Electronics > Beginners
Dirt cheap and simple scope-based component tester - curve tracer
Fraser:
Sadly serious illness has placed most of my projects on hold for the past 2 years.
I am eager to catch up with these projects now that my health is improving. This will be very high on my priority list but I am presently concentrating on repairing some thermal imaging cameras.
Thanks for resurrecting this thread. The reports from others who have built this unit has been favourable and the negative comments regarding screen contrast have been addressed by ELV which is good news. Its just a voltage setting.
Fraser
PlainName:
Oh, sorry to nudge you when you are not up to dealing with this. But good news that your health is improving.
Ummm... if it would help at all, I would be happy for you to ship the kit to me and I would be willing to try it out for you ;)
Fraser:
You have rekindled my interest in this project. I need a rest from squinting at tiny SMT devices in the thermal cameras, so this will be a good diversion. I will see if I get time over the next few days. Watch this space.
Fraser
eman12:
Thanks Alan For the Video.
Alexei.Polkhanov:
I wanted to get ID vs VGS (Drain current vs Gate to Source voltage) curve traced for several MOSFETS. I fugured that since all DMMs and Programmable power supplies have USB interface I can create curve tracer program on my PC. I wrote a program for MATLAB that sends commands to equipment and voila I have the trace at no additional cost if I don't count 2-3 hours of my time.
I think this method is much more flexible than using these special tracers unless they can be connected to computer to read raw data. If you have raw measurements you can add any imaginable plotting, scaling and post-processing very fast. What do I do with this plot on oscilloscope? Is it showing 3.4V pinch off voltage or 3.5V .... or something in between ?
Before that I was looking at component tester made by Peak Electronic Design. They have a "PRO" version that comes with plotting software: http://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/dca75-dca-pro.html Then I realized that such device is limited to standard tests and more importantly it is limited by available battery power. I have to agree it probably saves a lot of time when you are going through your junk box.
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