Most accurate and simplest LC inductance / capacitance Meter that you will find. It allows you to measure incredibly small inductances starting from 10nH to 1000nH, 1uH to 1000uH, 1mH to 100mH and capacitance from 0.1pF up to 900nF.

PIC Volt Ampere Meter can measure voltage of 0-70V or 0-500V with 100mV resolution and current consumption 0-10A or more with 10mA resolution. The meter is a perfect addition to any power supply, battery chargers and other electronic projects where voltage and current must be monitored. The meter uses PIC16F876A microcontroller with built-in ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) and 16x2 green backlighted LCD display. With slight modification it is possible to measure higher voltage and current.

This is 60MHz Frequency Meter / Counter for measuring frequency from 10Hz to 60MHz with 10Hz resolution. It is a very useful bench test equipment for testing and finding out the frequency of various devices with unknown frequency such as oscillators, radio receivers, transmitters, function generators, crystals, etc. The meter provides very stable readings and has excellent input sensitivity thanks to onboard amplifier and TTL converter, so it can even measure weak signals from crystal oscillators. With the addition of prescaller it is possible to measure the frequency of 1GHz and above.

Function Generator is an essential laboratory equipment. The module described here is based on high quality XR2206 IC. 1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator is capable of producing high quality sine, square and triangle waveforms of high-stability and accuracy. The output waveforms can be both amplitude and frequency modulated. Coarse frequency adjustment is accomplished using 4-DIP switch for the following four frequency ranges; (1) 1Hz-100Hz, (2) 100Hz-20KHz, (3) 20KHz-1MHz, (4) 150KHz-2MHz. Frequency output can be fine tuned using P1 and P2 potentiometers. The kit includes output that can be connected to our 60MHz Counter kit to measure output frequency. 1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator kit includes premium quality components, including Audio Grade Gold Capacitors, Gold Plated RCA Connector, WIMA Capacitors, 1% Metal Film Resistors and premium quality PCB with red solder mask.

Measurement of transmitter output RF power has never been easier and more precise. AD8307 USB 0-500MHz RF Power Meter allows to measure the power of transmitters from 1nW to 2W. Output is displayed in dBm, Watts (nW, uW, mW and W range) as well as input voltage. USB RF Power Meter is based on popular AD8307 watt meter IC and PIC18F2550 microcontroller. Instead of using LCD display module the meter connects to a PC via USB port and displays measurements on a computer via USB RF Power Meter software. The software settings can be changed to use 10-50dBm attenuator and thus allowing to measure higher RF power than 2W.

PIC voltmeter can measure 0-70V voltage providing excellent reading accuracy and resolution. It has two input channels for measuring two voltage sources at the same time. PIC voltmeter project uses PIC16F876 microcontroller with built-in ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) and 2x16 backlighted LCD display. Circuit design uses very few components and may be mounted on a small PCB.

"ESR" stands for equivalent series resistance. ESR is one of the characteristics that defines the performance of an electrolytic capacitor. Low ESR is highly desirable in a capacitor as any ripple current through the capacitor causes the capacitor to heat up due to the resistive loses. This heating accelerates the demise of the capacitor by drying out the electrolyte at an ever increasing rate. Over the lifetime of a capacitor, it is not uncommon for the ESR to increase by a factor of 10 to 30 times or even go open circuit. Typical lifetime ratings for electrolytics are 2000-15000 hours and are very dependant on ambient operating temperature. As the ESR increases, the filtering operation of the capacitor becomes impaired and eventually the circuit fails to operate correctly. Why are ESR Meters so Useful? A typical capacitor checker measures the capacity (usually in micro farads) of the test capacitor. Some advanced units also test for leakage current. Most of these testers require that the capacitor be removed from the circuit. Unless the capacitor has totally failed, they will not detect a high ESR value. In a typical circuit, there may be 10's or 100's of capacitors. Having to remove each one for testing is very tedious and there is a great risk of damaging circuit boards. This tester uses a low voltage ( 250mv ) high frequency (150khz) A/C current to read the ESR of a capacitor in the circuit. The in circuit testing is possible because of the low voltage used for obtaining the measurement. The voltage is low enough that solid state devices in the surrounding circuitry are not activated and do not affect the low resistance reading we are attempting to obtain. A lot of capacitor checkers will be damaged if you happen to test a charged capacitor. This circuit is A/C coupled and will withstand up to 400vdc of charge on a capacitor (but watch your fingers!). The ESR checker will not detect shorted capacitors as they will read with a very low ESR value. If you are trouble shooting a circuit, you will have to use several instruments including your nose, voltmeter and oscilloscope to locate all the possible failure modes. My experience has found that the ESR meter catches about 95% of capacitor problems and potential problems.

ESR Meter is an irreplaceable tool for troubleshooting and repairing electronic equipment by determining performance and health of electrolytic capacitors. Unlike other ESR Meters that only measure ESR value this one measures capacitor's ESR value as well as its capacitance all at the same time. Additionally, ESR Meter also tests and identifies PINs of all transistors such as Bipolar (NPN, PNP), FETs, MOSFETs (N-Channel, P-Channel, enhancement-mode and depletion-mode MOSFETs), Thyristors, SCRs and Triacs. Tests and identifies PINs and voltage of diodes, dual diodes, varicap diodes (and their capacity), zener diodes (test voltage up to 5V) and LEDs. It measures resistance of resistors, power resistors, coils starting from just 0.1Ω up to 20MΩ.

