1986 Transistor Curve tracer - worth while building??

[wwjd1924]

I came across this video of the German ELV KS 7000 curve tracer.
https://youtu.be/isYHoyeXvk8

I think it's still a good design and relatively easy to build because it uses no special components except for the transformer but that can be solved.

BUT the text in in German which is no problem for me but I wondered if anyone is interested in English text?  I started the OCR/edit/translation process but as it's a bit of work I want to ask here first...  It's required though that people buy the original text from ELV for 1 euro. 

https://de.elv.com/elv-serie-7000-kennlinienschreiber-ks-7000-teil-12-204310
https://de.elv.com/elv-serie-7000-kennlinienschreiber-ks-7000-teil-22-204319

[Conrad Hoffman]

Don't know about that one, but Heathkit made something similar way back that you might consider. https://elektrotanya.com/heathkit_it-1121_0-40v,1a_or200v,200ma_semiconductor_curve_tracer_1973_sch.pdf/download.html

[austfox]

And Silicon Chip did a project in Oct '99 based on a design from Popular Electronics:

https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/1999/October/Semiconductor+Curve+Tracer

[RichardM]

I am interested in a translation. I purchased the German PDF articles and tried to simulate the circuit in LTSpice with no luck.

Richard

[jonpaul]

Curved  tracers depending upon the max V, I W of the DUT.

We use Tektronix 575, 576 or 577 the best. Also a TM500 plugins CT501.

See old Heathkit, and other 1960s..1970s kits and construction articles

Jon

[PaulAm]

Here's a pretty nice article on somebody building a curve tracer.  He has all the files available on github (links in the article).

https://www.paulvdiyblogs.net/2017/12/building-curve-tracer.html

[ledtester]

Here's a review of the KS7000. You can skip to 38:15 for the reviewer's conclusion:

Curve Tracer Shootout-DCA75 Pro, ELV KS700, Circuit-ED CT100 -- KainkaLabs
https://youtu.be/isYHoyeXvk8

The reviewer likes the KS7000 the best especially because of the voltage and current ranges it supports.

[wwjd1924]

For the record...  I won't translate the text because of time... sorry about that!

[gjames50]

I wish this kit was still available. I would love a unit like this. Paul's DIY made an updated version, but the overall cost to build his is just under 1,000.00 USD. Would building the ELV KS7000 cost less? Paul's DIY version has many nice features and improvements but the entry cost is a bit high for my budget.

I've spent a bunch of time converting this from German to English and I am sharing it here. I don't speak/read German, so I'm sure there are some grammatical errors, but I tried getting the technical stuff as correct as possible.

If someone who speaks/reads German/English could review this or perhaps edit it to make it more accurate, I would appreciate it. If anyone wants to help, please let me know, and I can share the Source Files that you can edit.

Enjoy!
Thank you!

[Grandchuck]

I think there is a market for a modest curve tracer.  I am thinking several hundred dollars.  The Peak Atlas is good but very limited.  It would be nice if it would utilize the typical 3 channel  DC power supply that most hobby/serious users already own.  USB port for image display on a PC?

[Messtechniker]

How about reading this thread?
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/show-us-your-curve-tracer/