$20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project

[Richard Crowley]

You'll find the official documentation at http://www.mikrocontroller.net/svnbrowser/transistortester/Doku/tags/ (select the directory and click "Download GNU tarball"). The clones vary in their layouts, but mostly follow the schematic in the documentation.

Thank you, madires.   

There is some difference between my board and the official schematic.
I am creating an "as built" schematic of my variant. 
Is there a wiki or something for this product where I can post it?

[madires]

I am creating an "as built" schematic of my variant. 
Is there a wiki or something for this product where I can post it?

I'd suggest to post it here or to send it to Karl-Heinz (please see the first page of the documentation for his email address).

[jimjam]

slightly off topic.... how did you create your PCB, madires? I downloaded your schematic + pcb layout, but as a noob, I am wondering what's the best way for me to create the PCB. I can go the whole shebang with getting a photoresist pcb, UV lamp, etchant etc, and I might use it again in the future.... but I'm curious how other people do it.

[con-f-use]

They order it from places like the ones mentioned in the cheap PCBs for low volume thread.

[madires]

slightly off topic.... how did you create your PCB, madires? I downloaded your schematic + pcb layout, but as a noob, I am wondering what's the best way for me to create the PCB. I can go the whole shebang with getting a photoresist pcb, UV lamp, etchant etc, and I might use it again in the future.... but I'm curious how other people do it.

Since I already own all the tools I make PCBs myself but if I'd have to buy everything new I'd consider one of those inexpensive PCB services. I can't make vias or print nice soldermasks and silkscreens. In the TransistorTester thread of the microcontroller.net forum some people are organizing a centralised buying from time to time. For you, down under, a PCB service in China could be a good choice.

BTW: Regarding the schematic, it might be better to have D0-D3 of the LCD module floating instead of the ground connection. As I just learnt in another thread the data lines are pulled up internally by the module.

[jimjam]

How much work is it to make your own pcb? Do you consider it a big deal / a full day project? But even so, it beats waiting for 2 weeks. There's also that PCB printer that Dave was showing from CEBIT....

[con-f-use]

So with my current process, I'm at about an hour per a panel including cleanup. I have the gear to make double-sided panels of A4 size. Then it's cutting, drilling the holes and s.o. which adds another 20 minutes. I'd say that's pretty fast.

Still I don't think it's worth it, most of the time. Even if you earn exceptionally little, making a panel is about 25$ total in time and material. About the same that DirtyPCB charges. But with them, you get it without lifting a finger and with much better quality. Making your own boards means making a lot of mess and keeping supplies around the house. Cleaning up the former is annoying work. I like my day job much much better. So I'd charge much more for an hour of PCB making, than just what I make at my day job. Storing the supplies is also annoying and takes up considerable space, even further adding to the perceived costs of board making. And on top of that, you have to design the boards more carefully than you otherwise would. You can't use that fine a trace, that many vias and so on.

The only argument for make your own PCBs is: "But I get my boards faster that way". It's not a strong argument though, because let's face it:
You rarely have all the parts, you need at hand. You'll almost always have to wait for a mail order of something - you might as well spend that time waiting for components and ordered boards.

Bottom line: Only sadist or very very time pressed people manufacture PCBs at home.

[senz_90]

Sorry for my ignorance, I am really new on this microcontroller things, please bear with me. This project looks like will give me a good experience to begin about microcontroller. I have read several article and download it from german site and another site, since my mother's language is not english I am getting hard to understand how to modify the source code Makefile with compiler software. So let's the question begin :

1. If I am gonna use 16x2 lcd and english language with my tester, what is word that I need to change from makefile with compiler?
2. If I am gonna use Atmega168, how to set the fuse bit with kazama software? And If I wanna use Atmega328, how to set it?
what If I wanna use internal clock like 8Mhz? or external crystal 8Mhz? I have read several guide about fuse bits but I am really confuse. I hope someone wanna help me with some picture and I am really appreciated it.

