^most design engineers wouldn't want nor need that. Often for SMPS work and the like, requires bandwidth and not dumbing down their existing O-scopes. so who is the target and what are the specs for a project like this? IMO this project is mostly for noobs, right off the start puts this in its own category right?
showing that type of perf board wasn't helpful even tho you mentioned extra preparation steps. that can be easy to skip over by someone less wary.
IMO it's a good start, but you need to do more work, testing on worst case scenarios before presenting a final version. wouldn't battery powered be safer? Its a probe system you need to spec insulation, all cable and wire types and their lengths.
OK for category III ? baseline specs, calibration?
showing that type of perf board wasn't helpful even tho you mentioned extra preparation steps. that can be easy to skip over by someone less wary.
IMO it's a good start, but you need to do more work, testing on worst case scenarios before presenting a final version. wouldn't battery powered be safer? Its a probe system you need to spec insulation, all cable and wire types and their lengths.
OK for category III ? baseline specs, calibration?
Yeah, unfortunately that's generally the way this kind of thread ends...Hi all, this is has gotten way out of control.
It's a first for me, I'm unsubscribing from my own thread.
Modern design engineers certainly don't need that. For example, personally I could easily and safely measure a 200MHz signal riding on the mains (but in practice I don't need to), but amateurs cannot justify spending a few kilo$ just to have a look at their mains quality.
This project is the result of non-technical people (but not actually noobs) feeling sometimes the need to make a quick check on the mains waveform, but having no budget to do it the "proper way".
They know that they cannot simply connect an O-scope into the mains, but they have no better option, thus they sensibly refrain from doing it.
As I clearly stated, the project is essentially about assessing the mains quality: is it a stepped waveform, does it have flat tops, do you see spikes originating from phase controllers.... It is certainly not about work on SMPS, although even this humble project could go a long way in helping diagnose basic problems in this field, as I'll show later.
Making this project accessible to noobs would require an instructable-style description, but I am not prepared to do it, and I don't think it is desirable anyway: leading complete noobs into the danger zone is bound to result in troubles.
To begin such a project, you need some common sense as I stated in the intro, and some basic skills like being able to hold a soldering iron
I didn't give a completely defined and frozen project, because most people will want to customize it, to adapt to their needs, and the materials and skills they have.
I didn't want to dilute the basic security aspects into other considerations, because it is the first post, and it already substantial enough.
Later, I will discuss the performances aspects, the capabilities, alternative options, etc
Certainly not: the philosophy here is not to float anything, but on the contrary to tie a maximum of elements safely and permanently to the PE.
You could also do that with a battery operation, but then you would need a flying connection to the PE, which is certainly not advisable.
Note that the circuit will remain safe even is everyhing is left floating, but it is not recommended
Because 95% of the circuit is on the safe side of the isolation barrier, protected by the PE, the only accessories that actually matter are the input ones. Depending on the way you chose them and build the probe, you could achieve Cat III level (even cat IV), but I am not going to go into such details since it would need tens or hundreds of pages of specs, description, etc.
I have described a basic starting platform, safe for the intended use and customizable, but the goal is not to get the certifications from international organizations. That's outside the scope of a DIY forum
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