So enjoyed this series, beautifully presented and explained; can see you are used to presenting /explaining such topics - your professionalism and enthusiasm lift this above so many other youtube videos.
Thank you for these excellent videos The Function Gen., The Milliohm Meter, and the Voltage Reference and the downloads and of course your time and effort..........................Berni
You know, you could make a small run of kits and see if people will buy them (I think they would). This is very useful when you want to calibrate meters bought from the electronics junk yard (I have a couple). The main thing preventing me from building this is the amount of time it would require to do everything on my own, however a kit might save most of that time. Hackaday might be interested in carrying something like this?
Wow, at last you've finished your project sir. It's a nice build, and very interesting to clone. But unfortunately I can't make that because I don't have a good high resolution/high accuracy multimeter to use in calibration phase. Anyway it's a very nice video sir,it surely inspires a lot of DIY'ers like me :)
Hi'gak Iya Thanks. The main reference voltages of 5 volt and 10 need no calibration. With regards to calibrating the 1 volt and 100 mV ranges it is not essential to have a high accuracy meter as you simply first measure the 10 volt output and what ever that reading is on your meter then divide that by two and then simply trim the calibration presets for that reading on the same meter you used to check the 10 volt output. It will then be calibrated. I always try to design my projects so it can be built by the hobbyists.
Christian Christiansen Thanks. I use a number of supplier but mainly Farnell (Element 14) and RS Components Ltd. I so use Rapid Electronics for components and my PCB blank photo resist boards.
Hi Louis, Finally built the reference unit using a low cost multimeter. Get 10, 5, 1volt and 0.10v readings so I am a happy bunny. I have no way of telling how accurate it is but assume that it will meet the basic spec. Many thanks and now it is "what do I do next"? Many thanks. Bob
Nice to hear you built it OK. If you followed my video I am sure it will be quite accurate and useful for testing the calibration of your multimeters. It nice to hear when other people build my projects. I have been quite busy of late so had little time to upload a new video. Hope to get a new video uploaded soon. Regards, Louis
Great series (including the PCB etching). Looks like you've used KiCad for the design? Thanks for explaining everything so thoroughly. I look forward to building my own!
Now thats a smashing job :-D Im am really chuffed with how well it works and how nice it looks :-D , i bet your really pleased too, i would be :-D And considering you designed the whole thing in a very short time, it performs as you expected/planned, clever man indeed :-D The jumpers being moved to the underside would be usefull for when a calibration needs doing again in a years time, but you cant think of everything lol. When you pressed the button the pcb moved slightly, perhaps a couple of plastic tubes between the top of the pcb to the top case would stop that, some rubber solution or bostik could hold them to both surfaces without drilling :-) So a low pass choke/cap was your chioce for removing that tiny spike from the supply, not too bad a mod to fix a fault :-) Those smd chips are evil to solder arnt they lol, im no lover of smd.
zx8401ztv Thanks. It did work well and was easy to calibrate the 1V and 100mV ranges. It was only when I mounted the board on the front panel that a thought about moving the links to to print side of the board, but that's an easy mod to make. I take your point about supporting the PCB - I did include fixing holes on the corners of the PCB but decided not to drill any more holes in the front panel, but could use them later. Yes, the SMD chips can be a little tricky to solder especially when I was trying to film it at the same time!! I normally use a bench magnifier light which helps but on this occasion it was not possible as the camera was in the way.
Scullcom Hobby Electronics Ahh, it helps to keep your elbow and sometimes pinkey in contact with the table, ive been known to stick the tip of my tongue out a little, it helps ha ha :-D Yes i think you did a brilliant job overall :-)) I found de-solder braid handy when i replaced some simple smd chips in a mates washing machine, it recovered the well known "Dam two pins joined" situation lol.
I attempted to follow along and create a Fritzing schematic, breadboard and PCB layout but couldn't find most of the parts. Perhaps I'm not familiar enough with Fritzing but thought you might have some ideas on this. Also, I tried to do this with KiCad and found it very difficult to understand.
