Well, following the discussion a while ago, I ordered the kit. Built it today.
Very nice...it worked first go, despite me lifting a track at one point and having to repair it. Board is quite good quality but I've seen even better.
I noticed that the manual got the resistor colour codes wrong, but that didn't really bother me....!
I have several things to use it on...but not tonight.
In message , Bob Eager writes
I just use a scope with a component tester
If that's the one designed by Bob Parker then we had a couple of his black ones at a place I used to work and they were very good.
Am I right in thinking that these new ones don't have the audible beeper?
If so, that's a retrograde step IMHO it was very useful not to focus your eyes on the display all the time.
No beeper. But I got a stand that holds it up and makes it all a bit visible. Nice bright display.
I like the low battery warning feature, and the auto off.
I ordered one of the Chinese variety:
Build quality is a bit lacking: There's no case The LCD is unsupported except by the connector, so it sags at the front The test terminals are PCB pads and pin sockets not banana plugs
...but I expected all that. I haven't used it for real yet, but it seems to measure things OK. This one was picked over the slightly more mechanically robust version as the firmware is better.
Funnily enough, while it was in transit, a queue of ESR cap testing jobs has appeared.
Theo
It's a lot more than just an ESR meter, of course. As well as ESR it gives the cap size. And identifies and tests transistors, etc. A very useful bit of kit - especially at the price. As regards ESR, it agrees pretty well with my Bob Parker.
I have both, as well.
Yes, I think that's what I'll end up with (well, an equivalent on ebay.com, anyway).
I mentioned to Bob elsewhere that the Blue one looks like a compentent bit of kit, but I really can't stand that case! (Yes, I could re-house it, but then I'm paying for something that I'm just going to throw away)
I really don't need the extra functionality of the Chinese ones as my multimeter* handles that anyway, but it's so cheap that it doesn't really matter so long as the ESR bit works. (The lack of backlight concerned me for a while, but then it's not like I'm going to be working on something in the dark anyway :-)
cheers
Jules
You have a multi-meter which will identify a transistor? And any other component - and give its value? Automatically?
No, no....the resistors were not coded wrongly - the MANUAL was wrong. It didn't bother me but I did notice it.
Specifically, they gave color codes (e.g. yellow, violet, black, black, brown) for the 1% ones - for each invidivuial value used in the kit. That was fine. They did the same for the 5% ones, but they consistently gave the last colour as brown (again, 1%) instead of gold.
Ebay Item number:400461985092
Is the same one, but cheaper with the improved matrix display and back lit.
It happens that Bob Eager formulated :
If you have interest in these handy little gadgets, you might also be interested in a brilliant little storage scope I bought a couple of so years ago. It uses the parts liberated from an MP3 player - colour screen and case. Good for the lower frequencies, built in rechargeable supply. Ebay Item number:400384349547
They seem to have increased in cost a bit, I paid around £23.
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