Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

- Mike

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:37:56 -0500, "Michael Kennedy"
wrote:

Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

See a comparison of some popular models at
www.anatekcorp.com/testequipment/esrcompar.htm

John
AnaTek Corp
www.anatekcorp.com


Boy, this one pops up regularly !

I'm still advocating the Dick Smith one, designed by Bob Parker of
Australia, who pops up on here regularly. It's generally known by the name "
Genie ". It's available virtually worldwide, in kit form or ready built, at
a VERY reasonable price. It has a digital display, auto zero, auto off, is
uP controlled, has a table of typical values to be expected, legended on the
front, auto ranging, large clear 7 seg LEDs for the readout, and is quick,
easy and unambiguous to use. I have been using mine almost daily in a
hostile commercial workshop environment for about 3 years now, and it has
never let me down. It paid for itself in saved time, in the first week.

There are many available, but few that cost so little, but do the job so
well. I would recommend this meter, unreservedly.

See

http://www.satcure-focus.com/design/page9.htm

for a review, and comparison with the analogue display " Wizard "

Arfa

"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message

Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

- Mike

I have a Peak Atlas ESR 60 (www.peakelec.co.uk) that I acquired through
Anatek (www.anatekcorp.com). It is small, simple to use and has worked
well for me. Just connect the leads, press test, wait a few seconds and
read capacitance and ESR.

--
James T. White

What are peoples thoughts on the sencore LC102?

Thanks.

The Capacitor Wizard is the nicest one out there .

Michael Kennedy wrote:

Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

- Mike

The Bob Parker one (from Dick Smith) is good. I have one and I like it.

Chris

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 21:00:10 +0000, Chris Jones
wrote:

Michael Kennedy wrote:

Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

- Mike

The Bob Parker one (from Dick Smith) is good. I have one and I like it.

Chris


I'll second the Bob Parker meter. I own one and its great.

Wayne

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
I'm still advocating the Dick Smith one, designed by Bob Parker of
Australia, who pops up on here regularly. It's generally known by the
name " Genie ". It's available virtually worldwide, in kit form or
ready built, at a VERY reasonable price. It has a digital display, auto
zero, auto off, is uP controlled, has a table of typical values to be
expected, legended on the front, auto ranging, large clear 7 seg LEDs
for the readout, and is quick, easy and unambiguous to use. I have been
using mine almost daily in a hostile commercial workshop environment
for about 3 years now, and it has never let me down. It paid for itself
in saved time, in the first week.

There are many available, but few that cost so little, but do the job so
well. I would recommend this meter, unreservedly.

There's also the great satisfaction of building your own test gear. Makes
me think I should be able to use it properly. ;-)

--
*According to my calculations, the problem doesn't exist.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Thanks to everyone for all the nice words about the Dick Smith meter.
Your cheques/checks are in the mail. ;-)

Regards
Bob


On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 02:14:49 GMT, (Wayne) wrote:

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 21:00:10 +0000, Chris Jones
wrote:

Michael Kennedy wrote:

Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

- Mike

The Bob Parker one (from Dick Smith) is good. I have one and I like it.

Chris


I'll second the Bob Parker meter. I own one and its great.

Wayne

"Ken G." wrote:

The Capacitor Wizard is the nicest one out there .


In your opinion. A digital ESR meter is needed on some capacitors
where the exact ESR has to fall into a certain range. I stopped by
local TV repair shop a while back after meeting the owner. I took my DSE
ESR meter along. They had four different analog ESR meters, including
the Capacitor Wizard, but after trying the DSE meter they ordered two of
them.




--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
"Ken G." wrote:

The Capacitor Wizard is the nicest one out there .


In your opinion. A digital ESR meter is needed on some capacitors
where the exact ESR has to fall into a certain range.


In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

For general service work, one finds that 3 % accuracy of the full
log scale is of little consequences with today's electrolytes and so
the Cap Wizard wins again by speed alone. :-)

"Do Little2" wrote in message
...

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
"Ken G." wrote:

The Capacitor Wizard is the nicest one out there .


In your opinion. A digital ESR meter is needed on some capacitors
where the exact ESR has to fall into a certain range.


