A look at the Uni-T UT210E

[ceut]

Did anyone get the TX pin activated?

I have tried to activate the °C and the Hz+% without success: I think some hardware components are missing.

For the TX pin, on the DTM0660, it's the pin n°20 which seems not to be used on the board (not far from the 3.999 quartz, near the 01A resistor).
There are also some options bits to check in EEPROM (adresses #FAh, #FDh).

Good luck 

[plazma]

Did anyone get the TX pin activated?

I have tried to activate the °C and the Hz+% without success: I think some hardware components are missing.

For the TX pin, on the DTM0660, it's the pin n°20 which seems not to be used on the board (not far from the 3.999 quartz, near the 01A resistor).
There are also some options bits to check in EEPROM (adresses #FAh, #FDh).

Good luck 

I edited the EEPROM on my AN8002 but the pin was not bonded under the blob. I don't own a UT210E but with logging capability I would buy it.

[rudio]

Hi, just registered and now write my first contribution.
Yes, I have a UT210D since today! I received it drectly from China, payed 32$ = 27,78€. I'm gonna use it on motorcycle electrics, so the 2A range ist not necessary, but having 200A is nice to measure starter currents.
After a thorough check of the instrument in the next days, I promise to post some photos (inside!) here.

best  rudi

[ceut]

Hi, just registered and now write my first contribution.
Yes, I have a UT210D since today! I received it drectly from China, payed 32$ = 27,78€. I'm gonna use it on motorcycle electrics, so the 2A range ist not necessary, but having 200A is nice to measure starter currents.
After a thorough check of the instrument in the next days, I promise to post some photos (inside!) here.

best  rudi

Great news!
We can finally compare the inside of both 

Could you extract and post your 24c02 content too? I think the D model is also unlockable

[stj]

the serial output is already enabled in the eeprom, but i think we are missing the REL button that must be held.

[rudio]

Hi, just registered and now write my first contribution.
Yes, I have a UT210D since today! I received it drectly from China, payed 32$ = 27,78€. I'm gonna use it on motorcycle electrics, so the 2A range ist not necessary, but having 200A is nice to measure starter currents.
After a thorough check of the instrument in the next days, I promise to post some photos (inside!) here.

best  rudi

Great news!
We can finally compare the inside of both 

Could you extract and post your 24c02 content too? I think the D model is also unlockable

Well, this week there was no time available to tinker around with the UT210D, and this weekend is promised to be sunny and warm, so pls wait for next week's incidents ...
In the meantime you may study a photo comparing the PCBs of D and E modl, which I found somewhere in the www:



cheers Rudi

[stj]

i found something anoying.
eeprom location FD high nibble does not function  the way it describes in the datasheet.

i need to do more research on those 4 bits because they could be interesting.

[mauroh]

Received my UT210E few days ago... The Hack can start!!!
I'm using the buspirate to read/write on the EEPROM and here are some notes of the process:

1) Added a Jumper across C5 to short Pin55 of the DM1106EN to GND (you can use a minigrabber, a blob of solder ....)
2) Added a short between WP of the EEPROM and GND
3) Set the UT210E to enything but OFF (this will pull low SDA and SCL). I use the first position V AC/DC
4) Connect the Bus Pirate as you can see in the picture
5) Use the following commands:

m     list Bus Pirates modes
4      Select I2C mode
4      Set bus speed to 400KHz
W      +3.3V ON. On my Bus Pirate sometimes this gives an error and I have to type it again
P      This will provide power to the pull-up resistors (you must connect VPU to +3.3V)
v      This will verify the status of the lines. If you have SCL and SDA Low, power on the meter (point 3 above) and connect VPU to +3.3V
(1)    Scan the I2C bus. If everything is fine you will find one device at address 0x50

[0xA0 0x00 [0xA1 rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr] This will read the first 16 bytes of the EEPROM
..........
[0xA0 0xF0 [0xA1 rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr] This will read the last 16 bytes of the EEPROM

[0xA0 0x00 [0xA1 r:256]       DUMP the entire EEPROM

[0xA0 0xFA [0xA1 r] This will read the content of the 0xFA location (default on my unit is 0xEF).

[0xA0 0xFA 0xCE]    This will write 0xCE in the location 0xFA

Mauro

[stj]

just a headsup,
when you raise the count from 2000 to 6000 or 9999 you raise the maximum range.
i have been told by someone using it for high current that the alarms keep sounding.

so we need to raise the values for maximum current warning next.
unless you like it beeping at you!!

