AN8008 US $19, 9999count, 1uV, 0.01uA, 0.01Ohm, 1pF resolution meter

[Mark Hennessy]

The Bside ADM08A appears to use the same DM1106 chip, and has 4 current ranges...

[crazyguy]

The Bside ADM08A appears to use the same DM1106 chip, and has 4 current ranges...

I think DM1106EN and DTM0660 are the same chip, someone reported that Uni-T UT210E already changed the chip to DM1106EN last year.



The real name of the chip should be Hycon HY12P66. Hycontek just sell the customized chips to their customers.

[matura713]

I think DM1106EN and DTM0660 are the same chip, someone reported that Uni-T UT210E already changed the chip to DM1106EN last year.

the common opinion is that DM1106EN is actually improved new version of DTM0660, at least based on what i read in the Russian forum "kazus.ru" using Google translate, as it was pointed out here several posts back - while DTM0660 can be patched via EEPROM hack to 9999 counts it works reliable only when it's patched up to 8500 counts. yeah, the EEPROM for DTM0660 is fully compatible with DM1106EN, i don't know if they are pin-to-pin compatible, but in any way no any significant changes are needed to do what UNI-T did with UT210C - update it from DTM0660 to DM1106EN, as it's sold as 6000 counts meter and they did not even need EEPROM update.

so, the EEPROM structure and almost all the settings are the same for DTM0660 and DM1106EN, there are already available EEPROM dumps from AN8008 and ADM08A in the aforementioned Russian forum and it's easy to figure out EEPROM settings considering their features and the available DTM0660 datasheet, the one translated in English is not very full, but there is one in Chinese. most good source is EEPROM of ADM08A as it contains some settings that cannot be explained via the DTM0660 datasheet, i.e. those are new bits for DM1106EN new features.

The real name of the chip should be Hycon HY12P66. Hycontek just sell the customized chips to their customers.

again, the common opinion is DTM0600 and DM1106EN are cheap clones of Hycon HY12P66, that's why there are so cheap DMMs with them compared to the one that has original Hycon HY12P66 inside.

[EDIT] and here are EEPROM dumps:

* ADM08A EEPROM:
http://kazus.ru/forums/showpost.php?p=1126912&postcount=1825

* AN8008 EEPROM:
http://kazus.ru/forums/showpost.php?p=1126917&postcount=1827

BTW, ADM08A sells for 18-19 USD and it's much solidly build than AN8008:



but at least I cannot find anyone who patched ADM08A to 9999 counts via modifying the EEPROM and evaluate its work. that would be definitely interesting.

[free_electron]

I modified my AN8008 to provide single digit mA readings with 3 digit resolution.  I replaced the regular mA/A readings with the ability to measure currents below 100 mA with a XX.XX mA display.  Currents below 1A are measured with the same XXX.X mA display.  1A is now the maximum current which can be measured.

I replaced the 0.01 ohm shunt resistor for the A/mA jack with a 0.10 ohm 0.5% resistor which I had in stock.  Attached is a picture of the upgraded meter measuring 2.5000 mA current.  On the left the meter is in the uA position, the test lead is in the A/mA jack and the meter reads 2.59 (uA) [3.6% high].  On the right I've switched to the mA position but the reading has gone down to 21.9 (mA) [12.4% low].  I obviously haven't corrected the position of the decimal.  Remember, the actual current through the meter is 2.5 mA is both cases.

About a 0.12 ohm resistor will correct the magnitude of the of the reading when the meter's switch is in the mA position.  But, I prefer having the decimal point in the correct position.  Being in the A/mA jack will remind me that mA is the actual display units.  I might purchase some 0.10 ohm resistors with less precision hoping to get one a bit low in value which will improve the mA reading's accuracy when the meter's switch is in the uA position.

how about calibrating it instead ? the eeprom holds calibration data. These machines do not bank on the precision of the resistors. they apply mathematical compensation.