In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

For general service work, one finds that 3 % accuracy of the full
log scale is of little consequences with today's electrolytes and so
the Cap Wizard wins again by speed alone. :-)


I don't get where this speed thing comes from. I've seen people mention it
before. You don't have to wait for anything with the DSE Genie. It reads "
00 ". You stick it across a cap, and before you can switch your eyes from
the cap to the display, it's reading " .80 " or whatever. No speed issue. No
ambiguity. No waiting for lights or needles to settle. No waiting for digits
to settle. Point eight ohms. Period.

Arfa

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

"Do Little2" wrote in message
...


In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

For general service work, one finds that 3 % accuracy of the full
log scale is of little consequences with today's electrolytes and so
the Cap Wizard wins again by speed alone. :-)


I don't get where this speed thing comes from. I've seen people mention it
before.


That speed thing came from the not so far away past, when some
people starting to say "it has to be digital, we don't want analog meters."
Of course, at that time (end 1970's ?) they had lots of time to mention
that while patiently waiting for the slow update/ADC on their digital
meter displays.


You don't have to wait for anything with the DSE Genie. It reads "
00 ". You stick it across a cap, and before you can switch your eyes from
the cap to the display, it's reading " .80 " or whatever. No speed issue.
No ambiguity. No waiting for lights or needles to settle. No waiting for
digits to settle. Point eight ohms. Period.

That is great!
And how does it read the ESR of a bad cap. during
temperature changes? Can you read it as nice, easy
and fast as on an analog meter or does it leave you
guessing during ESR changes?

"Do Little2" wrote in message
...

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

"Do Little2" wrote in message
...


In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

For general service work, one finds that 3 % accuracy of the full
log scale is of little consequences with today's electrolytes and so
the Cap Wizard wins again by speed alone. :-)


I don't get where this speed thing comes from. I've seen people mention
it
before.


That speed thing came from the not so far away past, when some
people starting to say "it has to be digital, we don't want analog
meters."
Of course, at that time (end 1970's ?) they had lots of time to mention
that while patiently waiting for the slow update/ADC on their digital
meter displays.


You don't have to wait for anything with the DSE Genie. It reads "
00 ". You stick it across a cap, and before you can switch your eyes from
the cap to the display, it's reading " .80 " or whatever. No speed issue.
No ambiguity. No waiting for lights or needles to settle. No waiting for
digits to settle. Point eight ohms. Period.

That is great!
And how does it read the ESR of a bad cap. during
temperature changes? Can you read it as nice, easy
and fast as on an analog meter or does it leave you
guessing during ESR changes?



In three years of using a DSE Genie, mostly daily, for professional repair
work, I've never found

" Reading the ESR of a bad cap during temperature changes "

to be an issue. Every electrolytic cap that I've ever found to be faulty as
a result of bad ESR, is at its worst when it's cold. Many switch mode power
supplies will fail to start from cold, due to a cap with a poor ESR, which
is readily and quickly found with an ESR meter, but will start if the
suspect cap is heated first. Likewise, heavy hash on a supply rail due to a
high ESR filter cap, is always at its worst when the supply is cold. Even if
ESR change with temperature was relevant to locating a bad cap, a change
from 25 ohms to 10 ohms still represents a bad cap whether you take the hot
or cold reading. I suppose at a pinch, you could use the change of reading
with temperature to 'predict' caps on their way to failure, but in 20 years
of dealing with switch mode power supplies, which is where the majority of
poor ESR issues come up, I've never found this sort of predictive failure
trend checking, to be required.

As far as your reasons for bringing up the speed issue goes, it seems to me
that in electronic terms, 25 years ago is most certainly not the

" not so far away past "

It is actually a lifetime ago, and of no relevance whatsoever to this
discussion. Whilst back then, digital meters were slow, for the reasons that
you have stated, this is not the case now, and hasn't been for the last 10
years at least. I would restate that the digital read, calculate and display
function of the DSE meter is at least as quick as the time it takes for an
analogue meter to climb and settle, and probably actually quicker - and
without any potential reading ambiguity that is inherently associated with
analogue displays.

Don't get me wrong, though. I have nothing at all against analogue meters. I
have a good old AVO 8 Mk IV on my bench, which is used for fault finding
every day, and I love it to bits. I was originally issued with it as an
apprentice, 35 or more years ago, and I would not part with it for the
world.