+Christopher Moore I have not used Fritzing as yet. I have used Kicad for circuit and PCB design. In the comments below the video you will find links to download them, which I have converted in to pdf files. Kicad can take some time to understand but there are some good You Tube videos giving tutorials. Some components I had to design myself.
What is the reason for not simply trimming the pots when directly measuring the supposed voltage [i.e without inserting jumper leads, etc]? Then you could directly get a reading of .0000... as best as possible, without a back & forth trial and error?
Hi Louis, Really enjoying your video Projects and look forward to whats coming next. I was wondering if you could give me some guidance,I just built the Precision Voltage referenence and as my local store didnt have the right Chokes have used 330uH chokes,Not sure if thats causing my problem though.I am getting around 14.3v and -13.7volts from the test points of the IC and 5V Exactly from the reference socket and only the 5v on the rotary switch is right,I am getting 1.21v on th 100mA,3,928 on the 1V and 4.986 on the 10V.I thought I may have had the switch in the wrong way but that seems to only fit one way. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for excellent series once again Regards Lewis Bryant
Hi Lewis, Sorry for the delay in answering but I have not been online for sometime due to other commitments. The 330uH choke should be just fine. From what you have explained your problem is either in the resistor network on the switching. Suggest you re-check all the resistor values and ensure they are in the correct position. The other possibility is a faulty rotary switch or an incorrect type is been used. The switch I used was Lorlin CK rotary switch (Mfr. Part No. CK1051). Check the link below for details: uk.rs-online.com/web/p/rotary-switches/0665203/
Hi Louis, Can you possibly give the dimensions of your PCB as I have tried two different printers and get a different sized pattern.Thoroughly enjoying your series.Bob
Hi Robert, The PCB actual size is 120mm x 90mm. For some reason the pdf file link is printing at a reduced size. I have added another link for the PCB www.scullcom.com/Volt_Ref_Upgrade_PCB_fullsize.pdf I have found the best way to print it is to first save this pdf file on your PC and then open it up. When you then go to print it make sure that the "Actual Size" (or set the Custom Size to 100%) option is selected in the print settings. Let me know how you get on.
Great series, well explained and good video work with the soldering. I have a question regarding shorting the output, from what I was able to tell from the data sheet for the ISL21009BFB850Z, it looks like the output could be shorted for 10s without damaging the chip. Is that correct? I'm wondering if you did something by mistake if you have a chance of not damaging things?
+Scullcom Hobby Electronics Ok great. I am having trouble finding the ISL21009BFB850Z chip here in the states, it is listed by intersil as obsolete. The replacement, ISL21009CFB850Z accuracy is +/- 1.0 mV and has a higher temperature coeficient @ 5 ppm / ˚C. Any suggestions? Thanks again.
+Bill De La Vega Try the Out Front Inc., based in New York. Below is a direct link to the IC on their website; search.outfrontinc.com/?part=ISL21009CFB850Z&Submit1=Search The IC is also available in the UK from: uk.rs-online.com/web/p/voltage-references/0516568/ They may ship to USA if you ask but at a cost. Also checkout the link below: www.hkinventory.com
Hi Louis, i'm just gathering parts for a build. Q1 910k resistor @ 0.1% cant find on Rs only 1% Q2 is it possible to add or swap one of the voltages to give 200mV ? or is there another project that you know of which gives a reference of 200mV @ 2W which is what i am trying to find Thanks Sean
Hi Sean, Q1. for that 910K resistor you can use a 1% tolerance as it will be trimmed by the series preset resistor. If you want a 0.1% tolerance one then you can use an SMD resistor (radiospares Stock No. 666-2758). Q2. This reference circuit would not be suitable for 2W power. As 200mV @ 2W would require 10 Amp, this is a lot of current. Providing an accurate reference voltage at that sort of current would be an issue. Accurate voltage reference sources are usually low current so as to ensure they are stable over time and temperature. I would be interested to know why you need a voltage reference at the voltage and power you quote. Regards, Louis
Scullcom Hobby Electronics ah I see what I've done. Start again. I need to build a power source capable of delivering an accurate signal from 100mW to 2W from 1mhz to 1ghz ish although I'm only interested in upto 80mhz. What I meant was are there any projects like the reference project capable of this sort of range thanks
The component layout sheet is on page 2 of the PCB artwork download: www.scullcom.com/Volt_Ref_Upgrade_PCB_fullsize.pdf If you intend to use the PCB artwork remember to save this PDF file to your PC then open the file and print it. If you simply print from the PDF opened in your internet explorer for some reason internet explorer reduces the actual size slightly which will be an issue.
