Bench Power Supplies

Linear and switching bench PSUs, programmable supplies, and DIY/OSS bench instruments.

Clean, current-limited, programmable DC for bringing up boards. Pair with Multimeters for verifying load-line behavior, Electronic Loads for sinking, Oscilloscopes for transient response, and Instrument Software to script supplies in CI. For the boards you're powering up see PCB / EDA Suites; for what to do when a board lights up see Debug Probes.

Hobby benchtop (single / dual output)

★ Riden RD6006 / RD6018 / RD6024 / RK6006 — the buck-converter modules that ate the budget bench-PSU market. 60–80V, 6–24 A, USB/serial/Bluetooth, color screen, and a serial protocol with FOSS PC apps. Pair with a sufficient AC-DC brick for the tier you want. Switching, not linear — fine for digital and most analog, watch for ripple in sensitive RF.
★ Korad KA3005P / KA3005D / KD3005P / KD3305P — linear 30 V / 5 A single or dual; the sub-$200 linear bench PSU. SCPI on the "P" variants. Solid, boring, recommended.
Atten APS-3005S / APS-3203S — Korad-clone-tier; cheap linear, no remote.
Tenma 72-2540 / 72-2935 — Newark/element14's house-brand linear PSUs; rebadged Korad/HY.
Volteq HY-series, Eventek KPS-series — cheap Chinese linears; OK if you're not picky.

Mid-tier / programmable

★ Rigol DP712 / DP832 / DP932U — the "almost everyone has one" bench PSU. DP832 is a 3-channel 30V/3A + 5V/3A; DP932U adds USB-C PD output. SCPI, LXI option, well-supported in pyvisa.
★ Siglent SPD3303X-E / SPD3303C / SPD4000X — 3-channel programmable; SPD4000X is the higher-end 4-channel rack PSU. Good displays, full SCPI.
Owon SPE / ODP series — Owon's programmable line; cheaper than Rigol/Siglent, less polished UI.
Keithley 2200 / 2230 series — Tek's mid bench PSUs; quiet, accurate, expensive.
Keysight E36100 / E36200 series — Keysight's bench programmables; immaculate but premium-priced.
R&S NGM / NGE / NGL — Rohde & Schwarz; NGL202 is a beloved low-noise 2-channel SMU-lite.

SMUs (source-measure units)

Keithley 2400 / 2450 / 2461 — the canonical SMU; sources V or I and measures the other simultaneously. Used eBay 2400s under $1k are bench-changing.
Keysight B2900 / B2901A — Keysight's modern SMU line; great for IV-curve work.
NI / Aim-TTi / Magna-Power — niche SMUs.
See also Atlas DCA Pro in Component Testers for component IV characterization on a budget.

DIY / open-hardware bench instruments

★ EEZ Bench Box 3 (BB3) / H24005 — fully open-hardware modular bench instrument: dual-channel programmable PSU, AWG, DMM, datalogger, all in one chassis. STM32-based. SCPI. The reference open-hardware bench PSU in 2026. See also OSS Bench Instruments.
Riden DPS5005 / DPS3005 — the older single-channel modules that preceded RD6006; still sold, still hackable, with FOSS Android/desktop control apps.
Open-source PSU projects on Hackaday / GitHub — many one-off LM317-to-LT3081 designs; usually projects, not products.

USB-C PD as a bench PSU

USB-C PD trigger boards (CHI ZTE PD-trigger, PD Buddy Sink, ChargerLAB POWER-Z's trigger mode) let any 100 W USB-C charger emit 5/9/12/15/20 V on demand — a perfectly fine "second supply" for digital boards. See USB Power Testers.
Riden RK6006-P has USB-C PD input — it'll source from a laptop charger, neat for portable benches.

License / pricing notes

Korad / Rigol / Siglent / Keysight all speak SCPI; control them with pyvisa (open) or lxi-tools (open). Vendor GUIs (UltraSigma, BenchVue, etc.) are free but optional.
Riden RD60xx has a documented Modbus-over-serial protocol; the FOSS app UniSoft RD-Tool and the open rd6006 Python lib both work.
EEZ BB3 is open-hardware (CERN OHL); firmware is open and you can build your own.
Keysight / Tek premium PSUs charge separately for LAN/GPIB; check the option codes before buying used.

Pick this if…

Cheap, programmable, "real" voltages and currents: Riden RD6006 / RK6006.
Linear, simple, no surprises: Korad KA3005P (single) or KD3305P (dual).
Default lab bench PSU: Rigol DP832 or Siglent SPD3303X-E.
Open-hardware bench instrument: EEZ BB3.
You need to sweep IV curves: Keithley 2400 (used) or 2450.
Low-noise sensitive analog: R&S NGL202 or a real linear (avoid SMPS bench PSUs here).
Portable second rail off a USB-C charger: PD trigger board.