It would be interesting to see what others have to say about their
experiences with analogue versus digital ESR meters, and whether they find
capacitor temperature to be a significant factor in their daily use.

Arfa

"Do Little2" wrote in message
...

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
"Ken G." wrote:

The Capacitor Wizard is the nicest one out there .


In your opinion. A digital ESR meter is needed on some capacitors
where the exact ESR has to fall into a certain range.


In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

For general service work, one finds that 3 % accuracy of the full
log scale is of little consequences with today's electrolytes and so
the Cap Wizard wins again by speed alone. :-)

Sorry to jump in late to this party: Does anyone have an EVB ESR Meter? Any
comments pro or con?
TIA, Dave

On 2006-03-22 15:37:56 -0800, "Michael Kennedy"
said:

Whats your opinion on where to get the best deal on a ESR meter?

- Mike

"cough" We've been selling the Dick Smith ESR meter kit K-7214 MK II
(great design by Bob Parker!) for about six years now... great little
kit, and now we are including (at no extra cost) a MOV to put across
the input jacks. You see I think so highly of this kit that I just hate
to hear the odd story of someone blowing one up by putting it across
either a live circuit or a cap charged over 50V that I felt I had to do
something...

Bearing in mind that I still want to be able to check the ESR of
batteries (great way to tell if your lead acid or rechargable battery
is getting too old) and thus the two heavy diodes back to back would
stop that. So I hunted around for a suitable surge protection device
and found one in a Panasonic MOV 26V @ 250A.

I then took our shop DS ESR meter and after adding the MOV charged up
my old B&K HV current limited power supply to its maximum - 350VDC @
20MA. Then I nailed the ESR kit with this about ten times - drew a nice
spark a few times. The kit STILL works fine...

Oh, the MOV costs only $0.30 @ Digi-Key, hence my adding it for free.

John :-#)#
--
(Please post followups or tech enquires to the newsgroup) John's
Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9 Call
(604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com "Old pinballers never die, they
just flip out."

At one time I had both the Capacitor Wizard and the CapAnalyzer88a.
Used them both for a while. I ended up _giving_ away the Capacitor
Wizard because I didn't like it.

I kept the CapAnalyzer88a and use it just about every day on video
arcade game monitors and switching power supplies.

Just for your info, the DSE ESR meter does 4 complete display
updates per second. It has the potential to update considerably faster
than that, but I deliberately slowed it down to that rate so that the
user could read it easily.

Bob


On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:41:12 -0500, "Do Little2"
wrote:

In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

"Bob Parker" wrote in message
...
Just for your info, the DSE ESR meter does 4 complete display
updates per second. It has the potential to update considerably faster
than that, but I deliberately slowed it down to that rate so that the
user could read it easily.

Bob


Thanks for the info.
According to some users that posts here the DSE
ESR meter is indeed a very good product!

I probably belong to a small minority that occasionally like
to see a cap. ESR behavior during temperature changes.

Even in 2006 the best way to measure those ESR changes
is with an analog readout. However, I would be gladly
corrected if varying ESR changes could be properly read
with your digital ESR meter.




On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:41:12 -0500, "Do Little2"
wrote:

In my opinion, it simply is a question of waiting for the digits to
settle down or to read the analog meter of that old Cap Wizard
quickly and directly.

Ken Layton wrote:

At one time I had both the Capacitor Wizard and the CapAnalyzer88a.
Used them both for a while. I ended up _giving_ away the Capacitor
Wizard because I didn't like it.

I kept the CapAnalyzer88a and use it just about every day on video
arcade game monitors and switching power supplies.

Ok, but just to be clear, neither of those is the same device as the Bob
Parker design sold by Dick Smith.

Hi again,
Well we all agree that the ESR drops as the temperature rises.
:-)
As one technician to another, I too prefer analog readout meters
to digital ones. A moving needle instantly tells you what you want to
know, without you having to mentally figure out what the speed of
change of some numbers is. I fully understand what you're talking
about. That's one reason why the Cap Wizard's so deservedly popular.
The DSE ESR meter uses a digital display because they have the
advantage of being small, cheap and mechanically rugged. They're also
more suited to the digital circuitry it uses. You win some and you
lose some. :-)

Regards
Bob


On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 10:17:14 -0500, "Do Little2"
wrote:

Thanks for the info.
According to some users that posts here the DSE
ESR meter is indeed a very good product!