[cjs]

BTW, ADM08A sells for 18-19 USD and it's much solidly build than AN8008....

I've got the Peak Meter branded version of that (the PM18C) and it's a pretty nice meter that works well. But I doubt it would appeal at all to the AN8002/8008 audience; it's about four times the size and manual ranging.

[stj]

Maybe irrelevant but the DTM0660 chipset (used in the AN8002) only has calibration data for 3 different current ranges.

eg. https://github.com/pingumacpenguin/DTM0660-flasher-arduino-sketch/blob/master/STM32-DTM0660-24c02-Updater.ino

dont trust that script, i can see a blatant error in it without even trying.
the endian'nes is backwards on a pair of bytes in the count mod section.

[JohnPen]

My AN8008 finally arrived today!  I did a few simple tests to see how well it performed.  I do not have any precision voltage/current standards or supplies but in comparison with another meter it seemed to  be pretty accurate and others have already confirmed these meters accuracy. 

The Hz position seems to need typically 100mV input to reach 1.8 Mhz.  To reach 9.99 Mhz a 900mV input just made it.  I did not want to increase the input level further and find it difficult to see how it could reach the 80Mhz that Mark Hennessy referred to.  The lowest frequency I could reach reliably was 1.1 Hz with an 80mV input.  Higher input levels didn't affect the latter.

The Hz position Duty cycle seemed OK to approx. 1% although 2% was more stable.  I used 200mV input at 150Khz.

The AC Frequency spec. of the V input achieved 1.6 Khz to 10 Hz with a 400mV Sine wave input.  With a 10 Volt input the upper frequency dropped back to 1.1Khz.  Both True RMS volts readings matched my oscilloscopes RMS readings which is good.
On this V input I noticed that changing the Sel from AC TRMS to the subsidiary Hz setting flashed up the true AC frequency for ~2sec before going to 0.000.  I believe Mark Hennessy found this as well and it does seem to be a range change bug as Mark mentioned earlier.  I also never saw any Duty cycle % reading.  Perhaps others have seen this?

Capacitance measurement is most impressive providing one spaces the leads well apart.  I measured 12pfd and 10pfd capacitors easily.  Even more amazing it displayed 2 pfd for a 2.2pfd capacitor. (No more digits in display!)

Summing up a very useful little meter especially for electronic use and at the price fantastic.  I agree with others that High voltages and Currents are not really suitable for this meter.  Also the sockets are rather poorly made and may give some problems in the long term.

[kalel]

BTW, ADM08A sells for 18-19 USD and it's much solidly build than AN8008....

I've got the Peak Meter branded version of that (the PM18C) and it's a pretty nice meter that works well. But I doubt it would appeal at all to the AN8002/8008 audience; it's about four times the size and manual ranging.

Personally, I wouldn't mind manual ranging, but then - I haven't had an auto ranging meter yet. Functionality wise, for a 6000 count, it is more expensive than you can get the AN8002 (which is about $13-14 lowest price). None of them have a huge price difference though.

[Mark Hennessy]

The Hz position seems to need typically 100mV input to reach 1.8 Mhz.  To reach 9.99 Mhz a 900mV input just made it.  I did not want to increase the input level further and find it difficult to see how it could reach the 80Mhz that Mark Hennessy referred to.  The lowest frequency I could reach reliably was 1.1 Hz with an 80mV input.  Higher input levels didn't affect the latter.

Just to add a bit more detail, I'm using an old HP8656A for this. The highest signal level this produces is +17dBm, which translates to ~1.6V. Pretty sure that's the highest I can easily achieve here, but if we have something else at work that is louder, I'll try it and report back.

I'm not sure what signal level Joe used to get 200MHz from an AN8002 - it's not mentioned in the video. Joe, if you're reading this, can you remember?

Hope that helps,

Mark

[stj]

probably 3.3 or 5v
if i was testing frequency, i would be using logic to generate it.

[Mark Hennessy]

probably 3.3 or 5v
if i was testing frequency, i would be using logic to generate it.