Thank you

[Mr Smiley]

Hi,

This will help a little with understanding fuses


 

[madires]

1. If I am gonna use 16x2 lcd and english language with my tester, what is word that I need to change from makefile with compiler?

UI_LANGUAGE = LANG_ENGLISH
Support for a 16x2 LCD module is set by default.

2. If I am gonna use Atmega168, how to set the fuse bit with kazama software? And If I wanna use Atmega328, how to set it?
what If I wanna use internal clock like 8Mhz? or external crystal 8Mhz? I have read several guide about fuse bits but I am really confuse. I hope someone wanna help me with some picture and I am really appreciated it.

You can get the fuse bits from setup.mk for the different ATmegas and clocks.

[hdlg_zhangyu]

I am new here and also a newbie for electronics. I got mine today from ebay. It is with Atmel Mega328p AU chip, it impressed me with all SMD components and even with a Tantalum capacitor!
However, they failed to acknowledge Karl-Heinz K"ubbeler, madires and everyone else who contributed to the firmware design.

The seller claimed it is 2014 "latest" version. However when started the program, it showed:
"Transistor Tester V2.1". Wondering what exactly firmware it is running.

ALso, I am planning to upgrade the firmware anyway to the newest version using the ISP port, I am actually wondering what version of LCD should I use? Thanks!

[g***!]

Look at post 498....my board was identical to yours , worked for me1

[hdlg_zhangyu]

Thanks!

[at2marty]

I've read quite a bit about this project and am in the early stages of adapting it with a few minor modifications.  For the most part, most of what I plan will remain the same, but I chose to use an ATMega1284p so that I could do a few other things with it.

Perfect timing :-) Karl-Heinz has started to work on an  ATmega324/644/1284 version.

O.K. I'm finally ready to get back to this project.  I do have a few questions though.

I have downloaded the latest tarball, and started poking around a bit.  I'm assuming that the latest source for the project is in the Software/trunk directory, is that correct?  What is the difference between the stuff in the Markus directory and the tags directory?

In the Doku/tags directory, is there an easy way to translate the changelog.txt file from German to English?

Finally, I still would like to use an ATMega 1284p for my build.  Has a schematic or board layout been done or is work in progress with this?  If not, I am willing to do this and contribute to the project.  I personally prefer through hole, so that's how I would do it.  I don't want to start on it if someone else is already doing the work.

[retrolefty]

I've had my tester for about a month now. Yesterday I decided to pull the 328p from it's socket and install it in my USBasp programmer with ZIF adapter with the intent of reading the flash and fuse bytes using AVRDUDE so that I could make a duplicate/spare controller.

 On trying I was only able to obtain a HEX file that was empty. On looking at the lock bits (0x3C) and checking with the datasheet it seems the chip is disabled from reading it's flash contents and prevented from being able to change the lock bits.

 I wonder if anyone else has checked there controller chip to see if it's common for the seller/maker to 'protect' the firmware?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/291041497713?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[at2marty]

I've had my tester for about a month now. Yesterday I decided to pull the 328p from it's socket and install it in my USBasp programmer with ZIF adapter with the intent of reading the flash and fuse bytes using AVRDUDE so that I could make a duplicate/spare controller.

 On trying I was only able to obtain a HEX file that was empty. On looking at the lock bits (0x3C) and checking with the datasheet it seems the chip is disabled from reading it's flash contents and prevented from being able to change the lock bits.

 I wonder if anyone else has checked there controller chip to see if it's common for the seller/maker to 'protect' the firmware?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/291041497713?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Hmm... I can't help you much as far as getting a good HEX image of what is on the chip.  You can change the lock bits back to default by writing a new program to it, but it will erase anything that is currently on it.

I would suggest downloading the latest firmware and use it as your spare.

[retrolefty]

I would suggest downloading the latest firmware and use it as your spare.

 Thanks.