[mauroh]

This is funny  ...
Hi cdev I'm the same mauroh that you replyed in the "deal alert.." tread and the same one of one post above with the status of the hack  .
Yes I know it was a scam, I got my refound and recently got the unit from another seller 

BTW the hack is a piece of cake with the notes from stj and I've already modified my unit to better fit my needs.
The only option I'm struggling with is the serial output.
Everything seems to be already enabled, the pin 20 and 21 (UART TX and RX) are accessible, but the REL button is missing and I can't figure out were to connect it.

plazma already done an amazing job with the AN8002 adding the REL button:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/an8008-us-$19-10000count-1uv-0-01ua-0-01ohm-resolution-meter/msg1271375/#msg1271375

But apparently the UT210E and the AN8008 have something different.

Mauro

[macboy]

REL == ZERO. Same thing.
Holding the ZERO button does not enable any output sadly. It must be disabled in this controller's firmware.

[El Coyote]

Hi!
I have also purchased and modified UT210E.
Looking for the maximum current this meter is capable to measure I made a quick experiment.
To simulate a big (~400 A) current I wired a cable around jaws, I measured input current and shown by the meter.
The blue line, left axis, is the measured current vs input current, the red one (right axis) is the error.
So as you see, just above 100 A it starts to saturate.
Does it saturate because of the hall sensor or amplifier? Well, it needs further investigation.
But as you see, without hardware modification it can roughly measure currents up to 400 A.

[R.Naresh]

some doubts
ut210e(https://www.markhennessy.co.uk/budget_multimeters/unit_ut210e.htm << here the shows it with the dm1106 Chipset)
and by reading the 2 or 3 so pages perviously i have got to know that it can  be hacked also and the dm1106 is suited to be set to 10k counts even in ac
so if i get the old one DTM0660 i have to set it to 6k ? as do by stj?
and if i disable the auto backlight off i can toggle it with the button ? then how can i use the hold feture ? by holding it for a short amt of time ?
and i really dont understand wat is the dotless mode mentioned in the previous pages kindly help me out.
Ahh the millivolts also works with 10k counts ? and does it have a very high input impedence for both dc and ac ? can some one measure and let me know ? thanks.
can it be set like in V First it starts with DCV and DCmV and ACV and ACmV ? just curious thanks   

EDIT: if i contact the seller (planing to buy form aliexpress ) and ask him wat is the data of manufacture of the unit based on the red stamped piece of paper will it be able to find weather it used the DTM0660 or the DM1106EN ? and when this DM1106EN Chipset started appearing in the ut210e and if u have a ut210e with the dm1106EN Chipset kindly reply the date on your piece of paper

EDIT#2:the seller i am planing to buy from is (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2017Original-UNI-T-Mini-Clamp-Meter-UT210E-True-RMS-VFC-NCV-Current-Voltage-Capacitance-Measuring-Tools/32791760545.html?spm=a2g0s.13010208.99999999.279.BKD7Oe) as it is cheap and he has sold 19units and i have messaged about this chip stuff and date of the unit in the paper waiting for his reply

Thanks! 

[Hydron]

When making the 400A measurement, did you notice a large residual offset afterwards (requiring de-gaussing)?

Given the increasing error I think i'll keep mine at 100A for now, but do some of the other mods.

I got my meter in March from here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MD14GTM/ and it came with the 1106 chipset

[macboy]

some doubts
...
 i really dont understand wat is the dotless mode mentioned in the previous pages kindly help me out.
Ahh the millivolts also works with 10k counts ? and does it have a very high input impedence for both dc and ac ? can some one measure and let me know ? thanks.
can it be set like in V First it starts with DCV and DCmV and ACV and ACmV ? just curious thanks   

...
Thanks! 

"Dotless" mode is the 2 A range without decimal point, so it is showing units of mA directly instead of A (e.g. 2000 instead of 2.000). The reason for using dotless is that the normal mode has a significant issue: If you use Zero then the full scale count is limited to 2000 regardless of other EEPROM settings.

For mV, there are two different type of measurement mode.

One type of mV mode has 10 MOhm input impedance, measures ###.# mV full scale, and works with the dial in a Voltage setting. So this can be combined with DCV and/or ACV.

The other type of mV has high input impedance and works only with the switch in specific positions. In this meter that is only the Resistance/Capacitance position. This mode has two ranges: ##.## mV or ###.# mV full scale.

This mV ranges are explained (in a very obfuscated and confusing way) in the chipset documentation found earlier in the thread.

[Digital Corpus]

Don't know if I'll have time to verify this post today regarding the resistors for the op amp, because in order to do so, I would like to verify the sensors used for the meter.

