Nice little component tester kit.

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I think the tester can be powered from a USB port instead of, or in addition to, the 9V battery with very little modification. Maybe just a reverse blocking diode if choice of battery or USB power is desired.
 
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ccurtis said:
I think the tester can be powered from a USB port instead of, or in addition to, the 9V battery with very little modification. Maybe just a reverse blocking diode if choice of battery or USB power is desired.
Click to expand...

But why on earth would you want to make it USB powered? - it draws little current anyway.
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
But why on earth would you want to make it USB powered? - it draws little current anyway.
Click to expand...

Only because in my house, live USB ports and cables are more plentiful than 9v batteries -- and almost as portable. I may find one or two 9V's around here somewhere if I look hard enough.
 
9 volts is the way to go. It being so light, so portable is a feature I really like.
An external supply ties it down. It draws less than 13ma. I expect the battery to power it for years.
I even have contained the battery in the protective shipping the display came in.
If the battery should leak I don't expect that to be a problem. Just replace.
 
Yes of course.
I usually test, if bad take out and test, if still bad, bin.
 
Finally made this little tester...., awesome little product.
Love the Vf for semiconductors., capacitor ESR..and the Beta in the transistors.
I happened to discover transistors from my very first project back in 1977, so old that their leads were rusty and no writing left on their little metal cases. Still good!. A couple OC71s and an OC45 by the threshold and beta levels. Those numbers might be familiar to Nigel. Germanium transistors. I did have plastic housing red dot versions as well, but no sign of those.
 
I enjoy mine too.
It could not test a bta16 triac, however.
Said it was a 56 ohm resistor. Tested another. It was a 62 ohm resistor
Mosaic, are you going to enclose it?
I used a food container.
 
Well I just put standoffs for legs and hot glued the batt in place. I tested a few NFETs (like the junction capacitance reading) , diodes, LEDs and caps as well as some failed transistors I had to bin.
 
Mosaic said:
Those numbers might be familiar to Nigel. Germanium transistors. I did have plastic housing red dot versions as well, but no sign of those.
Click to expand...

Very familiar, OC71 was a general purpose (audio) device, OC45 was an RF device.

Incidentally, there was also an OCP71 photo-transistor, which was just an OC71 with the paint left off. Apparently you could convert a normal OC71 by scraping the paint off, but it depended on the exact version - some had an opaque gel inside, presumably to stop you doing that
 
It must have been near their end of life, cuz within a couple years I could only get the ECG/NTE 159 equivalents. I see 'em on Ebay Uk f0r around 5 Sterling as 'rare'. One seller publishes the tested HFEs which seem to be all over the map. At the time the ECGs, being silicon, didn't seem so good as I was trying the build a transistor radio. I had to add a lot of antenna to compensate for the req'd base drive. Didn't know much about biasing then.

Too bad the tester doesn't do some Frequency testing for the Transistor bandwidth. I guess modern parts might have too much bandwidth for the ATMEGA chip to challenge.

BTW I cut 3 pins off an IC socket and soldered the unit onto the input of the tester to allow for easy checking of smaller parts with To92 or To220 lead spacing. I found that the alligator clips are a bit bulky for some of the parts.
 
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Interestingly the picture doesn't look that much like it would fit the meter kit?

However, with the low cost I've ordered one to see - thanks for the link.
 
OK, someone here was a nice salesperson. I just ordered one and a case from BG along with a USB power meter and center drill set.
 
flat5 said:
Actually I saw it offered with the kit! Then searched for it by itself and found it.
Click to expand...

It wasn't available originally, but I saw it with the kit now as well - but it still doesn't look correct, what are the three holes and buttons for?

Still, I'll see when it arrives!.
 
3 holes for test leads.
Plastic extension for ON switch.
That's my guess.

Interesting that there is no pic of the tester in the case.
 
I put the tester in the case today.
The case may have been built for a different product but it can be altered to work with this tester.
Had to cut away the two protruding things in the box so the pcb could reach the 'bottom'.
Had to cut a hole for the momentary switch. Glued the red extension to the end of the switch rather than let it seat properly. This was necessary because the extra height was necessary. If you can solder the switch a little higher off the board that would be better. Might want to turn the 3 terminal block 180 degrees but in my case was not necessary.
Some peeps may want to cut another hole for the external adapter.
 
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Note that here: **broken link removed**



  • Mine arrived recently. Not sure when I'll get a chance to put it together.
 

Thanks for that, mine arrived a few days ago and I've not had time yet - I did have a brief look, and agree with your conclusions - I'll probably copy what you've said in this post
 
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