Fair comment, but in the video - at 15:50 - he says "RF generator" 

[matura713]

BTW, ADM08A sells for 18-19 USD and it's much solidly build than AN8008....

I've got the Peak Meter branded version of that (the PM18C) and it's a pretty nice meter that works well. But I doubt it would appeal at all to the AN8002/8008 audience; it's about four times the size and manual ranging.

have you opened it? i mean have you confirmed it's DM1106EN based and not DTM0660? ADM08A is using DM1106EN for sure. [EDIT] I found review in Russian here:

https://mysku.ru/blog/taobao/49127.html

and it's DM1106EN - also they list price of 13 USD [EDIT]

from my understanding for what main purposes people here want to use AN8008, i don't see manual ranging as an issue.

Personally, I wouldn't mind manual ranging, but then - I haven't had an auto ranging meter yet. Functionality wise, for a 6000 count, it is more expensive than you can get the AN8002 (which is about $13-14 lowest price). None of them have a huge price difference though.

IMHO, that's unfair comparison, because at least ADM08A, (which outside design is the same as Peak Meter PM18C, but I don't know if they are the same inside) is using the same chipset as AN8008 (DM1106EN) and it cost less than 19 USD delivered.

counts for those chipsets are just setting in the EEPROM, you can set those meters to any count up to 9999 with changing 2 bytes in their EEPROM, but DTM0660-based meter like AN8002 cannot go more than 8500 counts. so, what I am wondering and interested to see, someone who has the necessary equipment to make tests - hack the EEPROM of DM1106EN-based ADM08A to 9999 counts and compare it against AN8008. in fact AN8008 EEPROM dump I posted above can be used as reference for such hack.

price-wise AN8002 is the cheapest, then it's ADM08A and then AN8008, but both ADM08A and AN8008 has same new DM1106EN chipset and ADM08A has better overall build quality and if EEPROM hack to 9999 counts is reliable then ADM08A is better choice.

[stj]

if DM1106EN is a replacement for the 0660 then it could even be in some 8002's like it seems to be in newer UT-210e's

[bitseeker]

The datasheet says battery test for 9V and 1.5V. I guess 40mA load for 1.5V and 24mA for 9V.

More useful than a square wave output! 

(Now I need one of those as well.  )


PS: Do you think I should send one to Batteroo for their test lab?

That is the cheapest meter I see with battery tester ($3.7).

That one and the free-with-coupon-but-still-really-cheap Harbor Freight/Cen-Tech meter.

[cjs]

have you opened [the Peak Meter PM18C]? i mean have you confirmed it's DM1106EN based and not DTM0660? ADM08A is using DM1106EN for sure.

I've opened it, but I didn't check the chip. (I think it may have been under a blob of epoxy.) The interior, BTW, looks ok, especially for a cheap meter; it's got much larger fuses than the AN8002. I worry about the circuitry that brings inputs up to the transistor test socket at the top, though; I don't know much about this but that doesn't seem like such a good idea to me from a safety point of view.

from my understanding for what main purposes people here want to use AN8008, i don't see manual ranging as an issue.

No, but the selection of ranges might be. My PM-18C has different holes in the amps ranges; instead of 100?A/1000?A/1000mA/10A (.01/.1/1000/100k ?A resolution) it's got 60?A/60mA/600mA/20A (i.e. .01/10/100/1000k ?A resolution). So it drops a bit off the bottom to give a bit more in the middle, as far as the low current stuff goes, and high current is less precision. That sounds better to my mind for general purpose stuff (again, I'm a noob), but maybe the .01 ?A resolution is useful for some stuff. (I would think when you get down that low you'd probably want to be measuring voltage across a known resistance already in the circuit, wouldn't you, in which case the meters are the same because same lowest voltage resolution?)

[sleemanj]

BTW, ADM08A sells for 18-19 USD and it's much solidly build than AN8008....