This simple to build PIC Temperature meter allows to measure temperature from -55°C to 125°C or -67°F to 257°F in two different remote locations at the same time using DS18S20 digital sensors. DS18S20 sensors don't require any calibration and send temperature in digital format providing 100% accuracy. Temperature is displayed on two line green backlighted LCD display.

This handy prescaler divides input frequency by 1000. It takes maximum input frequency of 3.5GHz and converts it into 3.5MHz that may be measured using standard frequency meter.

This simple counter is useful for frequency measurements of various wireless equipments, especially transmitters, receivers and signal generators in VHF/UHF band. Features * Display range: 0,0 to 999,9 MHz, resolution 0,1 MHz * Correct rounding, reduced blinking of last digit * Over-range indication * Fast measurement - short measuring period * High input sensitivity in VHF/UHF band * Switchable intermediate frequency offset for use with receiver

This is 60MHz Frequency Meter / Counter for measuring frequency from 10Hz to 60MHz with 10Hz resolution. It is a very useful bench test equipment for testing and finding out the frequency of various devices with unknown frequency such as oscillators, radio receivers, transmitters, function generators, crystals, etc. The meter provides very stable readings and has excellent input sensitivity thanks to onboard amplifier and TTL converter, so it can even measure weak signals from crystal oscillators. With the addition of prescaller it is possible to measure the frequency of 1GHz and above.

This a handy laboratory XR2206 function generator that provides sine, triangle, square and TTL-compatible square waveforms. XR2206 Function Generator has three frequency selections; 1Hz - 100Hz, 100Hz - 10KHz and 10KHz - 1MHz. The frequency can be fine adjusted by VR3 potentiometer. Output voltage can be adjusted by VR2 potentiometer and is buffered by output transistors. Function generator must be supplied by 12 volts.

An extremely simple and low cost Sine/Square wave generator based on the Analog Devices AD9835 Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) Generator chip. The frequency can be set for any frequency from 1Hz to 10MHz in 1Hz resolution steps! All this with three push buttons and a novel "sliding window" LED display. The controller chip is a Microchip PIC16F628. There is no wiring, and the PCB fits into a standard UB3 Jiffy Box.

When i was using operational amplifiers at school lab i wanted a function generator at home to play with and work on circuits with Op Amps for better understanding. So i found on the internet a free function generator circuit which uses the IC XR-2206, i printed the PCB with my UV exposure box, i bought an enclosure box, i put everything inside and here is the result. The function generator can generate Square, TTL, Sine and Triangle waveforms from 1Hz to 1Mhz with Voltage regulation to Square Sine and Triangle waveforms.

This is simple MAX038 generator. It produces sine, triangle and square waves from 1Hz up to 22MHz. The Amplitude, offset and duty cycle are adjustable to offer wide range of generated signals. Frequency adjustment is made as a rotary switch S8 with a capacitor bank and variable resistor P7. Amplitude, offset and duty-cycle are performed via variable resistors. Switch S5 selects generated waveform. The outpud at U1-19 is 2V p-p for all waveforms. For amplitude adjustment, P6 and R38 form a voltage divider. The summing amplifier multiplies that voltage, so the signal at the output will vary up tp 24.4V p-p. The offset voltage is controlled by resistor P5. Duty-cycle adjustment is controlled by resistror P4.

Uses MAX038 IC to provide 0.1Hz - 15MHz sinusoidal, square and triangle frequency.

The High Speed Function Generator was published in the professional electronics section of the Aug 1996 issue of Electronics Australia, and has proven to be extremely popular. It is capable of generating 20Mhz Sine, Square, Triangle, and TTL waveforms.

The High Speed Function Generator was published in the professional electronics section of the Aug 1996 issue of Electronics Australia, and has proven to be extremely popular. The kit is no longer available from any of the kit suppliers. The project is capable of generating 20MHz or greater Sine, Square, Triangle, and TTL waveforms.

Converts 0.1 - 3 GHz freqency to 0 - 3 MHz, extends frequency range measurements

Uses 3161, CA3162 ICs

Even if the digital multimeters have dominated in a lot of applications, in the measurement, exist the need for existence of instruments of clue in various appliances, voltage and current, as in power supply or elsewhere. The circuits that give make this precisely the work, measure the voltage in terminal a circuit and the current that passes in his. The circuit does not present particular difficulties for somebody that has a small experience. The two circuits are the himself, with a small difference only in their input, when they have they measure voltage or current and in connection that concern decimal point.

This is a simple 30V volt meter using PIC16F676 micro controller with 10-bit ADC (analog to digital converter) and three 7 segment LED displays. You can use this circuit to measure up to 30V DC. The possible applications are on bench power supply or as a digital panel meter in various systems. PIC16F676 is the heart and brain of this circuit. The internal adc of the mcu with a resistor network voltage divider is used to measure the input voltage. Then 3 digits of comm anode 7 segment display is used to display final converted voltage. As you can see in the schematic the displays are multiplexed with each other. It means we switch on one display and put the corresponding digit on this while other two displays are off this cycle goes for each of the displays.

Frequency counter is a very important test instrument for Radio Amateurs, especially those who wish to develop or test circuits. There are lots of frequency counters in the market but building one was never so easy & exciting with Microprocessors doing lots of work for us.

