$20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project

[Davo013]

I don't know what...
You should say that you have to insert a cap from 10nF or 22nF
With the 1.11 firmware that was never an option...
But it makes no sense as it comes that those large caps triple in value...

[Davo013]

i Think i have found the troublemaker haha
Just a moment

[Davo013]

Well when changing the chip forgot to somw heat resistant tape over C10 & C12 they were 45 degrees shifted so i placed then sideways on the board lol
I Burned the chip another time and now the 2000uF cap is quite okay, the esr is working also.
When burning the chip i got an error:
device 0x04 != input 0x00 at addr 0x0079 (error)
avrdude error: verification mismatch
And on the tester i saw a few weird icons... going to check it tomorrow... i've done with damn tester lol but learned a-lot
Going to catch sum sleep 
Thnx Madires!

[madires]

That was a well hidden one. Those two caps are important. C10 is the buffer cap for AREF (to stabilize the ADC's reference voltage) and C12 is a classic decoupling cap for AVCC (ADC's Vcc).

[Davo013]

Yeah it sure was...
I knew they were shifted, and i was looking at the schematic and something didn't measure right...
and i had also which one is C!0 or C12 it didn't make sence, but it did after turning both 90 degrees lol
Yeah the 100 nano is standard but the 1 nano, i really don't know where it's for? i'm not really an ic programmer guy, i love more the old stuff. but it's a nice adventure for me, you learn  new stuff everyday!

I just made a decent converter cable, it's quite annoying attaching every time those single wires, i have another bside, but i have to wait for the chips, got some fake's which i ordered a while ago, but when it took a q-tip with iso it was all black

Btw what does this error mean?
device 0x04 != input 0x00 at addr 0x0079 (error)
avrdude error: verification mismatch

I Just connected the bside to avrdude and saw some code @ LB lockbits
is that okay?

[Davo013]

That 0xFF code is nothing haha

But i did some tests and the only thing what is bugging me that larger capacitors aren't that precise as b4 i blew the 328
i calibrated the bside and adjusted C (uF) correction to -2.0, when i raise the value up the capacitance goes down
It goes up to +6.0, to bad it can't go down to -6.0

C10 got damaged last night so i replaced the it with another 1nF, could that be an issue? i really don't know which class it was...

[madires]

The AREF pin can be used in two ways. One is to provide an external reference voltage for the ADC. And the other is the opposite, i.e. AREF is connected to the internal reference voltage (selectable between Vcc and the internal band-gap reference). The 1 nF cap C10  is meant to buffer/stabilize the reference voltage. It needs to be large enough to work as a buffer, but not too large to allow fast switching between Vcc and the band-gap reference.

The avrdude error points to a wiring issue. It can also happen when the programmer can't provide sufficient power. And yes, 0xFF means unprogrammed. C10 should be a X5R or X7R MLCC.

The firmware you're running is quite old. I'd recomment to upgrade to 1.13k (https://github.com/kubi48/TransistorTester-source/tree/master/trunk). Possibly mega328_st7565 (compiled k-firmware) or something similar will run on your BSide.

[Davo013]

Thnx!

Gonna try it out...
I guess the same fuses

[madires]

Yes, but you need to set the fuses only once for a new ATmega. For upgrading the firmware just program the new firmware and EEPROM file.

[Davo013]

I tried
mega328_st7565 it kinda worked but the resolution was a lil bit bigger as my screen, it was doable, but not as it should
mega328_st7565_kit was somehow mirrored?
mega328_wei_st7565 was mirrored also
mega328_st7920 was mirrored also

Any tips?  i'm gonna try some other one's

btw do i need to download the other files also like make file etc, only hex & eep right

[Davo013]

mega328_strip_grid didn't worked at all
mega328_st7108 Only a blank screen
mega328_ssd1306SPI Only a blank screen
mega328_dogm Only a blank screen

hmmmm which one is gonna work lol

[Davo013]

I burned mega328_st7565 to the tester, and that is the only one which is kinda working except that the screen size doesn't fit
i forgot to add the makefile, so i added it to the folder also but.... same problem
I really don't know what to do with the makefile or how to use it, looks like a compiling thing

Did some tests still the same problem with those uF's

I must say that this firmware runs quite smoother

[madires]

The BSide ESR02 has an ST7565 compatible display. If the display output is shifted you can change LCD_ST7565_H_OFFSET in the Makefile (from 4 to 0) and recompile the firmware. In case you like to try the m-firmware please see https://github.com/roger-/bside-firmware for a compiled m-firmware.

