Using the Analog Discovery as a simple transistor curve tracer to display the I/V characteristics of a transistor with stepped base current as a parameter.
Tom, thank you for your investment of time and equipment to make these videos. I can't count the hours I have spent listening, watching and learning from them. I have tinkered with electronics since I was a kid, but with the advent of the Internet as a learning resource, and the availability of affordable learning instruments like the AD2 I have been able to begin learning how all this works. I am pushing retirement age, so I am a bit late to the party, but I am really making progress thanks to gentlemen like yourself, Alan, Ben Eater, Derek Molloy and too many others to mention. Dave
A few years back, i thought that the AD was an overpriced USB scope, especially for students. If back then I took the time to examine the specs properly and relate them to the actual capacity of the little device...I would have craved for it as I do now. Thank you very much for the informatives videos.
This is beautiful, Tom. I built and used the "octopus" circuit for years while working on solid state equipment. We didn't call it an octopus 30+ years ago. My memory may be failing me but it seems like we had to use the Z axis input of the scope for the circuit we used. Your version using the AD2 would have been unbelievable to have all those years ago to compare good to bad circuits as we used the simple "octopus" circuit for.. Anyway, I really like this and I bet myself and others will find many uses for your circuit. Many thanks.
Thanks to you and others for the nice comments. I remember these under different names in the 80's including the Huntron Tracker used to compare signatures between "good" and "bad" boards to locate the problem. Of course, the circuit can be used as a simple I/V tracer without the Step function as well. I hope this use will inspire others to try the AD in even more innovative ways, including extending the voltage and current range of this application through add-on amplifiers. That would allow matching of power transistors for audio output stages.
My Tektronix curve tracers must weigh more than 1000 lbs, 575, 576, 577, 5CT1N, 7CT1N, all the supporting parts, yada, yada. Your solution is the way to start. I stopped teaching octopus circuits decades ago. It took days to teach the analog scopes. By then, kids didn’t care about components anymore. I like this idea. These guys need to show you some respect. As I type I’m placing a $2K order.
Another way you can do the staircase is on the 'Math' tab enter 'floor(min(X,0.99)*N)', N being number of steps like 5 in this case. The min() is to make sure the max X value 1.00 does not cause an extra step. If you need many steps it might save some time :)
Although older, this us a great video and explanation. I am severely ADD and it was done so well that I understand it. I found it doing a search for tube tracers. It seems to me that all of the heavy lifting is done by the PC. I think with a couple of high voltage liner amplifiers it could be set up for tube testing. Am I barking up the wrong tree? Any thoughts would be well appreciated.
Tom, thank you for your investment of time and equipment to make these videos. I can't count the hours I have spent listening, watching and learning from them. I have tinkered with electronics since I was a kid, but with the advent of the Internet as a learning resource, and the availability of affordable learning instruments like the AD2 I have been able to begin learning how all this works. I am pushing retirement age, so I am a bit late to the party, but I am really making progress thanks to gentlemen like yourself, Alan, Ben Eater, Derek Molloy and too many others to mention. Dave
Tom, thank you for your investment of time and equipment to make these videos. I can't count the hours I have spent listening, watching and learning from them. I have tinkered with electronics since I was a kid, but with the advent of the Internet as a learning resource, and the availability of affordable learning instruments like the AD2 I have been able to begin learning how all this works. I am pushing retirement age, so I am a bit late to the party, but I am really making progress thanks to gentlemen like yourself, Alan, Ben Eater, Derek Molloy and too many others to mention. Dave
