Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

[Per Hansson]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

Mine (an original Dick Smith Electronics K-7214 MK2) shows 8.8 for the self-test.
It could be that Q6 has been damaged from a charged capacitor.
You can check the area around it and ultimately try to replace Q6.

[bcstedt]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

Thanks for the update and the pics!

I mostly use the Blue ESR (rev 1) and the DE-5000 (ver 8). I just got looking over the Blue ESR docs and found the self test section (it's been a long while) but have now found my meter is giving an FA error code. Can anyone else confirm their self test is working okay (.8.8 display)?

I've never noticed anything really 'strange' about the behaviour of my Blue ESR but now I'm curious. :/



From the manual:

Switch the meter on by pressing and continuing to hold the button down, regardless of what the displays are showing. After five seconds, they will go blank for a moment and then show a test result for two seconds. The meter will then switch off by itself after you release the button.

If everything is more or less OK, you’ll see “.8.8” on the displays (this shows that all the display segments and decimal point LEDs are working). However, if the microcontroller has detected a problem it will flash a fault code
consisting of an “F” on the left hand display and a character from 0-9 or an “A” on the right hand one.

...

FA: Q6 not switching on. Check around Q6 (2N3904), R24 (10kΩ) and pin 1 of IC2.

The microcontroller cannot perform detailed tests on every component, so it’s possible that your meter is malfunctioning even though the self-testing hasn’t shown up a problem. For example, if the meter is behaving strangely, “freezing” up or giving absurd readings on some values of test resistors, the most likely cause is a mix-up in the values of R6 (10kΩ), R8 (1kΩ) and R10 (100Ω). On the other hand, if the meter produces readings but there’s something wrong with the displayed characters, this is almost certainly due to one or more solder bridges between the pins of the displays or around IC3.

[stj]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

i think so.

[jayjr1105]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

Is the original code used for the Z8 closed source?

[redwire]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

The Blue ESR Meter works great for me, it just plain works with no hassles and a good investment.

The Zilog Z8 MCU is obsolete and I wondered about the kit's supply.
I wanted to write firmware take the concept over to a newer MCU and find a way to add an extra digit, and read capacitance as well.

[jayjr1105]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

you could re-drill the endplate and fit a couple of 4mm shielded sockets.

They actually give you an extra endplate without any holes, I guess in case you want to do something like this. You'd have to re drill the hole for the power button but that's not difficult.

[stj]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

you could re-drill the endplate and fit a couple of 4mm shielded sockets.

[jayjr1105]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

Oh wow, the Bob Parker lurked on these forums, cool!

I love it. Just waiting on better probes. Wish the blue meter had the banana jacks like the old Dick Smith model had. Otherwise It's great and was fun to assemble.

[stj]

Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

i didnt even know the Anatek blue was still being sold!

[Per Hansson]

Re: Finally built the Bop Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

There have been a few threads about this meter in the past if you want some history.
I still have mine, and I used it today at work!
Sure I have a couple of the Atmega based "transistor testers" that are all over eBay.
But this original Bob Parker design is special to me, I really like it!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1287
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6535

[jayjr1105]

Have wanted to build this for a long time ever since I saw Dave Jones use the old black and red one. It was fun to build and works great. What ESR meters do you guys use?