This project was published in Electronics Australia in Oct/Nov 96. It is a 32 Channel, 40Mhz, fully PC controlled TTL/CMOS logic analyzer with internal/external triggering and trigger delay. Internal triggering is fully maskable (High/Low/Don't Care) on all 32 channels. The whole things fits on one single sided PCB with virtually no wiring!

This circuit is ideal for adding a low cost frequency display to a function generator or other design. I doubt if it is possible to get a cheaper design using off the shelf components!. In fact, I challenge anyone to make a cheaper design using garden variety components!. The upper frequency limit is dependent upon the upper limit of the 74HC390 chips which is roughly 40MHz.

This project is nice and small frequency counter that reads frequency from 1 Hz to 50 MHz that I have modified from original designed by Weeder Technologies . I have designed new PCB to fit with 16X1 LCD and change source code for compatible with new small PCB Specifications - Auto-ranging with floating decimal point. - Up to 7 digits displayed on 1X16 LCD. - Auto-adjusting gate speed (0.1 sec to 1 sec). - Microcontroller-based circuitry provides for simplicity, ease of assembly, and highly stable readout. - Sensitivity approximately 100 mV RMS (100 Hz to 2 MHz), 800 mV RMS @ 50 MHz. - Input overload protected.

The prescaler kit is a simple divide by 10 ECL circuit which can be used to extend the range of most PIC based frequency counters from 50 MHz up to 500 MHz. The kit uses surface mount components except for the 78L05 regulator.

This new 50MHz Frequency Meter is autoranging and displays the frequency in either Hz, kHz or MHz. This makes the unit easy to read, as it automatically selects the correct range for any frequency between 0.1Hz and 50MHz and inserts the decimal point in the correct place for each reading. Note that although we have specified this Frequency Meter at 50MHz maximum, most units will be capable of measuring frequencies somewhat higher than this. In fact, our proto-type meter was capable of making frequency measurements to above 64MHz.

Built around a single 8038 waveform generator IC, this circuit produces sine, square or triangle waves from 20Hz to 200kHz in four switched ranges. There are both high and low level outputs which may be adjusted with the level control. This project makes a useful addition to any hobbyists workbench as well.

ICL8038 signal generator chip, manufactured by Intersil. An improved version, made by Exar corp. is available (XR8038A). It can be used to produce three types of waveforms, sine, square and triangle. The frequency, amplitude and duty cycle can be varied, and selection of waveform is done digitally. To further reduce the complexity, a 3-to-1 switch may be used in place of the digital selection circuitry. I made use of the digital selection mechanism because switches available on the market are prone to dirt accumulation and poor contact quality. Besides, the digital method is a lot cooler!

An extremely simple and low cost Sine/Square wave generator based on the Analog Devices AD9835 Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) Generator chip. The frequency can be set for any frequency from 1Hz to 10MHz in 1Hz resolution steps! All this with three push buttons and a novel "sliding window" LED display. The controller chip is a Microchip PIC16F628. There is no wiring, and the PCB fits into a standard UB3 Jiffy Box.

An adjustable power load is a piece of test equipment that often comes handy in the development of a certain electronics projects. For example, when you are building a power supply, it will come a time when you need to "simulate" a load to see how well your design performs as the load varies. Adding power resistors to the output can sometimes do in a pinch, but often you will not have the right resistor value handy with the right power rating for the test. This is where an adjustable electronic load comes handy. In this article, I'll show how you can build one using common components available to the electronics hobbyist.

I finally got round to making my capacitor ESR tester this week after finding a nice simple 5 transistor version. Unfortunately, for me, the design was only SMD so, I decided to replicate his schematic in Eagle PCB using a through hole component design. I will not be going into much detail regarding ESR or Equivalent Series Resistance Meters as, there is already plenty of other sources of information on the subject. Yet, every tinkering knows capacitors are guilty of a lot of sins in electronics. Capacitors love to throw red herrings! They can appear physically fine (no bulge), show good capacitance and hide in circuit, standing to attention like the Queens Guards hiding shorts and high resistance under their big hats. This is where the ESR tester can be a saviour, with the ability to test for "out of specification" high resistance, within the capacitor. They can also be used to test "in circuit", without the need to remove every capacitor in the circuit.

How would you like a 40 MHz frequency counter for under $50? What if I told you it also had an 8 digit LCD display, optional offsets for use in a receiver or transceiver, 10 Hz (even 1 Hz!) resolution, and also a six channel digital voltmeter built in? Direct reading with prescalers in the VHF version? Oh, and optional PC telemetry so you can watch the output on a PC, log the results, or graph drift?

RF laboratory often requires capacitance meter for small capacitors in pF range. Such a device can easily be built by yourself. Here, a measurement converter for PC serial port is presented. The frequency of an oscillator is reduced by the target and measured on a PC. The appropriate conversion then allows the direct display of the capacity. The input uses a short and low capacitance probe tip. The opposite pole is clamped to ground cable with a crocodile. The NE555 precision timer receives its operating voltage directly from the serial interface and produces a measurement object without C is a square wave with a frequency of 3.5 kHz. The signal is processed via the CTS input of the interface.