 I looked into that but I don't have a proper unpacker/decompressor program on my new Win 8.1 machine and just didn't want to proceed with looking for one. If someone could provide a direct link to a hex file that would be cool, otherwise no big deal just something I was playing with. If unit ever dies I would have no problem with spending another $20 for a new one as it's that cool of a device.

[at2marty]

I would suggest downloading the latest firmware and use it as your spare.

 Thanks.

 I looked into that but I don't have a proper unpacker/decompressor program on my new Win 8.1 machine and just didn't want to proceed with looking for one. If someone could provide a direct link to a hex file that would be cool, otherwise no big deal just something I was playing with. If unit ever dies I would have no problem with spending another $20 for a new one as it's that cool of a device.

I would be willing to do that for you, but I don't think that it's right for me to distribute the file from a source other than the official site.  I believe that you might be able to download it directly from the official site by going to http://www.mikrocontroller.net/svnbrowser/transistortester/Software/trunk/mega328/ and save the hex file from there.

I'm not familiar at all with Windows 8.1, but I do know that a program called 7zip will unpack a tarball.  I would suggest downloading it from the official website http://www.7-zip.org/

If you choose 7zip, you will have to extract it twice.  The first time you will end up with a filename.tar .  Extract filename.tar to actually get the real file.

[retrolefty]

Thanks for the info, but it's more complex and bother then I'm willing to go through.

[Macbeth]

Thanks for the info, but it's more complex and bother then I'm willing to go through.

...This has made my head explode 

[retrolefty]

Thanks for the info, but it's more complex and bother then I'm willing to go through.

...This has made my head explode 

I'd have that looked at if I was you. 

[madires]

I have downloaded the latest tarball, and started poking around a bit.  I'm assuming that the latest source for the project is in the Software/trunk directory, is that correct?  What is the difference between the stuff in the Markus directory and the tags directory?

Yes, the current k-firmware version under development is in the trunk directory. The tags directory contains old k-firmware releases and the Markus directory got the m-firmware releases.

In the Doku/tags directory, is there an easy way to translate the changelog.txt file from German to English?

Some online translation tool? Please ask Karl-Heinz if he would also provide an English version.

Finally, I still would like to use an ATMega 1284p for my build.  Has a schematic or board layout been done or is work in progress with this?  If not, I am willing to do this and contribute to the project.  I personally prefer through hole, so that's how I would do it.  I don't want to start on it if someone else is already doing the work.

AFAIK there's no ATmega 1284 based PCB yet and I'm sure that Karl-Heinz would put your contribution into the repo.

[bob808]

Interesting project!
I just needed to repair a Sansui AU-6500 amplifier that had lots of bad transistors so I had to breadboard something to test them. I'm definitely building this!
So really, we should make a pcb and declare it "official" (with the original designer's permission of course) and stop supporting the Chinese. Plus, it would be a good exercise in building something and you get to learn stuff on the way. Maybe a group buy for PCBs? Double sided.

[dannyf]

stop supporting the Chinese.

Hurting someone should never be the goal until you get something out of it.

Do things because it is good for you. Not because it is bad for others.

[bob808]

I should have been more elaborate in my statement. The thing is that people want it fast and cheap. I didn't mean to hurt any race whatsoever, I was just addressing the plethora of cheap electronics made with crappy parts that are coming out of Asia. Even thou they "work" out of the box I don't think that it's good overall to stimulate the Asian market while the local producers are complaining about lack of income/customers. I'm more of a "keep it in the family" guy and I don't really like the "it's kind of working and it's cheap" strategy that the Asian market deployed over the whole world. Once again, I stress to mention that I don't have anything with Asian people. My only problem is that they "lure" everyone with cheap, low quality stuff. Sure, there are some sellers that found a good balance and I salute them, but since they rip off a design, use cheap parts and make money out of it isn't something I applaud them for.
I didn't mean to cause no harm and hope we don't get off topic.
Once again, I stress that we should make a sort of "official" pcb that we could build ourselves