I probably belong to a small minority that occasionally like
to see a cap. ESR behavior during temperature changes.

Even in 2006 the best way to measure those ESR changes
is with an analog readout. However, I would be gladly
corrected if varying ESR changes could be properly read
with your digital ESR meter.

In article , Bob Parker wrote:
Hi again,
Well we all agree that the ESR drops as the temperature rises.
:-)
As one technician to another, I too prefer analog readout meters
to digital ones. A moving needle instantly tells you what you want to
know, without you having to mentally figure out what the speed of
change of some numbers is. I fully understand what you're talking
about. That's one reason why the Cap Wizard's so deservedly popular.
The DSE ESR meter uses a digital display because they have the
advantage of being small, cheap and mechanically rugged. They're also
more suited to the digital circuitry it uses. You win some and you
lose some. :-)

Analog stuff does make a difference. One can always make a led
bargraph. Both direction a speed, an analog meter is
almost a necessity. I was just thinking, if we grew up with
only digital clocks, my thoughts about time would be different.
I think I always convert the digital to round analog in my head.
greg


Regards
Bob


On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 10:17:14 -0500, "Do Little2"
wrote:

Thanks for the info.
According to some users that posts here the DSE
ESR meter is indeed a very good product!

I probably belong to a small minority that occasionally like
to see a cap. ESR behavior during temperature changes.

Even in 2006 the best way to measure those ESR changes
is with an analog readout. However, I would be gladly
corrected if varying ESR changes could be properly read
with your digital ESR meter.

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:00:17 GMT, (GregS) wrote:
(snip)

I was just thinking, if we grew up with
only digital clocks, my thoughts about time would be different.
I think I always convert the digital to round analog in my head.

We have a whole generation out there (to be followed by more) who don't know the
meaning of the term "clockwise".

"budgie" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:00:17 GMT, (GregS) wrote:
(snip)

I was just thinking, if we grew up with
only digital clocks, my thoughts about time would be different.
I think I always convert the digital to round analog in my head.

We have a whole generation out there (to be followed by more) who don't
know the
meaning of the term "clockwise".

To our everlasting shame at the way we have let eDyooKAyshUn go now, you are
right. We have had a young girl just start working for us, and the other
day, she asked if it was time for her to go home yet. My wife pointed at the
wall and said
" There's a clock up there " to which the girl replied " Oh, I can't read
that ... "

Sad, but absolutely true.

Arfa

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:00:17 GMT, (GregS) wrote:

Analog stuff does make a difference. One can always make a led
bargraph. Both direction a speed, an analog meter is
almost a necessity. I was just thinking, if we grew up with
only digital clocks, my thoughts about time would be different.
I think I always convert the digital to round analog in my head.
greg

I'm the same.
I should own up and admit that originally I did try to design an
ESR meter with a LED bargraph, but it was a miserable failure....

Bob

Pretty scary in a way. These days it seems that almost no-one can
spell properly and they're dependent on calculators for the simplest
arithmetic, and slackness is creeping in everywhere. Sorta makes you
wonder how it'll be in another 30 years or so.

Bob


On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:18:51 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

To our everlasting shame at the way we have let eDyooKAyshUn go now, you are
right. We have had a young girl just start working for us, and the other
day, she asked if it was time for her to go home yet. My wife pointed at the
wall and said
" There's a clock up there " to which the girl replied " Oh, I can't read
that ... "

Sad, but absolutely true.

Arfa

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

"budgie" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:00:17 GMT, (GregS) wrote:
(snip)

I was just thinking, if we grew up with
only digital clocks, my thoughts about time would be different.
I think I always convert the digital to round analog in my head.

We have a whole generation out there (to be followed by more) who don't
know the
meaning of the term "clockwise".

To our everlasting shame at the way we have let eDyooKAyshUn go now, you
are right. We have had a young girl just start working for us, and the
other day, she asked if it was time for her to go home yet. My wife
pointed at the wall and said
" There's a clock up there " to which the girl replied " Oh, I can't read
that ... "

Sad, but absolutely true.