Nice job. You obviously put a lot of work into your videos, it shows. Many Thanks.
elboa8 Thanks. Yes it does take a bit of preparation!
So enjoyed this series, beautifully presented and explained; can see you are used to presenting /explaining such topics - your professionalism and enthusiasm lift this above so many other youtube videos.
+RDH1024 Thanks for your kind comments which are much appreciated.
Excellent series thanks for taking the time to post ,I see you have broken the 1000 subscriber barrier, more than deserved.
tuberlook1 Thanks for your kind comments.
Thank you for these excellent videos The Function Gen., The Milliohm Meter, and the Voltage Reference and the downloads and of course your time and effort..........................Berni
+berni ken Thanks Berni.
Marvelous, simply marvelous! Thanks for your efforts!
***** Thanks.
You know, you could make a small run of kits and see if people will buy them (I think they would). This is very useful when you want to calibrate meters bought from the electronics junk yard (I have a couple). The main thing preventing me from building this is the amount of time it would require to do everything on my own, however a kit might save most of that time. Hackaday might be interested in carrying something like this?
Wonderfully prepared and presented, Thank You!
knunne1 Thanks for your kind comment.
I thank for your generosity!
Excelent work, thanks to share to the comunity!
Iván Relota Thanks, your welcome.
Wow, at last you've finished your project sir. It's a nice build, and very interesting to clone. But unfortunately I can't make that because I don't have a good high resolution/high accuracy multimeter to use in calibration phase.
Anyway it's a very nice video sir,it surely inspires a lot of DIY'ers like me :)
Hi'gak Iya Thanks. The main reference voltages of 5 volt and 10 need no calibration. With regards to calibrating the 1 volt and 100 mV ranges it is not essential to have a high accuracy meter as you simply first measure the 10 volt output and what ever that reading is on your meter then divide that by two and then simply trim the calibration presets for that reading on the same meter you used to check the 10 volt output. It will then be calibrated. I always try to design my projects so it can be built by the hobbyists.
Again a nice video. Any particular place you buy your components/PCB.
Christian Christiansen Thanks. I use a number of supplier but mainly Farnell (Element 14) and RS Components Ltd. I so use Rapid Electronics for components and my PCB blank photo resist boards.
Hi Louis, Finally built the reference unit using a low cost multimeter. Get 10, 5, 1volt and 0.10v readings so I am a happy bunny. I have no way of telling how accurate it is but assume that it will meet the basic spec. Many thanks and now it is "what do I do next"? Many thanks. Bob
Nice to hear you built it OK. If you followed my video I am sure it will be quite accurate and useful for testing the calibration of your multimeters. It nice to hear when other people build my projects. I have been quite busy of late so had little time to upload a new video. Hope to get a new video uploaded soon.
Regards,
Louis
Thanks
Great series (including the PCB etching). Looks like you've used KiCad for the design?
Thanks for explaining everything so thoroughly. I look forward to building my own!
Darian Cabot Thanks, yes I did use KiCad I find it easy to use although I have to edit components to fit my design.
Now thats a smashing job :-D
Im am really chuffed with how well it works and how nice it looks :-D , i bet your really pleased too, i would be :-D
And considering you designed the whole thing in a very short time, it performs as you expected/planned, clever man indeed :-D
The jumpers being moved to the underside would be usefull for when a calibration needs doing again in a years time, but you cant think of everything lol.
