Potentially silly question, but many function generators have a serial output impedance (resistance) of 50ohms which will make a potential divider with any input pull-up. A buffer would eliminate this problem as your controller would only see the really low output impedance of the buffer.
mattaw
joined 2 years ago
Open drain is the same as open collector. They both require an external pull-up resistor to function. There are a couple of uses like level shifting the output down (connect the pull-up R to the lower voltage) and connecting multiple outputs together with no extra circuits as the outputs can't fight. Look up the I2C bus as that uses open drain to work for more info.
Figure 22 has a really cheap voltage and current controlled bench supply using two lm317s from an existing DC supply like a laptop charger etc:
https://www.onsemi.com/pdf/datasheet/lm317-d.pdf
Pre built ones with heatsinks may be available really cheap on eBay too.
If you need a lot of DC power there are some kits on eBay etc. that can convert a PC PSU to a bench supply.
I'm sure you will not breath in any dust and will wash your hands so you will likely be fine. This is most likely an issue if you mod the case with drilling/filling or are a little careless.