Design a New Precision LCR Tweezers with Much Lower Cost 【Shannon Tweezers ST42】

[Cyclotron]

@Shannon, you're the best.
I pulled out my trusty tweezers today and noticed they were finally starting to need a charge. So, while reading some specifications, I plugged them into a USB cable to charge.
I thought, well, I should check for firmware, though I hadn't seen anything about new stuff.
What do ya know?

v1.6.1   2026/05/08   Diode mode now beeps once on detection and continuously when a short is detected.
v1.6.0   2025/06/23   Keep auto hold settings unchanged during autoset
v1.5.8   2024/12/10   Fix wrong diode direction in left-hand mode.

And wow! I love that diode mode added in 1.6.1.  This is an amazing value, getting such additional features and functions this long after purchase.

If anyone does regular board-level visual inspections and testing for whatever purposes, I can't recommend the Shannon Tweezers highly enough.
https://shannontweezers.top/

I can't wait to see what you come out with next.

[Martin72]

It wouldn't hurt to let us know when there's new firmware available; you could post that in this thread@ Shannon 

[Shannon]

It wouldn't hurt to let us know when there's new firmware available; you could post that in this thread@ Shannon 

No problem, future updates will be shared here immediately

[ceut]

It wouldn't hurt to let us know when there's new firmware available; you could post that in this thread@ Shannon 

No problem, future updates will be shared here immediately

Also, I give you the list of all proposal I have made by PM to Shannon for firmware improvement:
(but I don't know if these ideas will be implanted    )
1) Shannon told me that the Hardware is 100kHz compatible, so hope to have this. hardware limitation?
2) Rdc: add a "quick" Delta/REL function with Joystick Up or Down
           (as these button doesn't do anything on Rdc mode).
3) Rdc: in general calibration menu, add Open and Short calibration.
4) Diode mode:
   - Short beep to tell good diode value (Voltage between 0.45V and 0.8V)
   - Double short beep for schottky (Voltage between 0.1V and 0.45V)
   - Continuous beep for dead diode (when shorted)
5) Change icon in Auto-Mode, as we don't really know when we are in AutoLCR mode or not.
    (the Inverted "A" is showed breafly at the beginning, and then replaced by the mesured value)
    I have attached moded photo of screen with my simple idea for that:
    Inverted letter in AutoLCR mode, compared to normal letter in manual mode).
6) Shutdown on battery-charging at 100% if it is possible, to save Oled display.
7) Modify Diode test signal (From Shannon: "change the voltage first and then enable the output")

Thanks 

Hello 
Don't forget to post also the changelog 
I use my ST42 very often, and I show it many times on my very little Youtube Channel too 

Here (again  ) some suggestions for GUI improvement, like my 2 years old post  from here I have put above :
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/design-a-new-precision-lcr-tweezers/msg5345456/#msg5345456

Some are now implanted 

Some new suggestions/ideas I have:
8 ) "Intelligent Auto-power Off" :
I use my ST42 very often, but sometimes it goes to sleep between 2 measurements  So I have to power up it again to use it.
And I don't want to set the timeout to "never".
So do you think you could add a timeout auto-reset when the ST42 measurement value change from a threshold value ?

9) New option in GUI:
If it is possible to add a menu to select the boot menu measurement of the ST42.
For now: it always restarts on the menu it was before the shutdown, which is good.
But, it would be great to add a menu where we can select manually between all the measurement boot menu, or keep last menu like this:
AutoLCR>R>L>C>|Z|>ESR>Diode>Led>Rdc>Last Menu

Thanks 

[watchmaker]

Shannon,

I have version 1.6.0  When I try to upgrade to 1.6.1 the terminal screen flashes and then shuts down (using the new download zip) without upgrading.

I am in bootloader when I execute the program, and the tweezer is on com 1 (USB).

What am I doing wrong?

THANKS!

[Grandchuck]

My Shannon tweezers seem to be bricked.  Attempted the firmware upgrade today now the screen is stuck.  See below....

Anyone?

[KungFuJosh]

Shannon,

I have version 1.6.0  When I try to upgrade to 1.6.1 the terminal screen flashes and then shuts down (using the new download zip) without upgrading.

I am in bootloader when I execute the program, and the tweezer is on com 1 (USB).

What am I doing wrong?

THANKS!

Did you try running from a command prompt, or did you just run the updater from Windows?

I renamed the updater to fwu.exe, and then from the command prompt I run:
.\fwu COM1

Thanks,
Josh

[indman]

A few days ago, I updated ST-42 to 1.6.1 on Windows10 without any problems. I didn't rename any files, and everything went as usual from the command line using fw_update-win.
Maybe you're having trouble connecting to the update server?

[KungFuJosh]

A few days ago, I updated ST-42 to 1.6.1 on Windows10 without any problems. I didn't rename any files, and everything went as usual from the command line using fw_update-win.
Maybe you're having trouble connecting to the update server?

I renamed the file a long time ago so I could type fwu instead of fw_update-win. That was for laziness, not a requirement to make it work.

[ceut]

I have made some times ago a batch file for making the process easier, which I have improved since.

If some of you would like to try it, I post it here 

[Grandchuck]

My Shannon tweezers seem to be bricked.  Attempted the firmware upgrade today now the screen is stuck.  See below....

Anyone?

Shannon responded.  He offered two methods: (1) open the case and short the battery, or (2) let the battery drain down.  I chose the later and it worked fine.

His support is to be commended!

I have no idea what went wrong since I had updated the firmware in the past with no issues.

[watchmaker]

Shannon,

I have version 1.6.0  When I try to upgrade to 1.6.1 the terminal screen flashes and then shuts down (using the new download zip) without upgrading.

I am in bootloader when I execute the program, and the tweezer is on com 1 (USB).

What am I doing wrong?

THANKS!

Did you try running from a command prompt, or did you just run the updater from Windows?

I renamed the updated to fwu.exe, and then from the command prompt I run:
.\fwu COM1

Thanks,
Josh

Thanks, Josh.  I will try this AM!

Regards,

Dewey

[onesystem]

@Shannon, is the LCR Research tweezer by chance a copy of your design? I am wondering because I want to see if I can load firmware on it... This is LCR Research LCR PRO1 PLUS

[watchmaker]

More importantly, is it an infringing product?

[thm_w]

@Shannon, is the LCR Research tweezer by chance a copy of your design? I am wondering because I want to see if I can load firmware on it... This is LCR Research LCR PRO1 PLUS

You realize that was released in 2017 right? If the micro USB port wasn't a tip off. You will not be able to load his firmware onto it.

Shannon copied the general form factor and layout of those style of tweezers (a few companies had them), but completely redesigned the interior hardware and software.

[watchmaker]

Nope, did not.  Since it was prior, likely not an issue.

[onesystem]

@Shannon, is the LCR Research tweezer by chance a copy of your design? I am wondering because I want to see if I can load firmware on it... This is LCR Research LCR PRO1 PLUS

You realize that was released in 2017 right? If the micro USB port wasn't a tip off. You will not be able to load his firmware onto it.

Shannon copied the general form factor and layout of those style of tweezers (a few companies had them), but completely redesigned the interior hardware and software.

Good point - definitely not a copy then! Fine. Will use the firmware as is.