Everyone is assuming that Hall Effect sensor(s) are in play, but my initial findings so that AMR/magnetoresistive sensors are actually employed. There are 2, 4-pin, ~1.3 mm x 2.1 mm x 0.55 mm SMDs under the nubs in the fixed jaw with the package marking of 'D'. The leads are on the long sides. Using a ziplock, boiling water, and some ice-cold cold packs, I opened up the jaw to see what was what since Joe Smith doesn't want to share his high bandwidth hack.

I have 2 UT210E's, one being donated to this hacking, both with the DTM0660 controllers. The EEPROMs are stock atm and so are the meters, but hacking in SMA connectors on each and upping their bandwidth is the intent.

I digress though, as AMR/magnetoresistive sensors are Wheatstone-based sensors. Digikey shows 2 parts that are physically close match with similar "resting" resistances of ~260 ohms, the HW105A and the HW108A, with the 105 being the one that matches physical and electrical checks. I'm looking for similar/equivalent parts that are still in production to see if I can get more details specs such as identifying if they have particular qualities that would limit bandwidth. If not, then it is solely up to the OPA4330 and the circuit design that is the bandwidth limitation, yes?

Pictures will arrive when I have time to take them and have looked into the op amp channels and associated gain on all 4. Oh, one more myth to dispel, the ground/guard lead that goes into the fixed jaw, solder point 'A1' is for NCV. It is not a guard.

[R.Naresh]

When making the 400A measurement, did you notice a large residual offset afterwards (requiring de-gaussing)?

Given the increasing error I think i'll keep mine at 100A for now, but do some of the other mods.

I got my meter in March from here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MD14GTM/ and it came with the 1106 chipset

Thanks for the info im most certain that i will get the 1106

some doubts
...
 i really dont understand wat is the dotless mode mentioned in the previous pages kindly help me out.
Ahh the millivolts also works with 10k counts ? and does it have a very high input impedence for both dc and ac ? can some one measure and let me know ? thanks.
can it be set like in V First it starts with DCV and DCmV and ACV and ACmV ? just curious thanks   

...
Thanks! 

"Dotless" mode is the 2 A range without decimal point, so it is showing units of mA directly instead of A (e.g. 2000 instead of 2.000). The reason for using dotless is that the normal mode has a significant issue: If you use Zero then the full scale count is limited to 2000 regardless of other EEPROM settings.

For mV, there are two different type of measurement mode.

One type of mV mode has 10 MOhm input impedance, measures ###.# mV full scale, and works with the dial in a Voltage setting. So this can be combined with DCV and/or ACV.

The other type of mV has high input impedance and works only with the switch in specific positions. In this meter that is only the Resistance/Capacitance position. This mode has two ranges: ##.## mV or ###.# mV full scale.

This mV ranges are explained (in a very obfuscated and confusing way) in the chipset documentation found earlier in the thread.

Thanks but still it just is kinda normal right ? we get like 1.999 amps when it was 2k counts when its 10 counts still we get 1.999 Amps right or can we even get like 5A (4.567A) in the 2A Range ? so its like a 10A Range ?
Anyways thanks for the mv info really intense man this multimeter is kinda fully reverse engineered probally we can make a better version of it......

Don't know if I'll have time to verify this post today regarding the resistors for the op amp, because in order to do so, I would like to verify the sensors used for the meter.

Everyone is assuming that Hall Effect sensor(s) are in play, but my initial findings so that AMR/magnetoresistive sensors are actually employed. There are 2, 4-pin, ~1.3 mm x 2.1 mm x 0.55 mm SMDs under the nubs in the fixed jaw with the package marking of 'D'. The leads are on the long sides. Using a ziplock, boiling water, and some ice-cold cold packs, I opened up the jaw to see what was what since Joe Smith doesn't want to share his high bandwidth hack.

I have 2 UT210E's, one being donated to this hacking, both with the DTM0660 controllers. The EEPROMs are stock atm and so are the meters, but hacking in SMA connectors on each and upping their bandwidth is the intent.

I digress though, as AMR/magnetoresistive sensors are Wheatstone-based sensors. Digikey shows 2 parts that are physically close match with similar "resting" resistances of ~260 ohms, the HW105A and the HW108A, with the 105 being the one that matches physical and electrical checks. I'm looking for similar/equivalent parts that are still in production to see if I can get more details specs such as identifying if they have particular qualities that would limit bandwidth. If not, then it is solely up to the OPA4330 and the circuit design that is the bandwidth limitation, yes?

Pictures will arrive when I have time to take them and have looked into the op amp channels and associated gain on all 4. Oh, one more myth to dispel, the ground/guard lead that goes into the fixed jaw, solder point 'A1' is for NCV. It is not a guard.