A typical capacitor checker measures the capacity (usually in micro farads) of the test capacitor. Some advanced units also test for leakage current. Most of these testers require that the capacitor be removed from the circuit. Unless the capacitor has totally failed, they will not detect a high ESR value. In a typical circuit, there may be 10's or 100's of capacitors. Having to remove each one for testing is very tedious and there is a great risk of damaging circuit boards. This tester uses a low voltage ( 250mv ) high frequency (150khz) A/C current to read the ESR of a capacitor in the circuit. The in circuit testing is possible because of the low voltage used for obtaining the measurement. The voltage is low enough that solid state devices in the surrounding circuitry are not activated and do not affect the low resistance reading we are attempting to obtain. A lot of capacitor checkers will be damaged if you happen to test a charged capacitor. This circuit is A/C coupled and will withstand up to 400vdc of charge on a capacitor (but watch your fingers!). The ESR checker will not detect shorted capacitors as they will read with a very low ESR value. If you are trouble shooting a circuit, you will have to use several instruments including your nose, voltmeter and oscilloscope to locate all the possible failure modes. My experience has found that the ESR meter catches about 95% of capacitor problems and potential problems.

Curious C-Beeper is a fun to build little probe that can be used to quickly detect the capacity of capacitors in pF nF range, test their stability with temperature changes, find broken wires, locate wires, trace wires on PCBs, and to locate live wires behind the walls without touching them. The circuit uses three transistors to make a most unusual capacitance beeper probe. When a capacitor is touched to the probe, the probe beeps at a frequency that varies with capacitance. The frequency change is so steep with capacitance that tiny capacitors may be precisely matched or an exact fixed value may be selected to replace a trimmer in a prototype. If the user has reasonably moist skin, simply holding one lead of the capacitor to be tested while touching the other lead to the probe is all that is necessary. The user's body forms the other connection through the beeper's metal case. When the beeper is properly adjusted it draws only 10 uA with nothing touching the probe - no power switch is required. This design is optimized for capacitors less than about 0.1 uF (100 nF). Large capacitors give a low frequency "clicking" sound and small capacitors sound a tone that increases as the capacitance decreases. Many decades of frequency change occur over the beeper's range giving even the more tone-deaf among us sufficient change to discern slight differences in capacitance. The entire device is powered by two CR2032 lithium cells that fit into TicTac box. The use of power switch is unnecessary since the circuit consumes almost no power when not being used.

I wanted a digital AC voltmeter to measure the output range from 0 to 150VAC with reasonable accuracy. Sure I could buy some premade DVM packages or use a microcontroller with a built-in ADC, but I wanted to make one from scratch myself using readily available parts I had on hand. I aimed for reasonable accuracy so I chose to have a 2 and a half display for the voltage, meaning the meter reads from 000 to 199. Below is the schematic of the AC DVM.

It was four years ago which I needed an Oscilloscope to be able to see the received codes from PT2272. (This is a Remote Control Decoder chip). Later on I made so many other things with this device which I will explain it later . ( such as the measurement of the low value voltages and even the supplies with high values and so on...). Although on that time I was in hurry so didn't design a PCB and I mount it on a pure, bread board. Its a good portable one, as the Battery is put on it, so you can have it in your pocket.

This circuit is intended for precision centigrade temperature measurement, with a transmitter section converting to frequency the sensor's output voltage, which is proportional to the measured temperature. The output frequency bursts are conveyed into the mains supply cables. The receiver section counts the bursts coming from mains supply and shows the counting on three 7-segment LED displays. The least significant digit displays tenths of degree and then a 00.0 to 99.9 °C range is obtained. Transmitter-receiver distance can reach hundred meters, provided both units are connected to the mains supply within the control of the same light-meter.

es, it's finally here !. The DSOA Mk3 has been a long time coming (many years in fact), but it was finally published in the October/November 98 issues of EA. EA October 98 issue cover shot of DSOA Mk3 Here are the basic specs : * 20MS/s * 5MHz analog bandwidth (*see below) * Dual channels * Optional external trigger input. * PC-Based, connects to standard parallel port. * Easy to build on one single sided pcb. * Vertical position adjustments. * Fully software controlled timebase and attenuation rages. * 100ns/div to 50ms/div timebase in 1-2-5 sequence. * 100mV/div to 5V/div vertical ranges in 1-2-5 sequence.

Even if the digital multimeter have dominated in a lot of applications, in the measurement, exist the need for existence of instruments of clue in various appliances, voltage and current, as in power supply or elsewhere. The circuits that give make this precisely the work, measure the voltage in terminal a circuit and the current that passes in his. The circuit does not present particular difficulties for somebody that has a small experience. The two circuits are the himself, with a small difference only in their input, when they have they measure voltage or current and in connection that concern decimal point [ dp ]. In the department of input IC1 and IC3, exist the CA3161E, that is a A/D Converter for 3-Digit Display. In the drive of Display IC2 and IC4, exist CA3161E, that is a BCD the Seven Segment Decoder/ Driver. As it appear in Fig.1, that concern the voltmeter in input [ + IN ], exist in series a what resistor R1 in combination with the R3 create a voltage divider. On the contrary in the Fig.2 that it concern the ampere meter, this resistor does not exist, because the circuit is connected differently, thus the current pass through the R5, creating a fall of voltage, in her terminal, proportional current that it pass from this.

