Author Topic: $20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project (Read 3451672 times)

vinceroger · « **Reply #2600 on:** September 08, 2016, 07:34:44 pm »

This video helped me regarding setting up avrdude etc and the programming side of things

belzrebuth · « **Reply #2601 on:** September 08, 2016, 07:51:07 pm »

Thanks!
I guess I'll wait for the usbasp to arrive (15-20 days)

I don't what's wrong with my arduino.

I tried flywheels avrdude -c avrisp -p m328p -P COM4 -b 19200 and I got the same error with no wires attached so it must be the arduino.

I don't know why it doesn't communicate properly with the avrdude command.
Thing is that I'm able to to upload sketches via the Arduino IDE .
If it was something wrong with the drivers or so ,wouldn't it be unable to work with the IDE as well?

If there was a way to send the files within the IDE maybe it could work but I don't know the way.

vinceroger · « **Reply #2602 on:** September 08, 2016, 08:00:25 pm »

someone may have some idea whats wrong dont give up just yet double check your wires are on the correct pins on the atmega 328p etc as we have all made mistakes in the past. for my usbasp programmer ive also brought the socket and hard wired it to my ic pins so any time i want to update the firmware i can easily although i do have the tl 866 programmer too avrdude seems quicker.

belzrebuth · « **Reply #2603 on:** September 08, 2016, 08:11:28 pm »

Do u have a link for the socket?
Is this it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AVR-ATMEGA16-Minimum-System-Board-ATmega32-USB-ISP-USBasp-Programmer-For-ATMEL-/201622104604?hash=item2ef19d2a1c:g:w8sAAOSwzLlXhUNE

I might get a tl866 myself although whenever I need a 27cXXX or something a friend of mine just burns me one but tl866s are nice for the price and handy if you need an eprom in a hurry..

vinceroger · « **Reply #2604 on:** September 08, 2016, 08:21:01 pm »

no thats the wrong one in that ebay link its just a small 10 pin socket the part you have already ordered plugs into it.i will see if i can find a link
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/idc-connectors/6257252/

vinceroger · « **Reply #2605 on:** September 08, 2016, 08:32:07 pm »

Quote from: belzrebuth on September 08, 2016, 08:11:28 pm

Do u have a link for the socket?
Is this it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AVR-ATMEGA16-Minimum-System-Board-ATmega32-USB-ISP-USBasp-Programmer-For-ATMEL-/201622104604?hash=item2ef19d2a1c:g:w8sAAOSwzLlXhUNE

I might get a tl866 myself although whenever I need a 27cXXX or something a friend of mine just burns me one but tl866s are nice for the price and handy if you need an eprom in a hurry..

can you take you atmega ic out and put the files on a disk/usb stick then maybe a local computer shop in your area will burn the files to the ic cheap/free for you saves waiting too.

belzrebuth · « **Reply #2606 on:** September 08, 2016, 10:52:33 pm »

I managed to write the firmware.

My arduino was ok too, but I was an idiot and the isp sketch I kept uploading wasn't the correct one..

I tried Files>Examples>Arduino ISP and uploaded that and it worked!
It was in front of me the whole time.

Anyways,thanks for all the help!(especially flywheelz for the guide/commands)

Now I think I have to calibrate it..

flywheelz · « **Reply #2607 on:** September 09, 2016, 04:25:19 am »

Good job! Another one for the team

belzrebuth · « **Reply #2608 on:** September 09, 2016, 08:09:41 am »

Is there a YouTube video or a manual/guide on how to calibrate this thing?
I've found some videos on YT but they're for different firmware versions..
I shorted pins 1-2-3 and entered selftest mode but I get some random values along the way.
I then put a 320nF polyester cap (no 220nF as advised but said >200 so it should be ok) and then I'm not really sure what I was doing.
In the end the test completed and now I seem to have a functional unit but I think I may have to recalibrate it properly.

