$20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project

[13hm13]

Apparently you've missed the linked documentation a few posts earlier. That PDF explains all the details. It helps if you can read.

Literally a legitimate case for expression: TL;DR 

You project insiders should be able to dumb down the workings to a lay audience. It really will help you better assess WTF you've been investing your time/effort in for 260+ pages ..... a $7.00 tester that was originally obtained from China (i.e., someone had already done the hard work and math ).    LOL!!! 

The CHALLENGE is to summarize  how the MTester works, for non-project-insiders .... in, say, 100 words.
Say, I put any component on the ZIF and push "Test" .... how does the MTester first scan the ZIF ... and, after the "first scan", what comes next?
Or do I need to visit China EE forums for the answers? 

[madires]

Sorry, we don't have any version which doesn't exceed Twitter's limit of 280 characters.

[CatalinaWOW]

But if you read the long version you will find the math, in German (where this originated) and translated to English.  The Chinese who copied and commercialized this have never to my knowledge provided any decent documentation.

I also don't understand your obsession with mid-range LCR meters that essential measure the three elements of a single component over a small frequency range.  If your really wanted to be snobbish about it you would want a VNA.  But then you could look into the microVNA which does much of what an instrument that cost more than a luxury car for about $100. 

The microVNA also benefits from som RTFM where you will find that it originated in Texas and has then been copied, commercialized  and improved by the Chinese.

[timelessbeing]

You project insiders should be able to dumb down the workings

No way. You are doing an amazing job of dumbing things here. Please carry on.

you've been investing your time/effort in for 260+ pages

Thank you for YOUR investment. You have almost set a new bar against which we will compare future spazzes.

[Obelix2007]

I gave a hint.

Hi indman,

thank you for your support and your hint's.

Horst

[indman]

The CHALLENGE is to summarize  how the MTester works, for non-project-insiders .... in, say, 100 words.

Obelix2007, now that you have successfully trained your gray matter using this small piece of code as an example, you understand what a tremendous work the authors of the project have done in order for people Stan21 and 13hm13 were able to get their favorite MTester !!!

[13hm13]

NOTE: This message has been deleted by the forum moderator Simon for being against the forum rules and/or at the discretion of the moderator as being in the best interests of the forum community and the nature of the thread.
If you believe this to be in error, please contact the moderator involved.
An optional additional explanation is:

[pierreraymondrondelle]

 

... and that info reveals nothing about how the MTester works.
« Last Edit: Today at 03:13:12 am by 13hm13 »

Please, don't expect one will do YOUR job for you. Do it yourself: Read the manual and stop trolling

Please, moderator, may you ban this guy ?
Thank you

[timelessbeing]

Obelix2007, now that you have successfully trained your gray matter using this small piece of code as an example, you understand what a tremendous work the authors of the project have done in order for people Stan21 and 13hm13 were able to get their favorite MTester !!!

First, the language in Obelix2007 post  ist nicht Englisch ... it is Schweinhund !!!
But one can always Google Translate ... and that info reveals nothing about how the MTester works.

Better ask for your money back

[madires]

This time we have a lot of improvements, new features and a driver for SH1106 based OLED displays:

