Nice! I was unaware of the flat charger interface modules, perhaps because I've never looked! But it adds a candidate for me. If I had a ScopeMeter, I'd try to keep my expectations in line with what it is -- might be nice for various tasks. I have a little DS212 gizmo; there's are similar "too much trouble" and "(even more) limited" barriers for it. A little small and fiddly, similar charging issues, but If it was out and ready, I might use it more often. The wireless wouldn't be an option, but I suppose I could just keep a USB cable handy. I was just watching your 8591A video, which I found interesting but I confess a little harder to follow as you moved quickly through the details. This one had a nice flow and orderliness that made it quite comfortable to follow what you where thinking. Nicely done! I might suggest giving yourself a little more distance from the microphone; when it's as close as it was, and then compressed, it ends up feeling a little like you're right up in my face! Just a preference, I guess; I think you want a kind of a more natural feel to the sound. I like the nice steady level, though.
Yeah the retrofit Qi coils are very cool and so cheap, clearly targeted at phones but such a nice module for all DIY things. I agree about the scopemeter concept and I'm setting my expectations now, but I do find it a lot more useful now its charged (and always on the bench). Thanks for the feedback on the mic, I'm doing these videos to develop these audio/visual skills so feedback is important. I'm still figuring out what I want to do, this was the first time I used a "voiceover" approach rather than a direct mic, and I recorded it at night while my family was asleep, so it unintentionally sounds like I'm trying to do ASMR... I'll try giving the mic more distance in the next video. I am much happier with the levels now though. About the 8591A, yeah, first video, didn't know if I could even repair it, there was a lot of trial and error in that one! Still, I think it worked well enough, looking forward to my next repair videos, hopefully that will be a better mix of everything!
@@bansci Sound is kinda my thing. RU-vid and public vids in general present some interesting challenges -- for starters, everybody's listening configuration is different! But there are some basics you can use to pull everything toward the center, and I think you've done well with that.
This is really weird. I haven't touched my 123 in months; so today I plug it in to charge the batteries. So what greets me on launching RU-vid? This video of Fluke 123.
i can pick up one of these in units in great condition but without the charging cable for $200 is that worth it without the cable.. so it will cost me $400 to have a working unit with cable? Do you think a novice can set up a diy charge cable? I dont need it remotely was just going to use it as desktop
Hey, the units are well worth $200, but I only use it when I'm messing around with SMPS. I would recommend making your own charger to save money, you can shave down some barrel jacks to the right size, but it will take some iterations.
I have the same problem with my Fluke 124. I have replaced the original batteries with Panasonic MH 1906, but I'm not happy. Charge is very slow and doesn't last long. Looking for a different solution , something like yours. Thanks for your amazing video.
Glad to hear you liked the video. I've actually changed to a USB C charging cable (see my only RU-vid short video), as there's too much distance between the charger and the charging coil, leading to a lot of heating during charging. I'm back on replacement MH batteries, but having it USBC makes it very easy to charge and I now use the meter all the time.
I'd be interested to hear why you think that, but I agree based on how little I've used it. I'm hoping this mod helps it find its way onto my bench more though because I feel it *could* be a useful tool, I just don't think its well packaged.
@@bansci Well, I had one a few years ago and somehow I felt it was not intuitive to use. It has this destinkt cheap 8bit plastic feel to it and hat's the bandwidth on this thing? Eventually the LCD developed this nasty line issue where the flex connection slowly separates itself from the glass. This unit may have its place for generic use when working on electrical stuff or when isolation is needed but when working on electronics I'd prefer using something more serious of an instrument like a Tektronix or so, even if it is of 90 vintage.
It's no bench meter or scope, that's for sure. The build quality and "experience" don't feel any worse than, say, a DMM, but I agree they're not for any serious analog work and would be frustrating if used for it. I guess then it's niche is power supply debugging. I've fixed one bad linear regulator with it and it was faster to debug than with a normal DMM, but I only looked at the shape of the wave, not it's values. Thanks!
Getting the right tool for the job is important. This device is intended for field use particularly on control circuits (HVAC, variable frequency drives) things like that where voltage, phase, frequency are important. The metering is the principal feature and the scope is not intended to replace a "real" oscilloscope. Conversely, a digital storage oscilloscope is designed to show you the waveform and it derives its measurements from the 8 bit ADC conversion; so is inherently limited in precision. I used the Fluke 123 to look at voltage, frequency and waveform of a Generac generator since the UPS fed by it really do not like it. Voltage says okay, frequency mostly okay, but OMG, look at that horrible waveform. Try that with a "real" oscilloscope and sparks are going to fly unless you are using a differential probe that costs as much as the oscilloscope (or float the oscilloscope with an isolation transformer but that's not a very good idea either since the case could be "hot" if you do that).
I would 3d print a case it "Slips into" and gut a charging pad - then shove those in the back of the case. This would give a fixed position on each insertion and give you better control over the distance between the two charging surfaces, Since you "know" you don't want it on all the time shove a 555 to knock it off after say 2 hours. better to press it a few times than set the house on fire.
Nice idea, it would definitely help. The underlying issue is that the distance between the coils is too large, the kickstand gets in the way. Better alignment, or maybe better coils would help. Someone did a whole thesis on designing wireless charging for the modern scopemeters: essay.utwente.nl/66229/1/Verslag%20Bachelor%20Eindopdracht%20Wouter%20Bos%20s0204609%20groot.pdf
@@twobob unfortunately that doesn't work. The coils negotiate power delivery to prevent energy loss from running the coil when not needed. Maybe I'm over thinking this and I just need a USB C port and some isolation!
@@bansci My 287 runs off a mod to use regular PP9's for now but I have multiple charging units from some old toothbrushes, a wemos shield and some tiny lipos. might have a play (so multiple, small receivers to allow for error in placement could be a solution)
@@twobob toothbrush bases is a nice idea, they are reed switch activated and the core helps locate them, so printing a battery cover with a compatible hole might be pretty neat! If you do something then please update us, maybe a post on eevblog or something
I don't think so. These wireless chargers have a negotiation before they deliver power to prevent wasting power by being on all the time. Two recieving coils would probably interfere with the negotiations.