Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [test-equipment]

Anything related to test equipments such as multimeter and so on...

189 questions
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3 answers

Analog scales: Why do they have a metallic strip?

I have a couple of meters with analog scales and want to know why they have a shiny metallic area following the scale.
jake9wi
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What kind of wire connectors are these?

The loop ones. I've never seen them before.
rur2641
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13
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1 answer

What is a "universal bridge"?

I recently came across this intriguing instrument from the 1970s(?): It's a "Universal Bridge" made by Wayne Kerr. It's not a type of device I've come across before and I'm curious what these are (were?) used for.
NPE
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13
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What equipment do I need to test an eye diagram for USB?

I'd like to test USB full speed with a goal of testing high speed (480 Mbit/s), I have a tek scope that does 300 MHz (which I could upgrade to 500 MHz) and I'm looking at a 500 MHz differential probe. As I understand it I also need a breakout board…
Voltage Spike
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What parts would one typically use for automated PCB testing?

I have a circuit board in production, primarily through-hole, to the tune of ~400 units per year. Each one is manually inspected and tested. The board has ten distinct voltage rails, four voltage feedback amps, three current feedback amps, a…
Stephen Collings
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11
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4 answers

Gold coated multimeter test probes

I found around a couple of damaged "gold coated" probes, after checking the inner wire it happens to be made of cooper, my questions here are simple 1) Why coat the tips if the rest of the probe is just copper? 2) In order to decrease the total…
GoatZero
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What is "tracking" on a bench power supply?

I'm looking at buying a bench power supply. Some of them have Constant Voltage / Constant Current (CV/CC) listed as a feature, and that I understand. But some also list tracking as a feature. What does tracking mean in this context? Why would I want…
vicatcu
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What is a good way to test maximum current?

I am building a device that can power other devices (it has a voltage regulator, battery controller, etc...). What is a good way to measure how much current it will provide, and/or test if it will provide a specific maximum current? Normally, my…
Matt
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8
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Is there such a thing as a programmable power sink?

Is there such a thing as a power sink equivalent to a benchtop power supply, where I can set the wattage (voltage, amperage) to be consumed? What is this device called?
Mark Harrison
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Why are non-contact voltage detectors sensitive to vibration?

I have noticed that if I slap a non-contact voltage detector against my palm, the LED blinks. I have tried this with four six different detectors, each a different brand, and each clearly a different implementation. (And no, none of them appeared to…
Warren Young
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What does sequences like 1-3, 1-10, 1-3-10 etc in a spectrum analyzer mean?

I have read in a paper explaining spectrum analyzer basic 'When selecting the RBW(resolution BW), there is usually a 1-10 or a 1-3-10 sequence of RBWs available. More RBWs are better because this allows choosing just enough resolution to make the…
sk1
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Scopes and probes

I have a descent set of probes that are rated at 100MHz, overkill for my current scope, only rated at 15MHz, but I am looking at a couple of different options for used scopes right now, some rated as high as 400 MHz. Unfortunately, most of these…
Butters
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Test fixture PCB reliability metrics?

I am working on a project for a client that involves developing a reliability test fixture that will be used for stressing the end test device (DUT). The test fixture is a PCB which has linear power supplies and some relatively low speed…
Newton88
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ESR meter: Are in-circuit readings accurate?

I recently bought one of these ESR meters, a 'MESR-100': http://www.amazon.com/MESR100-AutoRanging-Circuit-Capacitor-Tester/dp/B00G7OPBP2 It claims to be able to test capacitor ESR with the caps left in-circuit. It appears to work well from my…
UpTheCreek
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5
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How to check if my quadrature encoder is broken or not?

I have purchased some cheap quadrature incremental encoders (YUMO E6A2-CW3C) for which I have found "a" data-sheet here. Now based on my limited knowledge the quadrature incremental encoders are conceptually two switches. on the encoder itself,…
Foad
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