I followed the instructions here (seems to be pretty close to my version).

belzrebuth · « **Reply #2609 on:** September 09, 2016, 08:30:48 am »

There are also instruction on the calibration process on the ttester.pdf manual!

stj · « **Reply #2610 on:** September 09, 2016, 10:32:51 am »

you did it correctly.

vinceroger · « **Reply #2611 on:** September 09, 2016, 10:35:39 am »

Quote from: belzrebuth on September 08, 2016, 10:52:33 pm

I managed to write the firmware.
My arduino was ok too, but I was an idiot and the isp sketch I kept uploading wasn't the correct one..

I tried Files>Examples>Arduino ISP and uploaded that and it worked!
It was in front of me the whole time.

Anyways,thanks for all the help!(especially flywheelz for the guide/commands)

Now I think I have to calibrate it..

Im glad you have managed too get your tester working they are good meters in my opinion,

madires · « **Reply #2612 on:** September 09, 2016, 03:28:26 pm »

Yeah, these simple and cheap testers are awesome! Sometimes I'm amazed how much we can achieve with the firmware. And it's still fun to add new features and improve measurements.

flywheelz · « **Reply #2613 on:** September 09, 2016, 05:43:07 pm »

I agree with madires, amazing gadget! The other thing that stands out from this project is a type of people that are involved in it. Everyone from developers, fw cookers, helpers, etc, I would be honored to shake your hand for the job well done.

While testing, I found 1.12k svn690 seem to detect this JFET ok but 1.24m trendy having a bad day at the office.

datasheet
https://www.fairchildsemi.com/datasheets/MP/MPF102.pdf

madires · « **Reply #2614 on:** September 09, 2016, 07:36:09 pm »

If you're talking about the pinout, k and m-firmware differ. J-FETs are often symmetrical. The k-firmware will display the assumed Source and Drain pins, but they could be also vice versa. IIRC, Karl-Heinz explains that in the documentation. The m-firmware checks if the J-FET seems to be symmetrical and displays "x" for the Source and Drain pins to indicate that. A measurement of the Gate-Source and Gate-Drain capacitance would identify Source and Drain or a symmetrical J-FET reliably, but the Tester's circuit doesn't support that. It would require a DC bias and an AC based capacitance measurement.

flywheelz · « **Reply #2615 on:** September 09, 2016, 08:48:53 pm »

Quote from: madires on September 09, 2016, 07:36:09 pm

If you're talking about the pinout, k and m-firmware differ. J-FETs are often symmetrical. The k-firmware will display the assumed Source and Drain pins, but they could be also vice versa. IIRC, Karl-Heinz explains that in the documentation. The m-firmware checks if the J-FET seems to be symmetrical and displays "x" for the Source and Drain pins to indicate that. A measurement of the Gate-Source and Gate-Drain capacitance would identify Source and Drain or a symmetrical J-FET reliably, but the Tester's circuit doesn't support that. It would require a DC bias and an AC based capacitance measurement.

Ohh

Its another feature that I miss took as a bug or error, oops.

P.S. I am not sure why but 1.24m seems snappier to me than 1.12k @8MHz. Can't wait to see how it will fly with 16MHz xtal.

Thanks for the explanation.

flywheelz · « **Reply #2616 on:** September 10, 2016, 01:22:33 am »

A pack of 16MHz crystals came today. Replace the 8 for 16 on my Color-kit AY-AT tester. The holes were a biatch to clean out for the new crystal.

When I plugged in the battery, the tester started up just fine. It seem to work normally with 8MHz fw build. Feels faster refresh/test times.

Next, I've flashed a 16MHz fw but not seeing any difference from 8MHz fw:-//.

Am I missing something?

Can I test the crystals with the tester?

Fuses are set to F7/D9/04. I know some people set efuse to 0xfc, but my atmega can't take that, 0x04 works.

Update:
After more testing, with 8MHz fw and 16MHz xtal, the capacitance test values are doubled. With 16MHz fw they are reported correctly

flywheelz · « **Reply #2617 on:** September 10, 2016, 02:51:21 am »

Compiled 1.12k svn690 with xtal test and flashed it. The original 8MHz crystal is detected as 8MHz exactly. The ones I got today read as 14.6342KHz but sometimes not detected. Is this limitations of tester or did I get crap crystals?

