 4 of them.

Back to my consulting, which I still do occasionally, and plan to continue full-time when I retire. The bench is completed with a superb value USB logic analyzer (with a HP 1661 LA under my bench), an Instek 10MHz signal generator (and a 1GHz HP 8656A standing on the side), and a pair of power supplies, but only one works all the time. My consulting work is includes schematic design, PCB layout, firmware and software, all in-house. Having good tools make the job possible and enjoyable. Thank you for having this contest and reviewing my submission.