When you pressed the button the pcb moved slightly, perhaps a couple of plastic tubes between the top of the pcb to the top case would stop that, some rubber solution or bostik could hold them to both surfaces without drilling :-)
So a low pass choke/cap was your chioce for removing that tiny spike from the supply, not too bad a mod to fix a fault :-)
Those smd chips are evil to solder arnt they lol, im no lover of smd.
zx8401ztv Thanks. It did work well and was easy to calibrate the 1V and 100mV ranges. It was only when I mounted the board on the front panel that a thought about moving the links to to print side of the board, but that's an easy mod to make. I take your point about supporting the PCB - I did include fixing holes on the corners of the PCB but decided not to drill any more holes in the front panel, but could use them later. Yes, the SMD chips can be a little tricky to solder especially when I was trying to film it at the same time!! I normally use a bench magnifier light which helps but on this occasion it was not possible as the camera was in the way.
Scullcom Hobby Electronics Ahh, it helps to keep your elbow and sometimes pinkey in contact with the table, ive been known to stick the tip of my tongue out a little, it helps ha ha :-D
Yes i think you did a brilliant job overall :-))
I found de-solder braid handy when i replaced some simple smd chips in a mates washing machine, it recovered the well known "Dam two pins joined" situation lol.
Ah that's where I went wrong I forgot to stick my tongue out!! lol
Well done!
Hi Louis, can I ask you which software you use for the printings of your projects? I mean the front stickers on the projectbox.
Thank you.
I simply use Paintshop Pro. I usually scan in the blank panels first to ensure the correct size.
Regards,
Louis
I'm curious as to why you use one 10uF tantalum and one 10uF electrolytic. Why not both the same?
I attempted to follow along and create a Fritzing schematic, breadboard and PCB layout but couldn't find most of the parts. Perhaps I'm not familiar enough with Fritzing but thought you might have some ideas on this. Also, I tried to do this with KiCad and found it very difficult to understand.
+Christopher Moore I have not used Fritzing as yet. I have used Kicad for circuit and PCB design. In the comments below the video you will find links to download them, which I have converted in to pdf files. Kicad can take some time to understand but there are some good You Tube videos giving tutorials. Some components I had to design myself.
What is the reason for not simply trimming the pots when directly measuring the supposed voltage [i.e without inserting jumper leads, etc]? Then you could directly get a reading of .0000... as best as possible, without a back & forth trial and error?
Realy great tutorials. Keep going! Any plans for future videos?
+Piotr Hołowicz Thanks. I am planning on some future video projects which I am working on.
Hi Louis,
Really enjoying your video Projects and look forward to whats coming next.
I was wondering if you could give me some guidance,I just built the Precision Voltage referenence and as my local store didnt have the right Chokes have used 330uH chokes,Not sure if thats causing my problem though.I am getting around 14.3v and -13.7volts from the test points of the IC and 5V Exactly from the reference socket and only the 5v on the rotary switch is right,I am getting 1.21v on th 100mA,3,928 on the 1V and 4.986 on the 10V.I thought I may have had the switch in the wrong way but that seems to only fit one way.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for excellent series once again
Regards
Lewis Bryant
Hi Lewis, Sorry for the delay in answering but I have not been online for sometime due to other commitments.
The 330uH choke should be just fine.
From what you have explained your problem is either in the resistor network on the switching. Suggest you re-check all the resistor values and ensure they are in the correct position. The other possibility is a faulty rotary switch or an incorrect type is been used. The switch I used was Lorlin CK rotary switch
(Mfr. Part No. CK1051). Check the link below for details:
uk.rs-online.com/web/p/rotary-switches/0665203/
Hi Louis, Can you possibly give the dimensions of your PCB as I have tried two different printers and get a different sized pattern.Thoroughly enjoying your series.Bob
Hi Robert, The PCB actual size is 120mm x 90mm. For some reason the pdf file link is printing at a reduced size. I have added another link for the PCB
www.scullcom.com/Volt_Ref_Upgrade_PCB_fullsize.pdf
I have found the best way to print it is to first save this pdf file on your PC and then open it up. When you then go to print it make sure that the "Actual Size" (or set the Custom Size to 100%) option is selected in the print settings. Let me know how you get on.
