If you have connected a battery or charged capacitor to the test pins, your ATmega is probably damaged. The suppply battery voltage is monitored by the tester and a voltage of below 6.4V is set as poor battery level by default. The tester should never report a capacity value of below 25 pF without a parallel diode.
If the tester reports capacity values without a connected component, the calibration process is probably executed wrong.
For calibration the three test pins should be connected together. After starting the tester, the message "Selftest mode ... ?" should be displayed. This message must be acknowledged withing 2 seconds with a key press. The three test pins must be isolated immediately after the "R0=....." message. You must connect a high quality capacitor with a capacity value of more than 100nF to the test pins 1 and 3 after the "C0=..." measurement is done and the "1-||-3 >100nF" message appear. With this step the selftest/calibration is finished.
If your tester don't start the "Selftest mode", your board has an error.
Shorting the 3 pins and pressing test, still says Batt 6.3v empty !.
I guess I get a new atmega ? Or a whole unit.
I better label it and never use it to test a cap. The cap I tested was likely in circuit and likely an accident. I tested many a transistor in circuit. Obviously if the legs had a cap on on the board its like connecting to the cap. So I better not do that ...
So in circuit use of this is out I guess.
Cool.
Srinath.
I guess I get a new atmega ? Or a whole unit.
I better label it and never use it to test a cap. The cap I tested was likely in circuit and likely an accident. I tested many a transistor in circuit. Obviously if the legs had a cap on on the board its like connecting to the cap. So I better not do that ...
So in circuit use of this is out I guess.
Cool.
Srinath.
My decision a few months ago was narrowed down by the fact that 80% of them did not have a case. It cant look like a bunch of circuit boards connected by some wires. If I cant operate and make sense of it 3 drinks and a joint or 2 in, its not to be bought.
Yea yea ... I only have a small burn on my finger about 3 yrs ago and I got that sober ... so I know to wear pants when using a soldering iron.
Cool.
Srinath.
Yea yea ... I only have a small burn on my finger about 3 yrs ago and I got that sober ... so I know to wear pants when using a soldering iron.
Cool.
Srinath.
You need to program it, of course. The images are available at various forums/websites, or you can even rebuild the binary from the source (it's an open-source project).
Search for the M328 one, with a green ZIF socket and solid brass spacers between the board and display. That one is the most durable, and can be modded if required.
Are you shure, that the battery voltage has a correct 9V level?
Probably you can test with another source to supply the unit.
If the real input voltage is much higher than 6.3V, you can also check the voltage divider build with a 10k / 3.3k resistor divider.
The 10k is connected to the voltage regulator input with one side, the other side is connected to the 3.3k resistor and PC5 of the ATmega. The other side of the 3.3k resistor is connected to GND of course. Another way to avoid the "Batt 6.3V empty!" message is to program the chip with reduced battery empty level (BAT_POOR=5900 for example).
The "in circuit" measurement of DISCHARCHED capacitors can be done with a special function, which can be selected with a menu function "C+ESR@TP1:3" of software version 1.10k for a ATmega328. The capacitor must be connected to TP1 and TP3 and must have at least 2µF capacity. You should not expect a good capacity measurement accuracy for this type of measurement because the measurement voltage is very low. Other measurements are not recommended to do "in circuit".
The battery when I hit the start button measures 8.9v or so on my DMM. I even tried with new batteries, same thing.
I dont know how to program it. But the test 10k/3.3k I could try but I dont know what is the voltage regulator in that circuit. I suspect the voltage regulator is what has gone on this. A bad chip will give you nothing. The display is still controlled by the atmega chip, and that is telling it whatever it shows. That to me is indication of something in the atmega working.
Let me try the resistor trick - I may ask more questions ... but I have enough to start soldering away.
Thanks.
Srinath.
I dont know how to program it. But the test 10k/3.3k I could try but I dont know what is the voltage regulator in that circuit. I suspect the voltage regulator is what has gone on this. A bad chip will give you nothing. The display is still controlled by the atmega chip, and that is telling it whatever it shows. That to me is indication of something in the atmega working.
Let me try the resistor trick - I may ask more questions ... but I have enough to start soldering away.
Thanks.
Srinath.
Dear all,
After reading this thread I received one. It is realy a nice pice of hardware to own
To learn further on this device, Is there any (easy
) way to flash/to program the chip directly on board ? Any special devices required to do that ? My version of the tester uses "MEGA168PA AU1329" currently available as ebay item "171202175178", link : "http://www.ebay.com/itm/Transistor-Tester-Capacitor-ESR-Inductance-Resistor-Meter-NPN-PNP-Mosfet-/171202175178".
Thanks ,
v4
To learn further on this device, Is there any (easy
You'll probably need an AtMega programmer to reprogram the controller. If your meter is working, and you're satisfied with its functionality, I'd suggest you leave it alone, and do the experimentation separately with fresh AtMega chips and prototyping boards.
Edit: The listing at EBay shows a device with an improved layout (compared to what I bought last year), with pads for testing a wider range of SMD devices including SOT89 and SOT223. However, the controller is a PQFP, which makes it much harder to remove and replace if needed.
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Nobody that I know of. Even the USA sellers normally just but from China and resell. So far, the AY-AT version is the most complete in that it has all of the major features; but you still need to modify it to improve the accuracy. I am in the process of that right now. I plan to improve Vreg, Vref, change the crystal to a 16Mhz version, and then upgrade to the 1.32m version of the software. All three parts changes improve accuracy (Vreg and Vref are both important for voltage accuracy, the crystal improved performance on inductance and capacitance measurements), while the software allowed me to run the 16MHz crystal.
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This is the one I have got. It does FETs and as an added bonus it also does remote controls.
tc1 multi function tester - Buy Cheap tc1 multi function tester - From Banggood
tc1 multi function tester - Buy Cheap tc1 multi function tester - From Banggood
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All of them do FETs now, along with a variety of other stuff. There are even some optional features developed like high voltage testing (for high voltage zeners) which are not included in the main versions. That being said, I refuse to support this particular make because the manufacturer refuses to respect GPL. They took and modified K&M's code and refuse to release their own source code.
I bought this "KOOKYE Mega328 Transistor Tester Diode Triode Capacitance ESR Meter MOS/PNP/N" for about $20 shipped.
It is completely built but you have to put the case together and mount it.
I started by measuring a few caps and was surprised to find that a poly crossover cap showed and ESR of .71 ohms which seems to be rather high since most are in the milli ohm range.
I have to look into it more.
It is completely built but you have to put the case together and mount it.
I started by measuring a few caps and was surprised to find that a poly crossover cap showed and ESR of .71 ohms which seems to be rather high since most are in the milli ohm range.
I have to look into it more.
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