I've got the Peak Meter branded version of that (the PM18C) and it's a pretty nice meter that works well. But I doubt it would appeal at all to the AN8002/8008 audience; it's about four times the size and manual ranging.

See the PM18A I noted in the 8001 thread, appears to be a new meter, auto ranging version of the 18C

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PEAKMETER-Multimeter-Voltmeter-Ammeter-PM18A-with-True-RMS-AC-DC-Voltage-Resistance-Capacitance-Frequency-Temperature-NCV/32817940143.html

[crazyguy]

I modified my AN8008 to provide single digit mA readings with 3 digit resolution.  I replaced the regular mA/A readings with the ability to measure currents below 100 mA with a XX.XX mA display.  Currents below 1A are measured with the same XXX.X mA display.  1A is now the maximum current which can be measured.

I replaced the 0.01 ohm shunt resistor for the A/mA jack with a 0.10 ohm 0.5% resistor which I had in stock.  Attached is a picture of the upgraded meter measuring 2.5000 mA current.  On the left the meter is in the uA position, the test lead is in the A/mA jack and the meter reads 2.59 (uA) [3.6% high].  On the right I've switched to the mA position but the reading has gone down to 21.9 (mA) [12.4% low].  I obviously haven't corrected the position of the decimal.  Remember, the actual current through the meter is 2.5 mA is both cases.

About a 0.12 ohm resistor will correct the magnitude of the of the reading when the meter's switch is in the mA position.  But, I prefer having the decimal point in the correct position.  Being in the A/mA jack will remind me that mA is the actual display units.  I might purchase some 0.10 ohm resistors with less precision hoping to get one a bit low in value which will improve the mA reading's accuracy when the meter's switch is in the uA position.

how about calibrating it instead ? the eeprom holds calibration data. These machines do not bank on the precision of the resistors. they apply mathematical compensation.

according to HoldPeak HP890CN calibration procedures :

short the calibration jumper, enter the calibration mode, connect the probes to the specified reference DC/AC voltage/current/resistor... press the SELECT [function]/HOLD [-]/Other buttons

•   ...  repeat for other ranges ... restore the jumper to it's normal position (eeprom write protected position).

[crazyguy]

again, the common opinion is DTM0600 and DM1106EN are cheap clones of Hycon HY12P66, that's why there are so cheap DMMs with them compared to the one that has original Hycon HY12P66 inside.

I don't think DTM0660L/DM1106EN are clones. You can see from the DTM0660L photo



there are two logos on the chip, DreamTech / HyconTek.





Dream Tech International Ltd is just a trading company import the chips from Taiwan, and export the chips to the manufacturers in China. They do not produce any semiconductors.

HyconTek is just provided a DMM solution to the customers. You can order your customized chips from them.

Dream Tech International Ltd
http://www.dreamtechintl.com.cn/en/about/about-108.html

[JohnPen]

With regard to the Hz input level and Mark's comment about using up to ~ 1.7 volt input. I became a bit more courageous and upped the level to a 4 volt sine wave and managed to get to 19 Mhz.  A 4 volt Square wave gave a similar result.  I am definitely stopping at this level as I don't wish to possibly kill the meter or at least the Hz function.  It is not a function I expect to use but you never know it may be useful at some time in the future.

Edit:  I checked my signal generator it was not a 4 volts level but a 3.7 pp Sine and the Square was also a Sine!  Just goes to prove one cannot believe the output levels on a cheap signal generator and one should always double check with a more professional instrument!

[matura713]

My PM-18C has different holes in the amps ranges; instead of 100?A/1000?A/1000mA/10A (.01/.1/1000/100k ?A resolution) it's got 60?A/60mA/600mA/20A (i.e. .01/10/100/1000k ?A resolution).

i don't think that's an issue (as far as not some external components to DM1106EN are crucial for the resolution), because what to measure on what position depends on the EEPROM settings - the same how C/F temperature measurement are added to mV position on AN8008. basically, you should be able to re-arrange what position measures what just with changing bytes in the EEPROM.