TheBay · « **Reply #2618 on:** September 10, 2016, 03:57:10 am »

I've got a MK-328 on it's way from HK, can't wait to have a play with it.

One question I have though, does anyone know where I can buy a AVR-ICSP 8 Pin cable to fit the Mini Pro TL866A? rather than knocking one up,
I would use this quite often and wondering if there is an off the shelf cable, buying the bits to make a cable costs more than buying a USBASP!

jh15 · « **Reply #2619 on:** September 10, 2016, 04:11:12 am »

thousands of posts, where and what do I buy?

stj · « **Reply #2620 on:** September 10, 2016, 04:30:07 am »

Quote from: flywheelz on September 10, 2016, 02:51:21 am

Compiled 1.12k svn690 with xtal test and flashed it. The original 8MHz crystal is detected as 8MHz exactly. The ones I got today read as 14.6342KHz but sometimes not detected. Is this limitations of tester or did I get crap crystals?

the crystal test is limited to about 12MHz, you cant test crystals running as fast or faster than the tester.
the 16MHz crystal makes the cap tests more accurate because of faster sampling though

so what did you NOT enable??
i couldnt build a hex for AY-AT with the crystal test without running out of room!

flywheelz · « **Reply #2621 on:** September 10, 2016, 04:49:33 am »

stj,

Code: [Select]


CFLAGS += -DFONT_5X8
#CFLAGS += -DFONT_8X12thin
CFLAGS += -DWITH_XTAL 
#CFLAGS += -DWITH_UART

flywheelz · « **Reply #2622 on:** September 10, 2016, 05:08:39 am »

Quote from: jh15 on September 10, 2016, 04:11:12 am

thousands of posts, where and what do I buy?

Thousands of clones testers, to each his own. Not knowing your need, I will list a few. There are kits or already built versions. Buy where you trust and price you like.
Well known as Banggood version
http://www.banggood.com/DIY-M12864-Graphics-Version-Transistor-Tester-Kit-LCR-ESR-PWM-p-986954.html

Highly regarded as a nice choice GM328R.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331873741389

Already built unit Nice case, zif board, 3 test clips, very good for bench/field use
http://www.banggood.com/MK-328-Transistor-Tester-Capacitor-ESR-Inductance-Resistor-Meter-LCR-NPN-PNP-MOS-p-1010347.html

Fancy multi colored custom firmware, only one does higher voltage zener test, Note: No multi color open-source firmware for this model
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2016-Transistor-Tester-TFT-Diode-Triode-Capacitance-Meter-LCR-ESR-NPN-PNP-MOSFET-/182170556129?hash=item2a6a3616e1:g:Ep8AAOSwnNBXX9D9

Russians favorite
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12864-Mega328-ESR-Transistor-Resistor-Diode-Capacitor-Mosfet-Tester-w-Test-hook-/321963237498?hash=item4af681207a:g:sBMAAOSwa-dWhWzn

I purchased this one. Color lcd AY-AT, slowish refresh rate, kit has some diode array input protection but this seller smds are not soldered, some other sellers got smds soldered already.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-DIY-kits-TFT-LCD-M328-Transistor-Tester-LCR-Diode-Capacitance-ESR-voltage-meter-PWM-Square/32649811953.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.56.J7yA7x

Lately, some kits arrive with blank chips so you have to flash open source firmware yourself.

Must read, all you ever wanted to know, the birth and the evelution of the infamous transistor tester and more
ttester.pdf manual

jh15 · « **Reply #2623 on:** September 10, 2016, 05:36:34 am »

Thank you, I have one of these, years ago didn't remember details, and wanted to figure it out, or buy another that I can trust.

stj · « **Reply #2624 on:** September 10, 2016, 05:39:06 am »

narrow down your choice by saying if you want it ready-built, or if you want a kit.

if a kit, it's down to the banggood, the GM328r and the AY-AT
because you want the rotary encoder with it.

the AY-AT has the better display.
the banggood has an optional case - although that may be useable with the others with a bit of modding.


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Author Topic: $20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project (Read 3451672 times)

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