Great series, well explained and good video work with the soldering. I have a question regarding shorting the output, from what I was able to tell from the data sheet for the ISL21009BFB850Z, it looks like the output could be shorted for 10s without damaging the chip. Is that correct? I'm wondering if you did something by mistake if you have a chance of not damaging things?
+Bill De La Vega Thanks for your comments. I believe the short circuit current is limited to 10 mA so it should be fine.
+Scullcom Hobby Electronics Ok great. I am having trouble finding the ISL21009BFB850Z chip here in the states, it is listed by intersil as obsolete. The replacement, ISL21009CFB850Z accuracy is +/- 1.0 mV and has a higher temperature coeficient @ 5 ppm / ˚C. Any suggestions? Thanks again.
+Bill De La Vega Try the Out Front Inc., based in New York. Below is a direct link to the IC on their website;
search.outfrontinc.com/?part=ISL21009CFB850Z&Submit1=Search
The IC is also available in the UK from:
uk.rs-online.com/web/p/voltage-references/0516568/
They may ship to USA if you ask but at a cost.
Also checkout the link below:
www.hkinventory.com
Nice job, thanks.
Robert Calk Jr. Thanks Robert.
HI Louis, the ISL21009BFB850Z is no longer available. What would you suggest as an alternative? Cheers
Hi,
The MAX6250ACSA+ is a very good alternative. It is pin compatible so can be used as a direct replacement in this project.
Regards, Louis
Thank you. Will do.
Hi Louis, i'm just gathering parts for a build.
Q1 910k resistor @ 0.1% cant find on Rs only 1%
Q2 is it possible to add or swap one of the voltages to give 200mV ?
or is there another project that you know of which gives a reference of 200mV @ 2W which is what i am trying to find
Thanks
Sean
Hi Sean,
Q1. for that 910K resistor you can use a 1% tolerance as it will be trimmed by the series preset resistor. If you want a 0.1% tolerance one then you can use an SMD resistor (radiospares Stock No. 666-2758).
Q2. This reference circuit would not be suitable for 2W power. As 200mV @ 2W would require 10 Amp, this is a lot of current. Providing an accurate reference voltage at that sort of current would be an issue. Accurate voltage reference sources are usually low current so as to ensure they are stable over time and temperature. I would be interested to know why you need a voltage reference at the voltage and power you quote.
Regards,
Louis
Scullcom Hobby Electronics hi Louis to calibrate a Marconi 2955 test set power meter as it is high on self test and gives error messages
I am not familiar with the Marconi 2955. Do you really need 200mV at 10 Amp for calibrating the receiver?
Scullcom Hobby Electronics ah I see what I've done. Start again.
I need to build a power source capable of delivering an accurate signal from 100mW to 2W from 1mhz to 1ghz ish although I'm only interested in upto 80mhz. What I meant was are there any projects like the reference project capable of this sort of range thanks
Louis what happened to the components layout sheet?
The component layout sheet is on page 2 of the PCB artwork download:
www.scullcom.com/Volt_Ref_Upgrade_PCB_fullsize.pdf
If you intend to use the PCB artwork remember to save this PDF file to your PC then open the file and print it. If you simply print from the PDF opened in your internet explorer for some reason internet explorer reduces the actual size slightly which will be an issue.
*I* would have cut the shaft on the rotary switch to the proper length *before* installing it on the board...
I realise the vidos are relatively old but the links do not work. Is there a solution?
The video links are fine but www links work.
can you do a video on impedance matching??
+GOWTHAM KRISH (Gowtham Shanmugaraj) I will try and cover it on a future video. I like to link learning with a project build.
Well, I'm looking forward to it!!
Is there somewhere a person can order this from here in the states? I am willing to pay for the needed shipping.
Well done!