It's the PLJ-8LED frequency counter, I have one and love the blasted thing (cheap! cheap! cheap!). The manual I had downloaded was in Chinese, I used a google photo app to translate it. I used a mini-coax line instead of the factory wires on the signal side.
Mine's been running for hours: 12v @130mA, regulator is no more than slightly warm... (btw, has the green leds) And that was at brightness level 5 (and only 60ma @ BL2). You can lower it in the menu...
I have two and neither gets as hot as yours and I run them at 12v. Even so, and if you can't be bothered with a more involved solution, just cement a small heatsink on the 7805 casing (the type sold for fitting to PC Video card RAM chips). Works a treat.
+Mark19960 I didn't even see the qr code sticker, trashcan digging time. Actually figured it out without the manual. Top button selects functions and bottom scrolls through digits.
Something is needed on these Washington radios and others with the extra channels to see where you are at - some have flip switches some use the radio buttons but there is no way to tell where you are at.
no mention in manual of maximum dc volts riding on rf input. anyone know ? i want to use this counter to measure frequencies in tube circuits with as much as 250 vdc does its rf preamp have enough gain for me to use a scope probe
What the Hell do you want for $11.00 if it works ok but if it pops then not much lost. I bought one of these and it has been working just fine for months now.
What power supply voltage were you using? I use about 8V, and the regulator does not get hot. You can use a raspberry pi style heat sink. PS, you can remove the 7805, and mod in a dc-dc variable/dial down buck converter. However, there must be something loading it .. possibly a defective capacitor …
Nothign loading it. It's not designed to run with the 15 volts they claim it can run at. It's one of those .... yeah i designed and built the thing but I failed to derate the linear regulator..... probably because it's marketed to CB users that want to run their radios at 18 volts....
Hi Mark I would like to use one of these inside (yes inside) the case of an old communications receiver. First the module would measure the intermediate frequency of the receiver and then an Arduino would somehow connect to the module to read the frequency from the circuit into an Arduino and then have the Arduino send the frequency by serial wireless to a remote display. How would one use an Arduino to get the frequency from this circuit?
If you run 5 volts to it instead of 8 volts it will not get hot. Maybe a little warm but not hot enough to hurt it. When you get this it tells you to run it on 5 not 8.
He is still talking about the TR966 - Ranger made the TR-696F,tr-696fd1 and the TR696F-SSB all had factory 6 digit counters. Seller: fasttrack*09 uses these in the counters he sells on E-bay for just about any radio.
hey nice video... i would like to ask you something can i do mesure on output of a cb radio with this meter or i need something between rx output and meter??
No problems with any overheating at all between 9-12 volt. Tested between 1 Mhz-250 Mhz @ 100 mv - 200mv . Only problem between 48 Mhz and 59 Mhz unstable readings even by switching pins 4 and 5 I F on rear socket. Any one found same?.
Yep that is a suicide supply for sure. Probably best to just build a supply inside what you are putting it in. I would be interested in knowing if you can read the content of the pic for future programming. I may have to get one of them and try it out. Nice review Mark. Thanks
Just google PLJ-8LED for a Pdf. for the 8 LED or PLJ-6LED for the 6 LED,Seller: fasttrack*09 also has the wiring for the different radios under his description of his Frequency Counter and he Claims it will work on SSB. He has been selling them on E-bay for over a year that I know of. I know the 8 LED has a 13 page pdf download that shows everything.
Not sure what you are doing wrong to make it so hot. Mine runs cool as a cucumber on 9V in from my regulated power supply. No mod needed. Get the manual and read it before slamming something you know little about.
Because it's a shitty design. I have designed better, so yes *I* know. If you are running it at 9v that's why it runs cooler. Next, try doing the maths. Power = V * I = [Vin * vOut] * I You might find out WHY it gets so hot. I don't need to read a manual. I can do arithmetic. Cheers.
about he got info before he made this . the first IC is a prescaler driven by a dual gate preamp and the pots are gain control for the prescaler input output. .........These units are brill other than switching latency .......but very good for the money , they allso have IF switching for multi IF frequency switching or switchable to channel display . for the money are fab .........
Sorry for the late reply ... I get a lot of comments :) I am going out on a limb and say that yeah, I bet you can get something going. The issue is ssb offsets - that's not likely to work. You would have to find out what is the signal and that is the power and wire accordingly. It would not be perfect but it will read something for certain. I might spend the 10 USD if I had one of those radios and try it out personally.
It's the PLJ-8LED frequency counter, I have one and love the blasted thing (cheap! cheap! cheap!).
The manual I had downloaded was in Chinese, I used a google photo app to translate it.
I used a mini-coax line instead of the factory wires on the signal side.
I have been playing with mine for a long time now, as it is using a 9 volt battery, still going strong after a couple of years on my bench.
Mine's been running for hours: 12v @130mA, regulator is no more than slightly warm... (btw, has the green leds)
And that was at brightness level 5 (and only 60ma @ BL2). You can lower it in the menu...
Yes, it does have offset's.
I have two and neither gets as hot as yours and I run them at 12v. Even so, and if you can't be bothered with a more involved solution, just cement a small heatsink on the 7805 casing (the type sold for fitting to PC Video card RAM chips). Works a treat.
It's supposed to be bolted onto a metal front panel, that's the heat sync.
