Author Topic: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit  (Read 13902 times)

iloveelectronics

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DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« on: November 13, 2013, 10:39:33 AM »
Inspired by another discussion about milliohm meters on the other forum (EEVBlog) a few weeks ago, I went searching for one and found a Chinese designed DIY kit. Seeing that it's all 0805 and 0603 SMD components and quite a few IC's with small pin pitches I was initially a bit hesitant (as I failed miserably before with another DIY kit with a MCU in a LQFP package) but thought I would give it a go anyway.

The soldering job is a bit rubbish but at least this time no chips get killed and it works!

Besides the PCB and components the kit also comes with a lot of documentation (in Chinese), a pair of Kelvin clips and leads, an acrylic case, a lithium rechargeable battery, a programmer (for uploading the firmware), and even the source code of the firmware.

I took the attached pictures before I attempted to calibrate it but I was already quite impressed with its resolution and stability in the readings. It has 2 ohm ranges (0.2 and 20) and in the 0.2 ohm range it offers resolution all the way down to 1 micro ohm!

I have since done some not-so-precise calibration with the gear I have and compared the results against the HP3457A and this little device is tracking very well with the HP across the ranges. I will post more pictures in this thread later on as I'm trying to order some resistance standards for calibration.

The device also doubles as a 5.5 digit volt meter by changing some jumpers on the back side and I have played around with that a little bit today. Initial impression is that it has great accuracy but seems to drift a bit over time. I will also update on that later.
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Email: franky @ 99centHobbies . com

SeanB

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2013, 12:26:48 PM »
What is the price of the kit? If you stock it will you be giving a translation better than the poor results often seen as to assembly and test? You probably would have to ship these without the batteries though, unless you have a giant pile of them and want to send them by surface mail to me ;) or Martin to test to destruction.

iloveelectronics

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2013, 12:44:16 PM »
What is the price of the kit? If you stock it will you be giving a translation better than the poor results often seen as to assembly and test? You probably would have to ship these without the batteries though, unless you have a giant pile of them and want to send them by surface mail to me ;) or Martin to test to destruction.

I will stock some (I already talked to the author and got permission) and I will personally translate the documentation to English, but it will take me some time. In terms of pricing I haven't worked it out yet but I think it's safe to say that it will at least be about the price of a UT61E.
My eBay store: http://www.99centHobbies.com
Email: franky @ 99centHobbies . com

iloveelectronics

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2013, 10:49:23 PM »
I'm still waiting for some resistance standards to arrive but I went ahead and did some calibration using my 0.5%/2% tolerance (in the x1/x0.1 ohm ranges respectively) decade resistance box. I calibrated the device against my HP3457A on 18 ohms on the 20 ohm range and 0.1 ohms on the 0.2 ohm range.

Here are a few pictures of how the measurements taken by this little DIY device compare to the HP3457A. In the pictures they are measuring 10 ohms and 0.2 ohms. The HP measures 10.0140 ohms and 0.2102 ohms (with some jumping around on the least significant digit), while the milliohm meter measures 10013.90 mOhms and 210.213 mOhms (with actually less jumping on the LSD even though the resolution is higher than the HP).

I'm happy  :)
My eBay store: http://www.99centHobbies.com
Email: franky @ 99centHobbies . com

iloveelectronics

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #4 on: November 14, 2013, 09:41:03 AM »
A couple more pictures to show where I put the battery inside the case, and a hi-res photo if anyone's interested in seeing the actual part numbers and so on.
My eBay store: http://www.99centHobbies.com
Email: franky @ 99centHobbies . com

runem

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2013, 06:17:15 PM »
I find this quite interesting. Any Idea on the price range?
I actually don't think the soldering is too bad. I bought a tiny bench ESR meter a while ago that worked for a few days and then died. The soldering was unbelievably bad and there was a paste of dust and solder flux all over the board.
It wasn't cheap either (paid 120$ IIRC). So, if any you are thinking of buying an ESR meter in a little gray box with a 16x2 LCD - you are warned!

retiredcaps

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2013, 07:03:01 PM »
It wasn't cheap either (paid 120$ IIRC). So, if any you are thinking of buying an ESR meter in a little gray box with a 16x2 LCD - you are warned!
Don't be afraid to name and shame the vendor and product especially if they made no effort to provide warranty, service or communications after the sale.

runem

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2013, 07:26:05 PM »
Well I should have pursued the seller a bit, but at that time (last summer) I was busy both at home and work with different projects, so I just stuck an imaginary middle finger into his face and let him go for this time. Money out the window, unfortunately.
I also gave him full pot on the feedback (ebay) because I actually thought it was OK. :-\
One thing is for sure - I'm a lot more weary now on people in that part of the world, that tries to sell more or less home made products.

iloveelectronics

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2013, 10:52:09 PM »
I find this quite interesting. Any Idea on the price range?
I actually don't think the soldering is too bad. I bought a tiny bench ESR meter a while ago that worked for a few days and then died. The soldering was unbelievably bad and there was a paste of dust and solder flux all over the board.
It wasn't cheap either (paid 120$ IIRC). So, if any you are thinking of buying an ESR meter in a little gray box with a 16x2 LCD - you are warned!

I have been busy lately with work and family so even though I already have these kits in stock I haven't had the time to translate the Chinese instructions yet :(

Pricing will be most likely around the $60 mark shipped.
My eBay store: http://www.99centHobbies.com
Email: franky @ 99centHobbies . com

runem

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2013, 04:28:45 PM »
I have been busy lately with work and family so even though I already have these kits in stock I haven't had the time to translate the Chinese instructions yet :(

Pricing will be most likely around the $60 mark shipped.

Please take the time you need. I know how it is with family and all that (My dad caught esophageal cancer in the spring of this year, and died on the 10th of October. Lots of things to do before and after he passed away).

adam0702

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2016, 02:24:59 AM »
What is the price of the kit?

AlyssaPatterson

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #11 on: August 30, 2017, 03:18:00 AM »
First time I am hearing about DIY milliohm/volt meter kit. And I am definitely share this product information with engineering students of Secure Assignment Help where I am right now working. 
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angelannie

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #12 on: September 15, 2017, 12:15:48 AM »
Hi
I also wanna purchase volt meter kit so please can you tell me the price ?

Lauren Desouza

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #13 on: November 30, 2017, 12:48:28 AM »
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AlexJuvion

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Re: DIY milliohm/volt meter kit
« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2018, 05:52:48 AM »
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