v1.41m
- New remote command "MHINT" for hints about measurements (at the moment just the test circuit type for h_FE).
- Added auto mode (automatic update) to DS18B20 tool (suggested by  Obelix2007@EEVblog).
- Added additional discharge function to resolve ESR issue on some tester clones (reported by indman@EEVblog). ESR value was way too high for cap >= 470µF connected to probes #1 and #2, in ESR tool, C monitor and RCL monitor. And for cap >= 4700µF in all modes. Affected testers are Hiland M644 and TC-1 variants.
- Updated degree character in font_16x26_hf.h and font_16x26_iso8859-2_hf.h (changes provided by Bohu).
- Driver for OLED controller SH1106 (3-wire SPI, 4-wire SPI and I2C; thanks to Old-Papa for providing a sample display).
- Fixed issue with missing setup of optional /RES line for I2C in SSD1306 driver.
- Added output of test circuit type for hFE.
- Changed output of hexadecimal values to lowercase by default and added switch to enable uppercase (UI_HEX_UPPERCASE).
- Option for OneWire related tools to also read and display the ROM code (ONEWIRE_READ_ROM, suggested by indman@EEVblog).
- Swapped DQ and Vcc probes for OneWire bus to match sensor pinout (suggested by indman@EEVblog).
- Added detection for Schottky-clamped BJTs (SW_SCHOTTKY_BJT).
- Improved detection of depletion mode FETs by adding filter for Schottky-clamped BJTs.
- Optimized text line management for clearing the display.
- Added special display driver for identifying display controllers.
- Added R/C/L monitor (SW_MONITOR_RCL, suggested by indman@EEVblog).
- Fixed problem with jumping inductance values in L and R/L monitor (reported by indman@EEVblog).
- Added measurement of V_GS(off) for depletion-mode FETs (suggested by joshto@EEVblog). Also added "V_GS_off" command to remote command option.
- Added support for 8-bit parallel bus to ILI9341 driver. Also added a configuration switch for ILI9341 with diabled extended command set (LCD_EXT_CMD_OFF, thanks to Bohu for providing a sample display).
- Added 16x26 cyrillic font (FONT_16X26_WIN1251_HF, provided by Yuriy_K@VRTP.RU).
- Fixed missing µ (micro) in multiple ISO8859-2 fonts (reported by indman@EEVblog and Obelix2007@EEVblog).
- Fixed transposed digits for ATmega 2560 in Makefile (reported by Bohu).
- Colored battery status for color displays (suggested by indman@EEVblog).
- Replaced alternative 8x16 win1251 font with an updated version provided by indman@EEVblog.
- Fixed issue with validity check of low value resistors in CheckResistor() (reported by indman@EEVblog).
- Updated SmallResistor(), MeasureInductance() and GetGateThreshold() to support ADC_LARGE_BUFFER_CAP.
- Added missing update of ADC reference source to MeasureInductance() and GetGateThreshold().
- Added option to select the adjustment profile after powering on (UI_CHOOSE_PROFILE, suggested by Bohu).
- Added dedicated monitoring tools for resistors and inductors (SW_MONITOR_R, SW_MONITOR_L, suggested by indman@EEVblog).
- Updated Spanish texts (thanks to pepe10000@EEVblog).

Download 1.41m at https://github.com/madires/Transistortester-Warehouse/tree/master/Firmware/m-firmware.

[pepe10000]

For madires.

New Spanish translation file with the latest additions.

Thanks and best regards.

[madires]

A quick fix for 1.40m and 1.41m when enabling SW_R_E96_T or SW_R_E96_CC. Edit config.h and search for:

Code: [Select]

  #define SW_E86

Change that into:

Code: [Select]

  #define SW_E96

Thanks to Obelix2007 for pointing this out.

[Jacon]

For Markus

Polish ISO translation file for v1.41 enclosed.
Win file is OK as it is 

[indman]

Hello everybody!
I offer all owners of the AY-AT clone as well as the GM328A black board clone a slightly modified version of the m-firmware 1.41m in English! I showed the functions that fit into the firmware in the photo.
You can download and check this firmware for 3 different processor frequencies - 8,16 and 20Mhz.
I excluded the "ESR" item from the main menu, since I do not use measurements in the circuit using this device. For this purpose, I have other devices.
But ESR measurement works fine in other modes when measuring C and monitors. Madires has not yet provided such an option in config.h, so I edited the code a bit.
I also want to share the option of replacing a large quartz resonator with a small-sized ceramic SMD Murata 16MHz crystal. In the photo, I showed with blue arrows those parts that I removed from the front side of the board and the back side, on which the new die is installed. This crystal already has a 15pF capacitance to ground inside the case, which is necessary for the start. Therefore, two 22pF capacitors can be removed from the front side of the board.
I am also attaching an updated instruction in Russian in pdf format for the madires github collection!

[timelessbeing]

what is the advantage of the crystal? Do you get more accurate results?

[indman]

what is the advantage of the crystal? Do you get more accurate results?