I was thinking trashcan the voltage regulator. Stick on a TO-220 package one with a real heatsink.
Probably work just fine, yeah....
Anything is better than the DPAK that has no heatsink area.
+Mark19960
I didn't even see the qr code sticker, trashcan digging time. Actually figured it out without the manual. Top button selects functions and bottom scrolls through digits.
Something is needed on these Washington radios and others with the extra channels to see where you are at - some have flip switches some use the radio buttons but there is no way to tell where you are at.
www.zl2pd.com/files/PLJ-8LED_Manual_Translation_EN.pdf
no mention in manual of maximum dc volts riding on rf input. anyone know ?
i want to use this counter to measure frequencies in tube circuits with as much as 250 vdc
does its rf preamp have enough gain for me to use a scope probe
What the Hell do you want for $11.00 if it works ok but if it pops then not much lost. I bought one of these and it has been working just fine for months now.
What power supply voltage were you using? I use about 8V, and the regulator does not get hot.
You can use a raspberry pi style heat sink.
PS, you can remove the 7805, and mod in a dc-dc variable/dial down buck converter. However, there must be something loading it .. possibly a defective capacitor …
Nothign loading it. It's not designed to run with the 15 volts they claim it can run at. It's one of those .... yeah i designed and built the thing but I failed to derate the linear regulator..... probably because it's marketed to CB users that want to run their radios at 18 volts....
Hi Mark
I would like to use one of these inside (yes inside) the case of an old communications receiver. First the module would measure the intermediate frequency of the receiver and then an Arduino would somehow connect to the module to read the frequency from the circuit into an Arduino and then have the Arduino send the frequency by serial wireless to a remote display.
How would one use an Arduino to get the frequency from this circuit?
If you run 5 volts to it instead of 8 volts it will not get hot. Maybe a little warm but not hot enough to hurt it. When you get this it tells you to run it on 5 not 8.
been using one of these for over 2 years on 6 v,never had a problem.Use as a indirect inline counter.
dougsnova1 at 6v it would be fine yes.
It gets warm, no doubt about it.
is there a way to connect a plug to it so it can be used on radios with the connector already on the back panel?
I would say there is a good possibility, yes.
What radio did you have in mind?
He is still talking about the TR966 - Ranger made the TR-696F,tr-696fd1 and the TR696F-SSB all had factory 6 digit counters. Seller: fasttrack*09 uses these in the counters he sells on E-bay for just about any radio.
Will this one work with CB radio band
Just put a small square heatsink on the 7805 the kind with the adhesive on it.
hey nice video...
i would like to ask you something
can i do mesure on output of a cb radio with this meter or i need something between rx output and meter??
will this pickup out the air or must it have a connection??
No problems with any overheating at all between 9-12 volt. Tested between 1 Mhz-250 Mhz @ 100 mv - 200mv . Only problem between 48 Mhz and 59 Mhz unstable readings even by switching pins 4 and 5 I F on rear socket. Any one found same?.
And that's why its only $10.00. Its a faulty design and being dumped onto ebay.
Yep that is a suicide supply for sure. Probably best to just build a supply inside what you are putting it in. I would be interested in knowing if you can read the content of the pic for future programming. I may have to get one of them and try it out. Nice review Mark. Thanks
Just google PLJ-8LED for a Pdf. for the 8 LED or PLJ-6LED for the 6 LED,Seller: fasttrack*09 also has the wiring for the different radios under his description of his Frequency Counter and he Claims it will work on SSB. He has been selling them on E-bay for over a year that I know of. I know the 8 LED has a 13 page pdf download that shows everything.
Check out this President Washington Frequency Counter modification President/Uniden Washington Built-in Galaxy FC347.
ruclips.net/user/results?search_query=President+Washington+Frequency+Counter
Not sure what you are doing wrong to make it so hot. Mine runs cool as a cucumber on 9V in from my regulated power supply. No mod needed. Get the manual and read it before slamming something you know little about.
Because it's a shitty design. I have designed better, so yes *I* know.
If you are running it at 9v that's why it runs cooler.
Next, try doing the maths. Power = V * I = [Vin * vOut] * I
You might find out WHY it gets so hot.
I don't need to read a manual. I can do arithmetic.
Cheers.
It's a shame he talks a load of rubbish could have been a good video. Excellent value Item, worth every Cent/Penny.
about he got info before he made this . the first IC is a prescaler driven by a dual gate preamp and the pots are gain control for the prescaler input output. .........These units are brill other than switching latency .......but very good for the money , they allso have IF switching for multi IF frequency switching or switchable to channel display . for the money are fab .........
me again.
i'm using a 9 volt smps instead of using a 12 volt unit. the built in 5 volt regulator is much cooler.
external 5v regulator, just bypass internal reg.
Why don't you FIRST download AND read the the manual? Then you could know what your nagging about!
i have a texas ranger 966 ssb.
Sorry for the late reply ... I get a lot of comments :)
I am going out on a limb and say that yeah, I bet you can get something going.
The issue is ssb offsets - that's not likely to work.
You would have to find out what is the signal and that is the power and wire accordingly.
It would not be perfect but it will read something for certain.
I might spend the 10 USD if I had one of those radios and try it out personally.
Could not bear to listen 'till the end...
Blah blah blah, ummm, ya-no, yeah.... blah blah blah
You waffle too much about nothing