EEVblog #1248 - INSANE A 0.02% Process Meter for $9? WTF

[Xenoamor]

Is this guy on DhGate admitting to falsely shipping an item?

[maginnovision]

Is this guy on DhGate admitting to falsely shipping an item?

See what dhgate says. I suspect I'll never order anything from there

[Xenoamor]

See what dhgate says. I suspect I'll never order anything from there

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and asking him to clarify.
Dhgate claim they'll give you $30 credit if a seller sends you a false shipping number so it would be interesting to see what comes of it if he has

[blargg]

Is this guy on DhGate admitting to falsely shipping an item?

Also from same seller on dhgate, two tracking numbers show up in order details. Last digits:

885CN
635YP

Do these match yours? Anyone else, did seller give the same tracking numbers to us all?

[RobertPS]

Is this guy on DhGate admitting to falsely shipping an item?

He's probably just doing what he always does: getting a shipping/tracking number, maybe preparing the box, so he can ship quickly when his supplier delivers the goods. These stores don't have stock for most items.
In this case, there's no supply anymore, so he's stuck with the tracking numbers and no product. Just like you.

[beanflying]

Is this guy on DhGate admitting to falsely shipping an item?

He's probably just doing what he always does: getting a shipping/tracking number, maybe preparing the box, so he can ship quickly when his supplier delivers the goods. These stores don't have stock for most items.
In this case, there's no supply anymore, so he's stuck with the tracking numbers and no product. Just like you.

That is not correct in my case as the supposed parcel shows progress through the postal system with three stops. This is clearly a case of fake tracking numbers provided.


mine ends in 056YP for what it is worth.

tonethiny 2019-10-09 17:25

Dear friends
very sorry
We have found a lot of homes
They all said that this product is out of stock now.
Ali and Taobao are also out of stock
We can only give you a refund now.
May I?
Please understand
Thank you

[RobertPS]

Is this guy on DhGate admitting to falsely shipping an item?

He's probably just doing what he always does: getting a shipping/tracking number, maybe preparing the box, so he can ship quickly when his supplier delivers the goods. These stores don't have stock for most items.
In this case, there's no supply anymore, so he's stuck with the tracking numbers and no product. Just like you.

That is not correct in my case as the supposed parcel shows progress through the postal system with three stops. This is clearly a case of fake tracking numbers provided.

I stand corrected. A google search reveals that Yanwen seems to be widely associated with fake tracking.

[amspire]

Just had a quick look at the serial output of the meter. It is actually very well isolated, and so this meter is a cheap way of data logging.

It appears the Semico CS7721CN chip is outputting data at 2400 baud in packages of 12 to 16 bytes - I haven't put a logic analyser on it yet. The sample rate period is about 700 ms.

I haven't found any data yet for the 7721 chip, so if anyone can find it, it would help.

I am expecting a format such as a range byte, 4 digits for the measures value, a function byte (volts, mA, uA, Capacitance, etc), a status byte (things like low battery), and some option bytes which include things like a bit for AC or DC mode. It appears the string ends with a linefeed byte (0x0A).

I have had a look at the sigrok.org site and it doesn't appear they support any CS7721CN based multimeters yet, but unfortunately half the contributors didn't bother to mention the multimeter chipset.

Richard.

[BradC]

Just had a quick look at the serial output of the meter. It is actually very well isolated, and so this meter is a cheap way of data logging.

It appears the Semico CS7721CN chip is outputting data at 2400 baud in packages of 12 to 16 bytes - I haven't put a logic analyser on it yet. The sample rate period is about 700 ms.

I haven't found any data yet for the 7721 chip, so if anyone can find it, it would help.

There was a data sheet linked up thread somewhere (too hard to locate on an iPad). The protocol in there documented sending out the LCD segments. So basically a mirror of what is on the display. Each byte was an identifier (high nybble) and 4 individual segments (the low nybble) and they were sent in sequence repeatedly.

[TurboTom]

Here's my message where I linked the Fortune Semiconductor equivalent of the chip used in this instrument.

[amspire]

Here's my message where I linked the Fortune Semiconductor equivalent of the chip used in this instrument.

If it is the same, that is great as Sigrok supports a number of Fortune 9721 multimeters like the Uni-T UT60E. I will probably have to look at the Silabs serial chip data to find out how to get X-OFF/X-ON working. If you just read the chip continuously, most of the time you just get the last 4 bytes in the data buffer that looks something like "0x61 0x67 0x33 0x0A"

[ResistorRob]

I ordered mine from Wish for $53 shipped, and today they canceled the order and refunded my money! Not cool!
I don't care about the multimeter part, and think I found something similar for about $25 so will order that instead.
I'm definitely not paying almost $300 for one of these things!

[amspire]

Here's my message where I linked the Fortune Semiconductor equivalent of the chip used in this instrument.

If it is the same, that is great as Sigrok supports a number of Fortune 9721 multimeters like the Uni-T UT60E. I will probably have to look at the Silabs serial chip data to find out how to get X-OFF/X-ON working. If you just read the chip continuously, most of the time you just get the last 4 bytes in the data buffer that looks something like "0x61 0x67 0x33 0x0A"

Looks like the serial protocol is nothing like the Fortune 9721 chip unfortunately.