No, I did not notice any significant difference in the stability and accuracy of the readings between the ceramic and quartz crystal.
The main advantages of a ceramic crystal are small dimensions, there is no need for precise adjustment after installation, and also fewer parts on the board.
But the frequency at which the crystal operates has a noticeable effect on the measurement results.
Previously, my AY-AT had a 20MHz crystal. I noticed that the tester was unstable at this frequency.
Most of the Chinese-made ATMega328 processors are very unstable at 20MHz. This is especially noticeable when measuring the ESR of capacitors.
At 16MHz, these same processors work much more stable and predictable. 

[pepe10000]

I excluded the "ESR" item from the main menu, since I do not use measurements in the circuit using this device. For this purpose, I have other devices.
But ESR measurement works fine in other modes when measuring C and monitors. Madires has not yet provided such an option in config.h, so I edited the code a bit.

Hi indman.

I find it very interesting since I do not use that menu option either and it could save some memory by keeping the ESR measurement in other modes.

I wonder if it would be possible for you to share the edited code or the modified file while madires considers adding that option to config.h for some testing.

Thanks and best regards.

[madires]

Ok, I'll put that on the to-do list.

[tongbajiel]

Hello everybody!
I offer all owners of the AY-AT clone as well as the GM328A black board clone a slightly modified version of the m-firmware 1.41m in English! I showed the functions that fit into the firmware in the photo.
You can download and check this firmware for 3 different processor frequencies - 8,16 and 20Mhz.
I excluded the "ESR" item from the main menu, since I do not use measurements in the circuit using this device. For this purpose, I have other devices.
But ESR measurement works fine in other modes when measuring C and monitors. Madires has not yet provided such an option in config.h, so I edited the code a bit.
I also want to share the option of replacing a large quartz resonator with a small-sized ceramic SMD Murata 16MHz crystal. In the photo, I showed with blue arrows those parts that I removed from the front side of the board and the back side, on which the new die is installed. This crystal already has a 15pF capacitance to ground inside the case, which is necessary for the start. Therefore, two 22pF capacitors can be removed from the front side of the board.
I am also attaching an updated instruction in Russian in pdf format for the madires github collection!

Hello indman, Can you give the source code for Markus firmware, which can be simulated in proteus with ST7735 lcd. I've tried it myself, but still can't show anything until now. thank you

[indman]

tongbajiel,sorry no, i already answered before https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/$20-lcr-esr-transistor-checker-project/msg1578637/#msg1578637

[Szybkijanek]

Hi, I have problem when measure cap 70mF, tester still detect it as battery, maybe 2/50 times detect 72mF but next time measurement was wrong. 35mF is correctly measure. I have Hiland M644 without any mod hardware and latest fw 1.41m with default settings like timings, voltages etc. I dont know if this problem is on previous ver fw Markus but on fw Karl-Heinz measurement is correctly.

[Obelix2007]

...and latest fw 1.41m with default settings...

...

/*
 *  Maximum voltage at which we consider a capacitor being
 *  discharged (in mV).
 */

#define CAP_DISCHARGED   2

change this entry to

#define CAP_DISCHARGED   4

maybe 5 or 6.

The compared value in K software is standard of 4

# The CAP_EMPTY_LEVEL  defines the empty voltage level for capacitors in mV.
# Choose a higher value, if your Tester reports "Cell!" by unloading capacitors.
CFLAGS += -DCAP_EMPTY_LEVEL=4


Horst

[Szybkijanek]

Ok, I check this in the evening, thank You.

So, change value in #define CAP_DISCHARGED from 2 to 8 solve problem. A propos, maximum measure capacity is 105mF.
Thanks Obelix2007 

[indman]

Since madires has published the new version 1.41m, I have updated the comparison tables for the most popular clones. In tables there is also a small addition to the information on supply voltage monitoring.

[Szybkijanek]

I have next question. I can't measure quartz resonator over 15MHz in HF mode because have result 340kHz, 850kHz etc. I try 16. 20, 24MHz new and used. In LF mode have same but maybe my component was wrong, try today with different. Any sugestion?