[Yuriy_K]

I burned mega328_st7565 to the tester, and that is the only one which is kinda working except that the screen size doesn't fit

I really don't know what to do with the makefile or how to use it, looks like a compiling thing

Did some tests still the same problem with those uF's

Your problem is that you need to have some knowledge of programming and understand how to configure some parameters in the makefile.
Here I fixed the horizontal offset of the text displayed on the display...

Now about the value of large capacities. In the firmware you can adjust this value, but you must take into account that the readings measured at a constant current differ from the readings at a frequency of 100 Hz. At 100 Hz the readings are noticeably lower...

[Davo013]

Wow Thnx 
Why is the battery voltage doubled? i
You are totally right, it's the lack of  knowledge...

I know electronics but, programming is a whole other department
It took so many time only to get where i'm now, and programming etc, i don't have the time for that, electronics is what i like.
I find this stuff quite interesting, i like to repair stuff, to much stuff is thrown in the garbage trunk.
A while ago i found this topic, and i thought okay, let's give it a try though...
It really took me a-lot of energy to repair the bside & burn the firmware
I Don't have linux, and if i have to setup a linux system & learning all of the other stuff is giving me to much stress to keep everything going over here
sometimes it's better to throw things away and give up, and buy another one...
Life lol

Iám aware about the freq at 100/120 hz but hasn't that more effect on the esr as for the capacity

[Davo013]

The higher battery voltage was already in the firmware i just saw it in my other pictures....

[madires]

The OSHW firmwares can be also compiled on MacOS and Windows.

[Davo013]

So with command prompt in windows you open avrdude.exe, and with the makeme file + .hex & .eep you have to upload it somehow into the 328 or just in windows memory and then compile it.
all those code's in avrdude not as easy as it looks... doing it the right way..
isn't there some decent tutorial or so?

maybe we have to a  little bit longer for a.i haha

[madires]

There's a ton of tutorials and videos. Please search for 'AVR toolchain for windows'.

[Yuriy_K]

Why is the battery voltage doubled? i
You are totally right, it's the lack of  knowledge...

Iám aware about the freq at 100/120 hz but hasn't that more effect on the esr as for the capacity

I have corrected the settings for the battery and some parameters for the example. You can compare it with the previous firmware.
I use the WinAVR environment to compile the firmware.

[Davo013]

I found comparator and i can see what you changed next nice work!

I have winavr installed & ii’m trying to figure out how to run everything

[Davo013]

This is going to take to much time & frustration to learn...
I haven't got that much experience in this kinda stuff
Butt I really appreciate your help bro! & Madires also! 
Maybe it's simple? I don't know... watching all those vids  made it look more harder for me

[Davo013]

There's something wrong & i doný know what is causing it...

When i attach a small capacitor 22 or 47uF and click on the button, Testing... and after the 3rd point the power goes off??
this is with a 4700uF also, when i use 3300uF it works okay: testing....... and then the capacitor test
Really weird... the battery is 8.3v so that's enough, i never had those problems even at 7v it worked.
It looks like it's crashing or so

Well i did some testing and with a 9.3v battery and the meter didn't crash with values between 330uF & 3300uF that is quite odd
And values from 1uF/8,2uF didn't make it crash also, if it take a cap between 10uF and 330uF it crashes
I tried a few other firmwares and the problem stays the same WTF is going wrong??

[Kim Christensen]

Well i did some testing and with a 9.3v battery and the meter didn't crash with values between 330uF & 3300uF that is quite odd

Maybe it's a combination of regulator voltage dropout spec and a battery with higher than normal ESR? Perhaps when testing larger capacitors, the unit draws a bit more current...
What voltage regulator does your tester use?

[Davo013]

This one