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Well I'm over 1/2 done with that Elenco Digital Multimeter I'm building. So far all test are a good. I did have a few issues, mostly self induced.
The 6 pin on/off push button switch I installed backwards and I decided to desolder which made a mess of the solder pads on the circuit pad. On would have been off and off on. I wish I'd left it alone, not purty or anything I'd want to show off. The instructions tell you to match the 'Notch' with the that outlined on the card.....I couldn't find any notch and I looked fer a long time.
The 9v btry snap and two wires were another problem. They are small red and blk wires you solder to the ckt card. Problem is you filp the card around constantly to put in parts and the weight of the btry (when in) pulls on those connections and they work loose causing the connections to come loose and after a few times the pad you solder too is useless and had to run one directly to a pin on the sw and the other to a trace on the card.
A better idy would have been to put a couple post/pins through the holes and either wrap the wires around the and solder or a small plug-in type where you could just connect/disconnect the +- leads after soldering a more sturdy connector on the board.
Since parts are mounted on both sides of the ckt card and many are stood up on end you gotta be careful to leave room for adjacent parts to fit besides getting the +- leads on 'Lytic' Capacitors in correctly. Plus cathode (bands) on diodes right because you are used to laying them horizontal not on end. The ckt card is marked with white outlines, but still you gotta pay close attention.
I used another digital multimeter to measure resistors, hard to see the color bands and it's a good way to verify them and many can get mixed up like 9 ohms, 90, 900 and 9K.
I checked all the Caps with a Capacitance meter to make sure I had the right ones and they are within tolerance. It uses Electrolytic, Mylar and Disc Caps.
I ordered an ESR (equivalent series resistance) meter which checks the internal resistance in ohms in Caps. Just measuring the capacitance in pf/uf may not tell if it's good, plus it allows in circuit testing. Don't really need it for this kit at all, but will come in handy to look for bad caps on stuff and will save a lot of time not having to desolder the suspected caps to test. Of course, you need to discharge them before testing/removal. A chart is on the ESR meter and your measurement should fall within the parameters for farads and voltage marked on the cap.
I checked a wall outlet for a AC test with it, trusted it enough to do that...no smoke! They give you tests to perform along the way depending on what other equipment/parts you have O/H to calibrate it as you go. No need to keep going if one test fails.
Anyhow, if you enjoy building electronic kits and especially something useful besides blinky lights that does something, this may be for you.
Good review of the kit
The kit I'm building
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Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
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