Hummm Any Pics ? of the senor please thanks maybe a nice breakthrough


@All
Humm conrad just re-batched the ut210e as 330 ? or they like riped it off ?

WE REALLY NEED A CLAMP METER EMOJI WE HAVE A DMM THO    

[stj]

Thanks but still it just is kinda normal right ? we get like 1.999 amps when it was 2k counts when its 10 counts still we get 1.999 Amps right or can we even get like 5A (4.567A) in the 2A Range ? so its like a 10A Range ?

2A range in dotless-mode will go to 9.999Amps
or with the older chip - 5.999Amps

[Hydron]

Don't know if I'll have time to verify this post today regarding the resistors for the op amp, because in order to do so, I would like to verify the sensors used for the meter.

Everyone is assuming that Hall Effect sensor(s) are in play, but my initial findings so that AMR/magnetoresistive sensors are actually employed. There are 2, 4-pin, ~1.3 mm x 2.1 mm x 0.55 mm SMDs under the nubs in the fixed jaw with the package marking of 'D'. The leads are on the long sides. Using a ziplock, boiling water, and some ice-cold cold packs, I opened up the jaw to see what was what since Joe Smith doesn't want to share his high bandwidth hack.

I have 2 UT210E's, one being donated to this hacking, both with the DTM0660 controllers. The EEPROMs are stock atm and so are the meters, but hacking in SMA connectors on each and upping their bandwidth is the intent.

I digress though, as AMR/magnetoresistive sensors are Wheatstone-based sensors. Digikey shows 2 parts that are physically close match with similar "resting" resistances of ~260 ohms, the HW105A and the HW108A, with the 105 being the one that matches physical and electrical checks. I'm looking for similar/equivalent parts that are still in production to see if I can get more details specs such as identifying if they have particular qualities that would limit bandwidth. If not, then it is solely up to the OPA4330 and the circuit design that is the bandwidth limitation, yes?

Pictures will arrive when I have time to take them and have looked into the op amp channels and associated gain on all 4. Oh, one more myth to dispel, the ground/guard lead that goes into the fixed jaw, solder point 'A1' is for NCV. It is not a guard.

I have access to some of the AKM semiconductor sensors and can confirm that the letter code on top marks the "Rank" (i.e. sensitivity) of the part. They are hall effect based but without any further conditioning/power supply/amplification circuitry, so offer a lot of flexibility in how they are driven, but also a lot of pitfalls to go with that flexibility (have a look at the temperature dependence!).

When your pictures arrive then i can visually compare them with the AKM parts.

[Digital Corpus]

For the temperature dependence, yes, there is a strong swing in the offset voltage *if* driven by constant current whereas constant voltage makes that nearly neglible. Macro photos will be taken soon enough.

[macboy]

Thanks but still it just is kinda normal right ? we get like 1.999 amps when it was 2k counts when its 10 counts still we get 1.999 Amps right or can we even get like 5A (4.567A) in the 2A Range ? so its like a 10A Range ?

2A range in dotless-mode will go to 9.999Amps
or with the older chip - 5.999Amps

To be perfectly pedantic, dotless mode can go to 5999 milliamp (with 6000 counts setting). Of course this equals 5.999 A but the reading is 5999 not 5.999 after all.

With the regular 2 A range, it will read up to 5.999 A indeed, unless you use the ZERO button to remove offset before the reading (always recommended) then it tops out at 1.999 for some reason. That is why people use "dotless". It has no such limitation.

[R.Naresh]

so what is the most i can read in the 20a range ? and with how much decimal places (10k counts)

and is it possiable to set the dc counts more like 15k or 20k( ) and get accuracate reading ?

[R.Naresh]

is this the real uni-t official store (Marked as top brand and has its own subdomain at aliexpress hummm)

https://unit.pt.aliexpress.com/store/3095007?spm=a2g03.10010108.100005.2.641cea69JcX2Wu
the ut210e is 40ish dollars (39.75ish $ in mobile damm aliexpress force to use mobile :LOL:) with free aliexpress standard shipping which i consider as express


EDIT: Attached some pictures of the seller showing the chip and the chat... surprising he has a unsoldered dm1106en chip on his hand should i belive he is the real unit seller ? how knows for sure... it seems fair enough.... tho.

[stj]

so what is the most i can read in the 20a range ? and with how much decimal places (10k counts)

20A becomes 60A or 100A depending on the chip.

put simply, because the software was setting 2000count and we elevate that to 6000 or 10,000
any range with a 2 in it becomes a 6 or a 10.
is that clear?

[stj]

and is it possible to set the dc counts more like 15k or 20k( ) and get accuracate reading ?

no, because even if the chip could do it, you dont have enough digits on the glass to display the readings.