Smart Tweezers: Automatic RCL meter: Is it any good?

[Michael]

Does anybody know about this:
Smart Tweezers: Automatic RCL meter offered at
http://www.siborg.com/smarttweezers/ST_Canada_2.htm
Does it really do what they claim?

Michael
michael_sakha@yahoo.ca

 

[Jonathan Kirwan]

On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 00:02:08 -0500, "Michael" <michael_sakha@yahoo.ca> wrote:

Does anybody know about this:
Smart Tweezers: Automatic RCL meter offered at
http://www.siborg.com/smarttweezers/ST_Canada_2.htm
Does it really do what they claim?

Michael
michael_sakha@yahoo.ca

You work for them or have any relationship to the company?

Jon

 

[Roger Johansson]

Does anybody know about this:
Smart Tweezers: Automatic RCL meter offered at
http://www.siborg.com/smarttweezers/ST_Canada_2.htm Does it really do
what they claim?

There is no reason to think that it doesn't work.

Maybe it can be difficult to understand how such an instrument could
work. Then consider this:

If the unknown component was a simple resistor it would be easy to find
out its value by putting a voltage over it and measure the current, or
sending a current through it and measure the voltage. These methods are
used in Ohm-meters.

If we instead send an AC voltage through it we can measure the current,
and how it changes, and we can draw conclusions about the component, if
it is capacitive or reactive.

This instrument contains a small computer which can analyse the resonse
to an AC signal, a fast pulse, and analyze its response.

So it can tell how much resistance, capacitance or reactance it shows,
because the current will be in or out of phase with the voltage.



--
Roger J.

 

[john jardine]

"Michael" <michael_sakha@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:YfudnaSZrPcwHLPfRVn-oA@igs.net...

Does anybody know about this:
Smart Tweezers: Automatic RCL meter offered at
http://www.siborg.com/smarttweezers/ST_Canada_2.htm
Does it really do what they claim?

Michael
michael_sakha@yahoo.ca


It should do.

Inspecting the Jpeg of their PCB, it looks like they're using a couple of
AD9833's DDS chips and some CMOS switches to make the quadrature phase
measurements.
With the advent of cheap DDS chips and micros with built in ADCs it looks
like all the component testing makers have/must, move in this direction.
G.P. AC component bridges now looking more and more like the Victorian
artefacts that indeed they are.
The clever bit is the amount of programming they've been able to stuff
inside that micro.
Looks a really nicely designed bit of kit, at a decent price.
(their max capacitance of '900mF' looks out of place. More in keeping if
'9mF')
regards
john