This category will hold review articles.
So back when I was preparing for that video, I ordered an Aneng AN101 from aliexpress, I think I took the cheapest seller out of the ones that were available and when I got the meter I realised it doesn’t have the Aneng branding right here on the upper side of the LCD.
Here are links to where you can buy this pocket multimeter:
In this video we are taking a closer look at the bigclown kit I received recently. I will be installing their toolchain and building my first IOT project that will collect and show data using grafana.
Here is a link to the BigClown website.
Welcome to a new voltlog, today we are doing an unboxing of the BigClown multi kit which comes in this rather interesting red clown suitcase. I’ve tweeted a photo about this and said that it’s one of the more interesting packaging methods I’ve seen in a while, it just looks good and it’s original.
→Checkout their Indiegogo campaign here.
→Checkout their online shop here.
In this episode we are going to be taking a look at the affordable pocket multimeter market, I’ve god 4 models which you can get for under $20 and I’m going to review these to see which one is best.
If you just want to skip to the results checkout this spreadsheet on google docs.
Here are links to where you can buy these pocket multimeters:
Here are the pictures from the teardown of these meters:
Welcome to a new voltlog, today we are taking a closer look at the NEO M8N GPS Module that I showed getting in a recent video. A few people mentioned in the comments that there are a lot of fakes being sold on ebay so I should check mine to see if I got a fake or not.
NEO M8N GPS Module Links (probably fakes):
This is an update video to let you know how things are going with my new 3d printer, the Creality CR-10. The short version: it’s very easy to print with this system, even for a beginner like myself.
Here are some links to the products shown in the video:
In Voltlog #114 I reviewed the Aneng 8008 and I said it’s probably the best $25 multimeter that you can buy. Today we are taking a look at the Aneng AN8009 which is a newer model from Aneng.
In the end I would say this new AN8009 model is just as good as the AN8008 and they are both great beginner multimeters but they can also be good for the more advanced user who better understands their limitations.
My recommendation is to take a look at the differences between the two and choose based on your needs: ask yourself, do I need temperature measurements? Do I need the extra resistance range? Or do I need the square wave output. Better yet, and this is what I would do, I would get both models to have all of those functions when needed. Also it’s good to have two multimeters because you can measure both voltage and current at the same time.
Here are some links where you can get the Aneng 8009:
Just a short update to let you know there will be some price cuts on the usual suppliers from China on the 11th. It’s a good chance to get stuff at discounted prices.
Do I recommend getting this module? Yes, the accuracy is good, the resolution is nice 10mV 1mA and you also have the option for adjusting it manually for both voltage and current.
The design is pretty simple, I believe the microcontroller is an STM8S so hacking it and rewriting the firmware should be pretty easy but it already does what it’s supposed to do so I don’t see a point to hacking this module. I think you would be better off designing a panel meter from scratch.
Buy this panel meter from here.
Someone asked on youtube how should a panel like this be wired up, so here is a wiring diagram that you can use. In this wiring diagram our goal is to monitor the voltage and current for charging a battery.
Example 1 shows the panel meter connected before the battery charging module, which means it will measure everything, even the power losses in the battery charging module.
Example 2 shows the panel meter connected after the battery charging module, which means it will only measure current flowing into the battery or whatever load you have on the output.
In both cases voltage sensing is done right at the output but that wire can be moved according to your needs. Also in both cases the panel meter gets power directly from the power supply because at that point the voltage is constant.
The main thing to remember here is that these panel meters are designed for low side current sensing, that means the ground of the logic board of the meter is connected with the input of the shunt resistor.
You might remember this small module from the previous InTheMail, this is the Ruideng dc-dc converter with a claimed efficiency of 95%. Now a figure of 95% efficiency is not unheard of these days, many dc-dc converters can achieve this with proper circuit design.
This particular model uses the MP2307 converter chip manufactured by Monolithic Power and if we take a look at their datasheet we can immediately see where they got the 95% efficiency figure they advertise.
If you own fancy equipment like a source/measure unit than one instrument can do all the measurements and data log the results as well but a source/measure is out of our budget so we will be using multimeters for this test.
Here are links where you can find the equipment used in this video: