Recent Posts

1

Test Equipment / Re: Choosing between entry-level 12-bit DSOs

« Last post by tggzzz on Today at 08:43:15 am »

If you are highly technical person and dont develop your own tool like app in PC, siglent is more polished. And 2GSps is really something, its should be possible to look at near 1GHz RF, such as 433 or 800MHz china RF module digital ASK modulation, something 1GSps scope is incapable, even if frontend BW is hackable. But then which type of guy are you? 

I would hope they are they type of guy that would use an appropriate tool.

• for many RF measurements that means a frequency-domain or modulation-domain instrument (a scope is time-domain)
• for amplitude shift keying (ASK), that means an "RF probe"

With one of those they could use any scope with a bandwidth that exceeds the signal bandwidth/baudrate (which has nothing to do with the RF carrier frequency).

Example RF probe: hp11096a/b. While that's only characterised to 700MHz, with modern components it would be trivial for an amateur to build a higher frequency equivalent.

2

Test Equipment / Re: Siglent SDS3000X HD and upgraded SDS1000X HD

« Last post by ebastler on Today at 08:40:42 am »

Up to 5-7,000 euros are not really unaffordable for a more powerful amateur or a very small company.
So an SDS3000X HD would be just the thing.

Not everyone can have easy access to a demo unit.
A review and a teardown might convince. Not to mention the excellent tests you did for some models.

But what kind of review do you expect Dave to do? In preparing a video, he cannot spend days and weeks to really dig into the subtleties of a device as powerful and complex as the 3000X HD. And his video format does not allow for the level of detail which Performa01 presented in his 800X HD thread -- nowhere near, in fact.

Let's face it: The EEVblog videos are about entertainment, not about the in-depth assessment one would want to do before spending 5000€ and more. For professional customers, getting a demo unit would probably be the way to go. And for serious amateurs, at least in Europe, you can always buy a unit, test it for 2-4 weeks, and return it in case of major disappointments.

3

Repair / DMM6500 Keithley Error Code 1153

« Last post by faster91 on Today at 08:39:21 am »

I have a Keithley DMM6500 6.5 Digit Multimeter. Few days ago I encountered in the error 1153.
The Error Code 1153 indicates a problem with the internal power supply. I tried to update the firmware and checked the voltage at the source, but it was ok.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Thanks.

4

Microcontrollers / SD Card reliability in SPI mode

« Last post by betocool on Today at 08:39:01 am »

Hey all,

more a general question than looking for a specific answer, but would like to know your experiences in this matter.

I'm using an NRF52840 (u-blox) connected to an SD Card using the SPI interface. Filesystem is FatFS as far as I can tell. Basically the file system and the SD interface are all set up automagically by Zephyr. Good or bad, no point arguing that, but comfortable.

This device writes at low speeds, 10 KBytes per second at most (so far) from a buffer, always trying to write out multiple of 512 bytes at a time. It's not too busy. After each write, I call the flush() or sync() function (don't have the code in front of me) to make sure the data persists on the SD card.

Data files can be displayed and then be retrieved over bluetooth, and that also works a treat, reading at about 500 kbps.

So far, so good.

In time, after much use (days? weeks?) the SD cards I've used seem to deteriorate. I can read them on Windows, it doesn't complain, but the micro either fails to init them, or sometimes it does init them but it can't read the file listing. Yet, if it inits them it seems to write data. Sometimes it can't do anything.

Swap the SD card and everything seems to work well again for a few days / weeks.

I still need to improve on a few things. When the micro is reset, the power to the SD card is off (no 3.3v), when a BLE connection is detected, the power to the 3.3V is turned on, card init'd and ideally all works. If I don't reset the unit explicitly, the 3.3V to the SD card would stay on indefinitely. That is something I need to fix. If not doing it's data logging, the unit just stays on basically. I'm sure I've covered most cases, it's unlikely that files are not closed after the micro's work is finished. Then again, I confess I have not tested all possible issues.

I wonder if you guys have experienced similar issues with SD cards using SPI? If so, if you were able to fix them or improve the reliability, what did you do?

Cheers,

Alberto

5

Test Equipment / Re: Siglent SDM3045X Boot Hang

« Last post by somen on Today at 08:37:12 am »

I bought the SDM3045X at the end of December 2022. Yesterday, when I turned it on, I encountered a similar problem - the logo is displayed on a black background and that’s it. The warranty was one year.
Dear tautech, сan you send me the recovery tool please?

6

Other Equipment & Products / Re: Pace ADS200 soldering station

« Last post by SteveyG on Today at 08:29:59 am »

When I can get hold of it in the UK, I'll test out the new version.
Don't worry I have no bias here, but I never really got to the bottom of my issues with the original ADS200. It simply doesn't deliver - I've tried to use it extensively but it always fails on anything other than light duty work, so I'm not sure if mine was faulty.

7

Test Equipment / Re: Siglent SDS3000X HD and upgraded SDS1000X HD

« Last post by core on Today at 08:29:08 am »

Even if Dave would actually care and create a similar fuss as with Rigol, it would be of no benefit for DSOs above hobbyist level, which I would define with the SDS2000X Plus as an upper limit. Or an SDS2000X HD at most after the latest price drop.

Higher class instruments such as the midrange SDS3000X are for professionals primarily (even though it's still a very affordable X-class instrument). And Professionals just don't base their purchasing decisions on the EEVblog - neither Dave's videos, nor the forum with its rather low S/N ratio...

Up to 5-7,000 euros are not really unaffordable for a more powerful amateur or a very small company.
So an SDS3000X HD would be just the thing.

Not everyone can have easy access to a demo unit.
A review and a teardown might convince. Not to mention the excellent tests you did for some models.

Otherwise we'll be saving some more money for a Keysight or R&S.

On the other hand, many of us were glad to see a teardown with the R&S MXO4 even if we never get to have it.

8

Power/Renewable Energy/EV's / Re: SMPS input filter cut off frequency

« Last post by jpanhalt on Today at 08:26:52 am »

Neither Basso, nor ti.com, nor any other reference that i can find make this stipulation. Why do
VicorPower stipulate it?

Capt. Obvious: Have you tried asking here: https://www.vicorpower.com/technical-support

9

Other Equipment & Products / New Aixun T380

« Last post by SteveyG on Today at 08:26:24 am »

Aixun recently released a new portable station, the T380
https://www.aixuntech.com/product/t380-portable-smart-soldering-station-with-t210-t115-handle-welding-tools/
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFbqYEb



It looks like you can power the station from the included USB-C power supply, or run it from the replaceable lithium-ion battery if you need to work away from your work bench.
It's surprisingly heavy, but appears to be fairly thick completely metal construction.
I should have a video on Monday

10

Test Equipment / Re: SDS800X HD - Issue disscusions - is it me, or the scope?

« Last post by electronics hobbyist on Today at 08:25:47 am »

Yes, we only discuss technical issues. If the problem is easy to reproduce, the manufacturer can solve the problem quickly. @eTobey You can attach two pictures, one picture where we can see the complete signal, and the other picture when there is a problem.  And explain the configuration of qualified, can also use pictures.