As electrolytic capacitors age, their internal resistance, also known as "equivalent series resistance" (ESR), gradually increases. This can eventually lead to equipment failure. Using this design, you can measure the ESR of suspect capacitors as well as other small resistances. Basically, the circuit generates a low-voltage 100kHz test signal, which is applied to the capacitor via a pair of probes. An op amp then amplifies the voltage dropped across the capacitor’s series resistance and this can be displayed on a standard multimeter. In more detail, inverter IC1d is configured as a 200kHz oscillator. Its output drives a 4027 J-K flipflop, which divides the oscillator signal in half to ensure an equal mark/space ratio. Two elements of a 4066 quad bilateral switch (IC3c & IC3d) are alternately switched on by the complementary outputs of the J-K flipflop. One switch input (pin 11) is connected to +5V, whereas the other (pin 8) is connected to -5V. The outputs (pins 9 & 10) of these two switches are connected together, with the result being a ±5V 100kHz square wave. Series resistance is included to current-limit the signal before it is applied to the capacitor under test via a pair of test probes. Diodes D1 and D2 limit the signal swing and protect the 4066 outputs in case the capacitor is charged.

The ESR meter is perfect for any electronics repair technicians, engineers or hobbyist. This handy meter measures electrolytic capacitor equivalent series resistance (ESR) in the circuit. ESR is a very important characteristic of capacitors greater than 1 microfarad. This meter makes measurements which are often impossible to check with standard digital capacitance meters.

Electrolytic capacitors are by far the electronic parts that suffer aging soonest. If you have any electronic equipment that over the years has degraded its performance, developed quirks, sometimes ending in complete failure, the chances are good that one or more electrolytic capacitors inside it have degraded, causing the problem. Electrolytic capacitors age in several ways: They can become electrically leaky, causing a DC current through them that can make them blow up. They can shift in capacitance value. But the most common way they degrade, by far, is by unduly increasing their equivalent series resistance, which is the undesired internal resistance that appears in series with the wanted capacitance at a given frequency.

The ESR Meter is basically an AC Ohmmeter with special scales and protective circuitry. It provides a continuous reading of series resistance in electrolytic capacitors. It operates at 100 kHz to keep the capacitive reactance factor near zero. The remaining series resistance is due to the electrolyte between the capacitor plates and indicates the state of dryness. Capacitor termination problems also show up plainly due to the continuous ohmic reading. The ESR meter uses 8 operational amplifiers. An op-amp is an idealized basic amplifier with two inputs. The non-inverting input (+) has an in-phase relationship with the op-amp output, and the inverting input (-) an out-of-phase relationship. Op-amps are usually used with negative feedback and reach a stable operating condition when their two inputs are equal in voltage. Op-amps IA & 1B form a regenerative 100 kHz oscillator circuit. Capacitor C1 is the basic timing capacitor and RI is selected to set frequency. Diodes D2 & D3 clip the bottom and top of the output waveform so that the output level and frequency are resistant to battery voltage changes.

This ESR Meter is perfect for any electronics repair technicians, engineers or hobbyist. This handy ESR meter measures electrolytic capacitor equivalent series resistance (ESR) in the circuit. ESR is a very important characteristic of capacitors greater than 1 microfarad. This meter makes measurements which are often impossible to check with standard digital capacitance meters. This ESR meter is based around ICL7107, 4049, NE555 and TLC274 operational amplifier and can measure resistance from 0.01 Ohm up to 19.99 Ohm. ESR value is displayed in Ohm on four digit LED display . The power consumption is only 8mA using 12V battery. ESR Meter offers very simple design and is easy to assemble.

The project came from an italian magazine Nuova Elettronica N212. It's very simple but interesting ESR Meter. I've built it and tested some capacitors and it's very useful. It measures the ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) of capacitor (electrolytic and not) that s used to tell if a capacitor is good or not. ESR Meter uses a bridge circuit that works at 100KHz.

Using an add-on card to the already existing avr ethernet board we build a weather station. That is: A weather station with a build-in webserver. My original plan was to have sensors for temperature, air pressure and wind. I started a prototype and it worked very well except for the wind measurement part. I plan to improve the wind measurement hardware and add it at a later point in time.

A frequency counter is one of the most important measuring tool we need as homebrew's of RF electronic. This frequency counter has very high performance and still is very easy to build and to use. Anyone can build it and have a professional frequency measuring tool. The counter is based around a LCD display with 2 lines and 16 chars. I have used a HD44780 based display which is very common. A PIC16F870 circuit controls all counting and display functions. A prescaler is added to make it possible to measure up to 2.5GHz with high sensitivity. The Display Module Size (W x H x T): 80mm X 36mm. The controller PCB has the same size. This makes the unit very small and slim.

This Field Strength Meter has been specially designed for our FM bugs. It is capable of detecting very low power transmitters and will assist enormously in peaking many of our FM transmitters that have a coil in the output stage that can be adjusted for optimum output. Up to now, field strength meters have only been able to detect transmitters with an output of 100 milliwatts or higher, and for an output such as this, a simple circuit such as a meter and a coil is sufficient. But when it comes to a low power device, a simple circuit, with no amplification, is not suitable. We spent more than 5 days building all the circuits we could find - that purported to be suitable for low-power transmitters, hoping to find one that would work. Unfortunately none came anywhere near good enough so we had to design our own. The circuit we came up with is shown above and it incorporates an RF amplifier, diode rectification, and a DC amplifier so that a movement from a multimeter (a movement is the 'meter' part of a multimeter) could be used as the readout. The heart of the design is a pair of diodes that are partially turned on via a resistor (the 100k sensitivity control) and this overcomes some of the .6v threshold of a diode. You may not think .6v is very much but when you are talking in millivolt terms, it is 600 millivolts. The signal we are attempting to pick up produces one or two millivolts on the receiving antenna and if you need 600 millivolts to turn a diode ON, the field strength meter becomes very insensitive.