I have the logic analyser set up and I will start a new thread. The serial packet is 2400 baud 8bit no parity LSB first. There are 14 bytes and the 4 most significant bits of each byte is the byte number in the packet - the bytes are numbered 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D and E.

The lower 4 bits of each byte is the data. When I get back home, I will work out what some of the packets do. I think I have identified the ones containing the readings.

Update:
This site has some python code for a similar chip - the difference is that the multimeter this code is written for output an extra 5 bytes of unknown junk at the start.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/qm1571-multimeter/files/

Looks like the code is compatible with the Fortune FS9721 chip so I have no idea what that protocol file I got from Sigrok is on about.

The following multimeters all use a similar meter chipset:
Altronics Q1079,
Digitech QM1571,
DT4000ZC,
Harbor Freight 98674,
Mastech MS8229,
PCE-DM32,
Tecpel DMM-8061,
Tecpel DMM-8061,
Tenma 72-7745,
TP4000ZC,
UT60A,
UT60E,
Vichy VC97,
Voltcraft MT-52,
Voltcraft VC-820,
Voltcraft VC-840.

[maginnovision]

My second My Cozy Life Store meter shows shipped, however I'm not sure I believe it this time. I also tested the one I got today after I got it all working properly. Tested AC and DC up to 120V. Current 100uA to 1A. After that I wanted to check the p-p and rms noise for the outputs. However I found the output was no longer working properly. The OP296(Daves had a 297 in the same spot) was getting extremely hot. Removing it didn't fix anything, but it also didn't make anything worse. All meter readings were ok, the 24V output was unaffected(unsurprisingly), but the current and voltage outputs basically start at 0 and climb until reaching the end of the range and resetting. I didn't have time to check it further but it's pretty odd. Just to add, I didn't do those checks with the source/simulate jacks.

[Electro Detective]

"Hello freind again,

is good news finally

we ship out blue meter today after salvage from sunk delivery boat, recover by harbor freight police divas after water pirate attack

lucky crew of old peoples and children wet and scare, but no harm or disgusting thing happen 


We use hair dryer and meters look ok, but no damged package or instucton is send sorry


if have problem or want improve hacks please read fix up post by VEEblogs member 'amspire' here:
www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1248-insane-a-0-02-process-meter-for-$9-wtf/msg2730530/?topicseen#msg2730530


next time your order is go by programs drone copter or secure donkey team relay across mountain,
no more water pirate risk and we no use winows 10 again till is fixed   


Warmest regrads from BS Team at Brightest Star Electronic on your new metre ! 

*plz* sirs, no forgets post good ebay feedback and Like us on Facebook "

[Brumby]

Classic.   

[beanflying]

It really is shades of the Dog ate my Homework 

[Xenoamor]

mine ends in 056YP for what it is worth.

Ending 953CN here.

They've given up sending me excuses now

[amspire]

I just started a thread under "Test Equipment" for this meter with some basic working code for reading the USB port:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/ampx1-process-calibrator-multimeter/msg2732286/#msg2732286

[TurboTom]

This really appears to be a hit an miss business... I must have been one of the first to place an order, still before the "big hype" on 26th of september and my order was listed "shipped" but the tracing information stayed more than ten days on "waiting for pick-up by the carrier" or similar. Today I received this information:

Dear buyer,we are so sorry to tell you that we just got the information from the shipping company that your parcel was lost on the way .we want to resend it for you ,but been told by warehouse the item just sold out .In order to protect your right ,how about we refund to your paypal ?or would you like to choose other item you like in our store?sorry for the trouble and waiting for your quickly reply,nice day .

Could be the truth, could be not. But reading about the other's experiences, I rather believe the initial shipment notification was some bogus information. So you cannot be sure that being early in the queue helps to get delivery. For sure I won't agree to be refunded via PayPal while I paid via CreditCard (...I've also got my principles...). At least this means, "Cozy Life Shop" has got to admit towards AliExpress their mistake.

Considering the whole thing was more a gamble than a real need, I'm okay with that. I anyway got one of these LB-02 calibrators since rather than process control voltages, I need to simulate thermocouple signals, and these won't be generated by the "AIMOsham"...

So good luck to the other "contenders" 

[Kosmic]

My order was shipped yesterday. Ordered from "My Cozy Life Store" on September 26 (before the video). If something show up i'm going to be very surprise

[Nusa]

From USPS alerts on the tracking number, looks like my first meter is being delivered today. It will be a bit before I can actually check it out, as I'm currently 2000 miles away dealing with family matters.

(UPDATE: the person collecting my mail while I am gone has confirmed the package was delivered.)

[cgroen]

Damn,
guess I was not lucky after all!!
I guess nothing to do ?

[Bud]

"Security inspection" 

[BravoV]

Damn,
guess I was not lucky after all!!
I guess nothing to do ?

If I were you, I would reply that its their responsibility, to cancel/abort it or let the transaction expired until the Aliexpress system takes over for the auto refund mechanism, assuming you're willingly to wait of course.

These shops aware, that if one or two transactions like this may not be a big problem, but hundreds, that will definitely put a dent of black mark on their reputation from the Aliexpress valuation system to their shop, they deserved it.