Arfa

"We" have not let education "go" at all. There are more educational
opportunities than ever for even the most unfortunate and the most
handicapped. The problem is that so many do not take it seriously and take
advantage of what is available.

Leonard

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 03:03:47 +1100, Bob Parker
wrote:

Pretty scary in a way. These days it seems that almost no-one can
spell properly and they're dependent on calculators for the simplest
arithmetic, and slackness is creeping in everywhere. Sorta makes you
wonder how it'll be in another 30 years or so.

Being an uncontrollable optimist I see this a bit differently. Yes,
many, maybe even a majority of young people slide by not learning very
much, just what they have to do to graduate from high school.

That presents a golden opportunity for those who chose the harder
path. I do some work with young people in several high schools. The
honors programs in all of them are jammed with students, eager to
learn.

When I was in high school, back in the dark ages BD (that's Before
Digital), a sophomore in the "college prep" track took Algebra for
half the year and triginometry for the other half.

In a local high school, the sophomore honors track has a full year of
Algebra and a half year of trig. Options include the second year of
engineering prep for those so inclined. A bit tougher than my time I
would say.

So today's kids who are the go getters will stand head and shoulders
over the others, be the leaders of their generation and will do well.
The others will grumble about how society never gave them a chance and
the "college kids" get all the breaks. Some things never change.

JMHO

John

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 03:03:47 +1100, Bob Parker
wrote:

Pretty scary in a way. These days it seems that almost no-one can
spell properly and they're dependent on calculators for the simplest
arithmetic, and slackness is creeping in everywhere. Sorta makes you
wonder how it'll be in another 30 years or so.

Being an uncontrollable optimist I see this a bit differently. Yes,
many, maybe even a majority of young people slide by not learning very
much, just what they have to do to graduate from high school.

That presents a golden opportunity for those who chose the harder
path. I do some work with young people in several high schools. The
honors programs in all of them are jammed with students, eager to
learn.

When I was in high school, back in the dark ages BD (that's Before
Digital), a sophomore in the "college prep" track took Algebra for
half the year and triginometry for the other half.

In a local high school, the sophomore honors track has a full year of
Algebra and a half year of trig. Options include the second year of
engineering prep for those so inclined. A bit tougher than my time I
would say.

So today's kids who are the go getters will stand head and shoulders
over the others, be the leaders of their generation and will do well.
The others will grumble about how society never gave them a chance and
the "college kids" get all the breaks. Some things never change.

JMHO

John

If only it were like that here in the UK. Education has been getting worse
and worse, since the selective ability schooling system was scrapped in
about 1970, in favour of the comprehensive system, intended to be a leveller
of ability. All state schools are basically now of mixed ability, and there
is little incentive for clever kids to shine. There is no official streaming
within year groups, so kids of all abilities end up in the same classes.
This makes it difficult for teachers to go at anything greater than the rate
at which the least able can proceed. I know this intimately, because I have
put three kids through two of the better schools in recent years.

I would actually doubt that most kids here would even know what algebra and
trig are, let alone want to take them as subjects.

The other thing that has happened over here, is that parents have become
lazy, or just lacking in parenting skills, so expect the schools to teach
their kids absolutely everything that they need for life, and of course,
there is not enough time in the school day for them to do this. It has,
however, spawned *nonsense* time wasting subjects like "personal and social
development". I say time wasting because parents should be teaching their
kids this stuff, and the time spent by the school on doing it, would be put
to better use teaching maths or English. The reason that the girl I
mentioned cannot read a clock, is because her parents never taught her, and
her school didn't have time. So yes, we have let education go, by not doing
any of it ourselves, and allowing a clearly flawed education system, to be
perpetuated by the "PC-everyone's-equal" brigade.

Arfa

John Bachman wrote:
On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 03:03:47 +1100, Bob Parker
wrote:

Pretty scary in a way. These days it seems that almost no-one can
spell properly and they're dependent on calculators for the simplest
arithmetic, and slackness is creeping in everywhere. Sorta makes you
wonder how it'll be in another 30 years or so.

Being an uncontrollable optimist I see this a bit differently. Yes,
many, maybe even a majority of young people slide by not learning very
much, just what they have to do to graduate from high school.