This is 7-digit frequency meter measuring frequency from 10 Hz up to 1300 MHz. It is based on ideas of PIC16F84 based frequency meter. The measuring range is divided into two subranges: 10Hz - 25MHz and 25 MHz - 1300MHz. The decimal point is after MHz digit, but can be set at any position. It contains: * PIC 16F84 * 74HC137 (BCD -> 1 of 8 decoder) * SAB6456 VHF-UHF divider by 256 * 7-digit calculator display (common cathode), * some resistors, capacitors and 2 switching diodes

This is high quality function generator system using the XR2206 chip. Waveform function generator capable of producing AM/FM modulated sine wave outputs find a wide range of applications in electrical measurement and laboratory instrumentation. This application note describes the design, construction and the performance of such a complete function generator system suitable for laboratory usage or hobbyist applications. The entire function generator is comprised of a single XR2206 monolithic IC and a limited number of passive circuit components. It provides the engineer, student, or hobbyist with highly versatile laboratory instrument for waveform generation at a very small fraction of the cost of conventional function generators available today.

For measurement purposes in the electronics laboratory is needed again and again signals of different frequency and waveforms. A common function generator provides sine, for example, triangular and square waves. The frequency must be adjustable and at least cover the low frequency range. The low-cost IC XR2206 provides a very simple function generator with only a few external components. XR2206 data sheet provides complete basic circuit for a simple function generator. It requires an operating voltage of 12 V and delivers sine and square wave signals. Instead of the sine wave output is obtained after opening of S1 a triangular output wave. XR2206 IC contains an internal VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator, Voltage Controlled Oscillator) with triangular and rectangular output. The capacitor C and the power to determine the frequency at pin 7. With a pot of 2 megohms and a fixed resistor of 1 kOhm variation gives a ratio of 1 to 2000 and may include a range of 10 Hz to 20 kHz sweep.

The High Speed Function Generator was published in the professional electronics section of the Aug 1996 issue of Electronics Australia, and has proven to be extremely popular. The kit is no longer available from any of the kit suppliers. The project is capable of generating 20MHz or greater Sine, Square, Triangle, and TTL waveforms.

Ammeter is a great addition to any Laboratory Power Supply as it will measure the current consumption and help you determine if there are any problems with the circuit that you are building or testing. This amper meter is capable of measuring the current consumption up to 10A with selected 100mA, 10mA and 1mA accuracy.

This digital voltmeter is ideal to use for measuring the output voltage of your DC power supply. It includes a 3.5-digit LED display with a negative voltage indicator. It measures DC voltages from 0 to 199.9V with a resolution of 0.1V.

Function generator with adjustable frequency from 0 Hz to over 400 kHz, adjustable amplitude, DC offset, duty, and of course the function selection – square, triangle, and sine. Generator based on good old ICL8038 integrated chip generator that gives pretty good shaped signals as for amateur purposes. This circuit has been designed a little differently than ICL’s note or other similar circuits are suggesting. I tested a bunch of different configurations with different peripherals and chosen the best – so to get good waveshape at 400kHz. I got rid of some of the elements, I added my own solutions. The two ICL chips that i have can oscillate around up to 420-430kHz, and practically we can get good waveforms up to that frequency.

This is inductance meter I built using 74HC14 IC. Initially I used a DMM as the display device, but on a whim I tried hooking up a moving-coil meter. To my surprise, it actually worked just fine, 1K in series was sufficient to allow a useful calibration and didn't overload the drive capabilities of the last gate in the package. I calibrated my unit for 0-100 uH, as this is the range I am generally most interested in, and it gives direct-readings on the uA scale of the meter. With the values as Dick specified, there is sufficient range to calibrate it from about 25 uH to 250 uH FSD.

George Katz of Balgowlah Boys high in Sydney presented a solid state oscilloscope. He says "probably the best advantage is its very small size and the fact that it can run off the power supply of the circuit being tested. Although it has a low frequency range, it can still be used for most circuits. Its poor resolution will still allow for most waveforms to be visualized."

A very simple circuit to measure low resistance values from 0.001 up to 1.999 Ohm. With a "Direct Resistance Readout in Ohms". You must use two separate batteries. One for the DMM and one to supply power to the LM317LZ. I recommend the LM317LZ, which is the 100 mA, T0-92 version of the normal LM317. But you can also use the LM317, in the T0-220 package, if you want. The trimpot must be set precisely to deliver 100.0 mA out to get truly accurate resistance measurements. So you need a very accurate Milli-Amp Meter to adjust this Correctly. (And like Any Test Equipment, This Calibration should be Re-Checked once a year or so.)

A few months ago as I was surfing on the net, I saw an oscilloscope based on PIC18F2550 microcontroller and a KS0108 controller based graphical LCD. That was Steven Cholewiak's web site. I had never seen before so amazing microcontroller - only oscilloscope. That was realy impressive circuit, so I decided to design something like that but in C language instead of assembly that I was using all those years. The best solution for me was the WinAVR as it bases on open source AVR - GNU compiler and it works perfect with AVR studio 4. The graphics library that I used, is made by me specific for this project. It's not for general use. If you want to include it to your codes, you have to convert it as you need to. The maximum signal speed who can show up this oscilloscope is 5 kHz in square signal. For other signals (sine or triangle) the frequency is lower ( almost 1 kHz) for having clear view of the signal.