BTW, ADM08A sells for 18-19 USD and it's much solidly build than AN8008....

I've got the Peak Meter branded version of that (the PM18C) and it's a pretty nice meter that works well. But I doubt it would appeal at all to the AN8002/8008 audience; it's about four times the size and manual ranging.

See the PM18A I noted in the 8001 thread, appears to be a new meter, auto ranging version of the 18C

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PEAKMETER-Multimeter-Voltmeter-Ammeter-PM18A-with-True-RMS-AC-DC-Voltage-Resistance-Capacitance-Frequency-Temperature-NCV/32817940143.html

that's interesting, but there are no any photos of PM18A inside, that I can find - is it DM1106EN or not?

again, the common opinion is DTM0600 and DM1106EN are cheap clones of Hycon HY12P66, that's why there are so cheap DMMs with them compared to the one that has original Hycon HY12P66 inside.

I don't think DTM0660L/DM1106EN are clones. You can see from the DTM0660L photo

there are two logos on the chip, DreamTech / HyconTek.


Dream Tech International Ltd is just a trading company import the chips from Taiwan, and export the chips to the manufacturers in China. They do not produce any semiconductors.

HyconTek is just provided a DMM solution to the customers. You can order your customized chips from them.

Dream Tech International Ltd
http://www.dreamtechintl.com.cn/en/about/about-108.html

interesting observation, you seems to be correct! I just doubt anyone else until now noticed that!!

[EDIT] HyconTek posted all kinds of information and tools on their website:

www.hycontek.com/en/products-en/3256

[Fungus]

My PM-18C has different holes in the amps ranges; instead of 100?A/1000?A/1000mA/10A (.01/.1/1000/100k ?A resolution) it's got 60?A/60mA/600mA/20A (i.e. .01/10/100/1000k ?A resolution). So it drops a bit off the bottom to give a bit more in the middle

IIRC there's an expensive Agilent that jumps from 600uA to 6A.

[crazyguy]

i don't think that's an issue (as far as not some external components to DM1106EN are crucial for the resolution), because what to measure on what position depends on the EEPROM settings - the same how C/F temperature measurement are added to mV position on AN8008. basically, you should be able to re-arrange what position measures what just with changing bytes in the EEPROM.

the measurement function not only depends on the eeprom settings. It also requires external components with proper wiring.

in the DTM0660L reference design, it uses 3 shunt resistors (0.01ohm, 0.99ohm, 99ohm) with a combination of eeprom settings (#1 change the gain of the amplifier; #2 control the decimal place), to cover all the current ranges from 60uA to 20A. (60uA, 600uA, 6mA, 60mA, 600mA, 6A, 20A).

in the AN8008 design, it seems that it only use 2 shut resistors, I would guess you cannot simply change the eeprom settings to achieve your goal.

[boggis the cat]

IIRC there's an expensive Agilent that jumps from 600uA to 6A.

The U1230 series?  It is low-end for Keysight (Agilent).

I think this is done as they're using the V terminal, and taking the uA circuitry from there.  They can't allow many mA through as this low impedance pathway would then compromise the safety.  (And the A path can't deliver accurate mA indications.)  You can only get uA 'for free' from the V terminal.

Having separate A and uA/mA terminals resolves this.

[stj]

are there any schematics about for 0660 based meters with the NCV function?
i'm curious what components are involved and the only meter i have here is an 8002.

[crazyguy]

are there any schematics about for 0660 based meters with the NCV function?
i'm curious what components are involved and the only meter i have here is an 8002.

NCV measurement schematic

the antenna pickup the AC signal

0 - 50mV, display shows "EF"
50 ~ 100mV, "-" 1 bar
100 ~ 150mV, "- -" 2 bars
150 ~ 200mV, "- - -" 3 bars
> 250mV, "- - - -" 4 bars

the sensitivity can be programmable