First of all, I want to sincerely thank everyone for their detailed responses and for sharing your knowledge. I realize this forum is highly technical, and I’ve done my best to do my homework before asking questions here (though it’s clear however much i did isnt enough). I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that I’ve read parts of the manual I thought were relevant to the question i was asking and somewhat understand the general concepts, but as a complete beginner, I still find myself struggling with some of the finer details. For an electronics engineer or someone with moderate to high knowledge in electronics, the 100+ pages might be straightforward, but for someone like me, it’s overwhelming. An analogy i can think of is like it would be that it’s easier to make a plane fly when you’ve already seen one fly or flown one before—not so much when you’ve done neither.
My main goal with this question was to seek simple guidance. I fully understand that this Chinese AY/AT clone is off-spec compared to the reference design in its stock form, even more so to professional tools, and I’m not expecting miracles from it. I also know that swapping voltage regulators or using 0.1% resistors can improve performance, but I simply dont have them right now
I was perhaps naively hoping for a straightforward answer, like: 'Yes, this kind of 100uF discrepancy is normal for this variant in stock form,' or, 'No, that seems unusual—try X or Y with what you have.' I understand this might be oversimplified, but I was hoping for guidance at that level. (though its completely understandable if its not possible i know that sometimes oversimplifying things isnt that easy)
For now, I’m working with what I have and am genuinely happy with these devices—I’m not trying to compare them to $1000 professional equipment. I’m also aware the manual mentions a 4% error for capacitance readings around 1uF, and I’m okay with that range. My specific question was whether the ~100uF difference I observed is due to MCU variance or the calibration steps and capacitors used.
I hope this doesn’t come across as me being annoyed or offended—I truly am not. I genuinely appreciate the time and effort everyone has put into responding. I’m just trying to better understand what’s realistic for this device and for my current skill level. Like for example if something could be done about the 100f discrepancy with the devices as is thats good if not that's ok too not a problem
i realized this was the best place on the internet to ask knowledgeable people about this device so thats why i came here
But i realize I might be overstaying my welcome here, and I apologize if I’ve been bothersome. Hopefully, the next time I post, I’ll have the proper voltage regulator and correct tolerance resistors and the M firmware (though I’m not sure when that will be).
Thank you again for your patience and help—it really means a lot to someone just starting out. Wishing you all the best!