This is simple MAX038 generator. It produces sine, triangle and square waves from 1Hz up to 22MHz. The Amplitude, offset and duty cycle are adjustable to offer wide range of generated signals. Frequency adjustment is made as a rotary switch S8 with a capacitor bank and variable resistor P7. Amplitude, offset and duty-cycle are performed via variable resistors. Switch S5 selects generated waveform.

When teamed up with an oscilloscope, this simple circuit provides a means of measuring capacitor ESR. A 555 timer (IC1) configured as a 2.3kHz free-running oscillator acts as the timebase. It provides narrow (7.7µs) pulses to the capacitor under test via a NAND Schmitt trigger (IC2) and transistor Q1. A 100Ω resistor in series with Q1 limits current flow to about 50mA. Therefore, an ESR of 1Ω will produce pulses across the test capacitor of 50mV, which means that an oscilloscope with a vertical sensitivity of 5mV can measure ESR down to 0.1Ω or less.

On the following article learn about Oscilloscope probes, their basic characteristics and proper calibration. Measuring signals with oscilloscopes may be challenging task especially high frequency ones. Without proper oscilloscope probes correct measurement of high speed time domain signals wouldn’t be possible. For high speed measurement you should consider signal parameters like amplitude, source impedance, rise time and bandwidth.

Programmable frequency meter with PIC16F84 and UPB1505 prescaler

PIC Voltmeter Amperemeter can measure voltage 0-70V or 0-500V with 100mV resolution and current consumption 0-10A or more with 10mA resolution. The meter is a perfect addition to any power supply, battery chargers and other electronic projects where voltage and current must be monitored. The meter uses PIC16F876A microcontroller with built-in ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) and 16x2 green backlighted LCD display. With slight modification it is possible to measure higher voltage and current.

This PIC Volt Ampere Meter was designed to measure output voltage of 0-70V or 0-500V with 100mV resolution and 0-10A or more current with 10mA resolution. It is a perfect addition to any DIY laboratory power supply, battery chargers and other electronic projects where voltage and current consumption must be monitored. Thanks to added calibration via SETUP, UP & DOWN buttons it is now possible to calibrate the meter to measure voltage that is higher than 70V and current that is greater than 10A.

This Auto Ranging PIC16F84A Frequency counter counts up to 35-40Mhz and has two separate input BNC connectors. A pre-scale chip from Nec/CEL may be added with Divide by 256 counters to achieve 3.5GHZ frequency measurements.

Weather Station is PIC16F877A based and has a 4x20 LCD, a data logger output and accepts 1Wire wind instrument. It has a built-in APRS TNC. Connect it to your portable rig thru a DIN5 connector and you have a true portable weather station.

This RF inductance meter measures RF chokes in the 500 nH to 50 uH range. I needed a way to measure hand-wound RF inductors in my second lab, and since I would only be doing this occasionally, I didn't need anything fancy, and since once a friend finishes his AT90S1200-based design, I plan to make one myself, I figured I'd use this for less than a year, so I didn't want to invest a lot of time in making it . I had run across the forerunner of this circuit, one that is more sophisticated in that it has a zero adjustment and range switch, but it was limited to higher inductances. I adapted it to the components I had on hand and changed it so that it would work in the 500 nanohenry to 50 microhenry range.The original circuit was reportedly published a few years ago by the Amrican Radio Relay League, so it is with appreciation of the ARRL that I make this circuit available

room temperature controller with PIC. This equipment uses two temperature sensors, drives external equipment, and keeps the temperature of the room at preset temperature. The purpose of this equipment is for preventing room temperature going up with the heat of the computers. Electric cost will become high if an air-conditioner is always operated. Then, I made the equipment which adjusts the temperature of the room automatically using some ventilation fans. The function below preset temperature is a function attached moreover. I think that it can use for temperature control, such as a greenhouse.

Building a serial voltage meter to measure from 0 to 5 volts DC is actually pretty easy. Using MeLabs PicBasic, and Microsoft's Visual Basic Version 5 Pro. You need Visual Basic Pro version because you will have to use Basic's MSComm control. This control is not available in the Visual Basic 5 "Learning" Edition. The PIC16C71 simplifies the task even more by having a built in A/D converter. Pins 17,18,1,2 are the analog inputs AIN0,AIN1,AIN2,AIN3 respectively.

This simple circuit generates a good and stable 1V peak-to-peak square wave at 100Hz, 1KHz and 10KHz using a single 1.5V cell as power supply. An useful feature of this circuit is that frequency changes can be obtained by switching only one capacitor at a time. Current consumption is about 600µA. * If a precise 50% duty-cycle is needed, trim R1 and monitor the output wave form by means of an oscilloscope. * A good 500mV peak-to-peak square wave is provided even at 1V supply.

Here is a simple set up which will enable them to measure the out put power of their transmitter. All that they require is a good multimeter which has a sensitivity of 20k ohms/4 Watts which is adequate for low power transmitters. Many beginners trying out their skill with QRP TX, for the first time have to overcome many problems before they are able to come on the air. On usual complaint is that, every thing is working fine but the signal is not going out.

The generator was build using XR-2206 function generator IC, which is capable to generate sine, square, ramp and pulse waveforms in frequency range of 0.01Hz to 1MHz. The amplitude and frequency is modulated by voltage (potentiometers). The example circuit from datasheet worked well.