That presents a golden opportunity for those who chose the harder
path. I do some work with young people in several high schools. The
honors programs in all of them are jammed with students, eager to
learn.

When I was in high school, back in the dark ages BD (that's Before
Digital), a sophomore in the "college prep" track took Algebra for
half the year and triginometry for the other half.

What days, what schools? I took geometry in 8th grade, algebra in 9th,
trig in 12th...graduated in 1971.

My daughter, in an academic magnet high school, took algebra in 8th,
geometry in 9th, on algebra II now as a sophomore. I don't know when
she'll take trig, but calculus is part of the program as well...probably
11th-12th.

She's in her third year of German, plays violin in the strings orchestra
and sings with the chorus. It's an exceptional school, to be sure, but
a public one.
http://www.mlkmagnet.mnps.org/Page664.aspx

jak

In a local high school, the sophomore honors track has a full year of
Algebra and a half year of trig. Options include the second year of
engineering prep for those so inclined. A bit tougher than my time I
would say.

So today's kids who are the go getters will stand head and shoulders
over the others, be the leaders of their generation and will do well.
The others will grumble about how society never gave them a chance and
the "college kids" get all the breaks. Some things never change.

JMHO

John

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 01:09:09 GMT, "Arfa Daily" wrote:


If only it were like that here in the UK. Education has been getting worse
and worse, since the selective ability schooling system was scrapped in
about 1970, in favour of the comprehensive system, intended to be a leveller
of ability. All state schools are basically now of mixed ability, and there
is little incentive for clever kids to shine. There is no official streaming
within year groups, so kids of all abilities end up in the same classes.
This makes it difficult for teachers to go at anything greater than the rate
at which the least able can proceed. I know this intimately, because I have
put three kids through two of the better schools in recent years.

I would actually doubt that most kids here would even know what algebra and
trig are, let alone want to take them as subjects.

The other thing that has happened over here, is that parents have become
lazy, or just lacking in parenting skills, so expect the schools to teach
their kids absolutely everything that they need for life, and of course,
there is not enough time in the school day for them to do this. It has,
however, spawned *nonsense* time wasting subjects like "personal and social
development". I say time wasting because parents should be teaching their
kids this stuff, and the time spent by the school on doing it, would be put
to better use teaching maths or English. The reason that the girl I
mentioned cannot read a clock, is because her parents never taught her, and
her school didn't have time. So yes, we have let education go, by not doing
any of it ourselves, and allowing a clearly flawed education system, to be
perpetuated by the "PC-everyone's-equal" brigade.

Zackly. Spot on. Absolutely.

(my wife is a primary teacher here in Australia, and bemoans these same things
on almost a daily basis).

Thus spake Ken Layton:
I kept the CapAnalyzer88a and use it just about every day on video
arcade game monitors and switching power supplies.

Thus spake Chris Jones:
Ok, but just to be clear, neither of those is the same device as the Bob
Parker design sold by Dick Smith.

And that's where it lies for me. IT's a toss-up between the BP/DS and the
CA88a.

Who has had the chance to use both of these and can offer some comparisons?

And yes, I've seen the brief table of features on the 'net, URL posted
earlier.

Thanks,
--
DaveC

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On 2006-04-27 23:55:33 -0700, DaveC said:

Thus spake Ken Layton:
I kept the CapAnalyzer88a and use it just about every day on video
arcade game monitors and switching power supplies.

Thus spake Chris Jones:
Ok, but just to be clear, neither of those is the same device as the Bob
Parker design sold by Dick Smith.

And that's where it lies for me. IT's a toss-up between the BP/DS and
the CA88a.
Who has had the chance to use both of these and can offer some comparisons?

And yes, I've seen the brief table of features on the 'net, URL posted earlier.
Thanks,

Both are good. The CA88A indicates shorted caps, that is something the
DS unit can't. The probes that come with the DS/BP kit are not very
good, but then they are 'free' as DS only added them after I nagged
them for a few years... the CA88A probes are very nice. The CA88A can
be turned on when stuffed into a tool kit, the DS turns itself off
after a few minutes.

I have added a MOV to the DS kits we sell to protect against charged
caps, otherwise I suspect either one would be fine for bench use.

We use the Bob Parker/DS ESR meter all the time, that's why I sell them!

John :-#)#
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