Before I buy the wrong (or not ideal / tried) think, would you be so kind as to recommend a model you have used or know of please Dave?
There are loads on eBay at about a tenner, but if a 'good' one was 15, I might rather buy that.
Cheers, T i m
Andyfras of
Yes, I have read his pages on the subject with interest. ;-)
I might get an ESR meter and a set of caps from him and compare them with what I fitted (OOI).
Cheers, T i m
It's not the capacitance they're testing but the impedance. Low impedance is vital for correct operation in some applications.
I've got two. My older one which resembles a DVM cost about 200 quid as a kit. ;-)
I also bought one of those component tester PCB only ones off Ebay for about 30 quid which works very well (it also tests other types of components) - although most would prefer one in a case. Looking just now they seem to be cheaper - under a tenner as you say. But of a slightly different design so have no actual experience of those exact ones.
Nice. ;-)
Ok.
Ok, well, I'll give one of the more popular looking ones a go and see how we get on.
Thanks again, cheers, T i m
They are incredibly useful for other things too. As a transistor tester they not only show if one is working or not but give the pinout and type. Saves having to look it up.
Yeah, I read though the list and looked at the pictures of them in use.
That is clever (well, if not actually clever, very handy). ;-)
Good point. So, say I had an IR sensor device with 4 pins (2 pins = IR LED and 2 pins = photo transistor), could I just plug all 4 pins in and press go and it work out one or both of the connected devices? Or would you typically just use pairs of pins and see what it comes up with?
What would it think of a photo transistor (a transistor with no 'base')?
Hopefully I'll be able to find out for myself soon. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
It's clever to me as I have no idea how they do it. ;-)
An optocouple? Don't think it would test one of those in one go.
Dunno either - it should say in the spec what it will and won't test.
At under a tenner I'd guess you'll be well chuffed. ;-)
Yes, and me, I meant that it probably isn't that clever in comparison with some really clever things. ;-)
More IR Opto-Sensor (proximity sensor) but would look (electrically) just like an optocoupler yes. IR LED as the TX with photo transistor, all in the same plastic block. [1]
Ok ... just wondered ...
They generally state what they will (or should) do and what you shouldn't do. ;-)
I hope I will be Dave and thanks again for the heads up.
Cheers, T i m
p.s. A mate, not know for particularly wise words once said something that fits this sort of situation / test-gear very well and that is 'You can manage what you can measure'.
Along those lines, a mate bought one of those cheap / 20Mhz USB scopes the other day and I set it up and showed him how to use it. We watched two PWM outputs on an Arduino Minicontroller thingy and it worked quite well. I can remember how often I turned to my scope (when an electronics service tech), not just to scope 'signals' but as a voltmeter. Having something as big (small) as an external hard drive on my PC all the time (or available portably on a laptop) plus the ability to print, snapshot etc, could be very handy / interesting (like the USB microscope). ;-)
[1] I'm experimenting using an Arduino (or two) to provide an automates section to my BILs OO model railway layout. I have managed to butcher an existing 'Sketch' (program) to slowly take a train from standstill to full speed, hold full speed (set medium by a bench PSU) and then quicker than it accelerated, decelerated to a standstill, pausing for 5 seconds before doing the same in reverse (using an 'H bridge'). My next task is to build the PIC based 'chopper' IR sensors (that sense the trains position / movement) and then try to make it all work. I'm pretty confident with the wiring / electronics, I not very confident re the programming. ;-(HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.