A pair of AD8307 RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) chips are used to produce DC voltages that are proportional to the logarithm of the Forward and Reflected power levels. These DC voltages can then be subtracted in an Op Amp to produce a voltage proportional to SWR which is essentially independent of power level. The Forward DC voltage also drives a separate Power meter. I have modified Paul's design to use a "Stockton" directional coupler, and to provide a peak-reading capability. The meter automatically provides an accurate readout of SWR for any power level between 10mW and 1000W. I arranged for the Power meter to cover the range 100mW to 1000W, but it is easy to change the circuit to set upper and lower power limits to any values in the range 100uW to 1000W.

Circuit measures the temperature and ambient brightness of the surrounding environment at the location it is placed. The data from the ADC is the calculated and displayed on the LCD. The main CPU unit on board the device is the PIC16F873.

Using a thermistor in the position shown makes a heat activated sensor. A change in temperature will alter the output of the op amp and energize the relay and light the LED. Swapping the position of the thermistor and 47k resistor makes a cold or frost alarm.

This is an adapter attached to a TV set. This machine changes a TV to a Oscilloscope. See the photo! This photo indicates a sine wave 50mV 120Hz. See the circuit! Free oscillater makes an 15kHz pulse signal (A). This signal is amplified by an buffer AMP. On the other hand , an amplifier makes 300 times of input signal. And it is shifted to 6V center. A comparater compares a voltage (C) and (B). this comparater makes an pulse width modulated signal on (D) point. Differencial circuit makes a small pulse on the changing timing of the pulse. Buffer receives two signals ,(A) and (E). Therefore it is called as an adder. This machine is able to indicates only 60Hz or 120Hz or 180Hz

USB Voltmeter is a PC based dual channel voltmeter built around PIC18F2455 / PIC18F2550 microcontroller that measures voltage from 0.00V up to 500.00V with 10mV resolution. USB Voltmeter sends measured data to PC via standard USB connection displaying data on a computer monitor. USB Voltmeter is self-powered drawing very little current from USB port. Voltage readings are displayed via included USB Voltmeter software.

Everyone involved with radio transmitters needs some instruments to assess basic antenna functionality. Among these instruments, the best-known and most-used one is the Standing Wave Ratio meter. Some radio amateurs develop a cult for these little gadgets, having them in line all the time and watching the needles bounce while they chat. I have seen some guys owning 5 or 6 SWR meters, and no other instrument relating to antenna testing! While it's unfortunate that some people - specially amateurs - assign so much importance to SWR and so little to other parameters, it's also a fact that SWR needs to be known, so if you use transmitters, you need an SWR meter.

This project is based on obdev's RemoteSensor example and their firmware-only USB implementation; the main change is the replacement of the analog sensors with a Sensirion SHT11 digital temperature and humidity sensor.

The sensor unit consists of an ATTiny45 microcontroller, a SHT11 sensor, and a hoperf RFM12 868 MHz transceiver module. It is powered by 2 AA cells and is expected to give >1 year of battery life. The receiver uses the same RFM12 module and an ATMega8 µC; received data is transmitted via USB to the PC.

Presented here is XR2206 function generator with multiple waveform selection and a frequency readout display. The diagram on the right shows the internal workings of the XR2206 in the form of a block diagram. Essentially the chip contains A VCO (voltage controller oscillator), wave shaper and buffer. The xr2206 frequency generator diagram frequency of the VCO is set with a capacitor and a resistor. The capacitor sets the frequency range whilst a variable resistor can be used to vary the frequency in the set range. The frequency is defined by ƒ = 1/(RC). For a starting point for the design of the frequency generator I used the test circuit from the XR2206 datasheet. I built this on bread board and experimented with the timing resistor and capacitor and managed to get the frequency up to 4MHz.

Presented here is a premium quality 1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator kit capable of producing high quality sine, square and triangle waveforms of high-stability and accuracy. The output waveforms can be both amplitude and frequency modulated. Coarse frequency adjustment is accomplished using 4-DIP switch for the following four frequency ranges; (1) 1Hz-100Hz, (2) 100Hz-20KHz, (3) 20KHz-1MHz, (4) 150KHz-2MHz. Frequency output can be fine tuned using P1 and P2 potentiometers. The kit includes output that can be connected to 60MHz Counter kit to measure output frequency. 1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator kit includes premium quality components, including Audio Grade Capacitors, Gold Plated RCA Connector, WIMA Capacitors, 1% Metal Film Resistors and premium quality PCB with red solder mask and plated through holes.

There are integrated circuits that produce sine waves, although they are really relaxation oscillators and the sine waves come from shaping a triangle wave. Examples are the ICL8038, which is good up to about 100 kHz, and the newer XR-2206 and XR-3038, which can oscillate up to 1 MHz. The XR-2206 has some interesting features that illustrate some of the topics mentioned in this page, so let's examine this chip.

Presented here is zener diode meter for testing voltage value of an unknown zener diode. The zener diode or diode voltage regulator is a special diode, Unlike normal diodes these diodes are intended to work in the breakdown voltage and an essential part of the voltage regulator circuits. These components maintain constant voltage at its terminals suffer variations even when substantial current, its connection with reverse bias is normal also to work in the zener voltage of the source Vs must be greater than the rupture Vz, as always condition using a resistance Rs in series to limit current to a value always less than its maximum power.