Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 26

Thread: Hidden Gems on Ebay for the electronics enthusiast

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Uncle Fester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Commonly found in a pantry or the bottom of a fridge, searching for grains, fermented or distilled
    Posts
    6,405
    Thanks
    2,289
    Thanked 4,414 Times in 2,517 Posts
    Rep Power
    2046
    Reputation
    81778

    Thumbs up Hidden Gems on Ebay for the electronics enthusiast

    With all the negative news lately, I thought I might start this thread in case anybody else found something good for a small budget and would like to share their positive experience.

    This component tester is a brilliant design, well built although it looks a bit DIY.



    Best AU$39 I have spent in a long time. It says sale will end in 5 days so maybe $41 with post, later.

    It does not come with the usual Chinglish instructions because you don't need any.

    It has just one button: <TEST>

    It has artificial intelligence.

    All that is required from the human is to press that button, it switches on, measures and displays data and switches off again.
    However it has manual override to select additional features by pressing the button longer, even a precise frequency generator.

    Just throw any discrete component at it, anyway you like and it will tell you what it is, what the terminals mean and spit out useful data including losses, parasitic capacitance, ESR … armed with this thing I think I could fix the electronics of the LHC next time it breaks

    included is the TexTool board as a very useful addition to hold small parts and three clip cables for in-circuit testing, shown in the picture but not mentioned in the "Package includes".

    There was even an Australian return address on the envelope.


    Edit: just found a very good review on YouTube from somebody who can speak proper English

    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 31-05-14 at 01:25 PM.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

  2. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Uncle Fester For This Useful Post:

    ecu-man (06-06-14),marty 17 (31-05-14),mtv (31-05-14),porkop (31-05-14),Seymour Butts (31-05-14),vnboost (06-06-14)



Look Here ->
  • #2
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    2,742
    Thanks
    2,501
    Thanked 2,295 Times in 850 Posts
    Rep Power
    995
    Reputation
    36415

    Default

    Great find - Thankyou. That will come in very handy.
    In hindsight I should have posted my Facebook status as: "I've blown the head gasket on my 1997 XR3i" rather than "I've just buggered a 14 year old escort".
    The police still haven't seen the funny side, my lap top's been confiscated and the wife has gone off to her mum's.

  • #3
    Administrator
    mtv's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    19,893
    Thanks
    7,508
    Thanked 15,066 Times in 6,761 Posts
    Rep Power
    5647
    Reputation
    239305

    Default

    Excellent find!

    What a great versatile tool.... and so cheap.

  • #4
    Senior Member
    Uncle Fester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Commonly found in a pantry or the bottom of a fridge, searching for grains, fermented or distilled
    Posts
    6,405
    Thanks
    2,289
    Thanked 4,414 Times in 2,517 Posts
    Rep Power
    2046
    Reputation
    81778

    Default

    That guy in the video is a bit slow

    I tested a cap with 100,000µF and it displayed 109.4mF so the 100mF upper limit really is not a printing error (m often used as bad spelling for µ).
    Despite being able to measure the capacitance below 10pF in some diodes it needs over 30pF to detect and measure an actual capacitor.
    Nice is the display of reverse current if the diode has one, that it will measure as low as 1nA.

    Plenty of fun playing around with old Germanium Semis.

    Edit: it is reasonable to do resistor measurements below 0.1Ω. Using the TexTool socket I get consistently 0.02Ω or 0.03Ω on a short wire bridge that I just subtract from the actual measurement. I could measure that way 0.04Ω on a piece of Litz. The calculation of the copper gave me the same result as did my usual method of whacking 1A through the wire and measuring the voltage drop, which is more accurate of course.
    Nevertheless this is 10x better than the Ohm range of a normal multimeter.
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 31-05-14 at 09:55 PM.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

  • #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Port Lincoln
    Posts
    657
    Thanks
    145
    Thanked 362 Times in 179 Posts
    Rep Power
    263
    Reputation
    2205

    Default

    TransistorTester with AVR Microcontroller

    here is the original creators construction manual with circuit modifications for the chinese boards -

    and more info here - http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/$20-lcr-esr-transistor-checker-project/180/

    and the firmware is on github -
    Last edited by Mysterex; 31-05-14 at 04:14 PM.

  • The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Mysterex For This Useful Post:

    mtv (31-05-14),shred (13-08-14),tristen (01-06-14),Uncle Fester (31-05-14)

  • #6
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    1,485
    Thanked 956 Times in 416 Posts
    Rep Power
    544
    Reputation
    18321

    Default

    Not eBay, but have quite a lot of stuff for electronics people. I bought a mixed bag of 1/4w resistors and a similar batch of electrolytic capacitors. Not particularly good quality, but ok for prototyping stuff in breadboards. They also sell a lot of Arduino related boards - some have an uncanny resemblance to SparkFun and Adafruit designs, if you know what I mean.

  • #7
    Senior Member
    Downunder35m's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    4,063
    Thanks
    101
    Thanked 1,796 Times in 862 Posts
    Rep Power
    630
    Reputation
    15704

    Default

    I ordered parts of them in the past and was not too happy with the quality.
    Two of the 7400µF electrolyte caps I ordered had to be refunded as they had a short.
    Similar experience with a USB charger for the car, was rated for 3amp but went up in smoke when I connected my tablet that only requires a max of 2amp to charge.
    Some of their gadgets and parts might be worth the price but I prefer to do some research first and either build it myself or order elsewhere if I find better quality.
    But for everyone building protypes will be interesting.
    Mould your own plastic stuff by simply heating the stuff in hot water and form it by hand, once cooled down it can be sanded, drilled or machined.
    Great stuff for those quick repair jobs too like fixing alamp holder for the bike or a handle off a screwdriver.
    Sticks surprisingly well to other plastics when hot too.
    This was the best offer I could find on Ebay, other charger you twice as much for 100gr.
    Tomtom GO730 ,Navcore 9.004 ,Bootloader 5.5256 ,Map :Australia 845.2661
    ttmaps and Tomplayer on 16GB SDHC class6
    Password for all my files: downunder

  • #8
    Premium Member

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    4,311
    Thanks
    5,982
    Thanked 4,171 Times in 1,771 Posts
    Rep Power
    1348
    Reputation
    50392

    Default

    A similar "un-packaged" device incorporating a ZIF socket, similar to that mentioned by nomeat, is now available from many eBay vendors.

    See .

  • The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to tristen For This Useful Post:

    Bluedog (13-06-14),ecu-man (06-06-14),shred (12-06-14)

  • #9
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    319
    Thanks
    110
    Thanked 102 Times in 70 Posts
    Rep Power
    242
    Reputation
    1740

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tristen View Post
    A similar "un-packaged" device incorporating a ZIF socket, similar to that mentioned by nomeat, is now available from many eBay vendors.

    See .
    nice, I just bought one

    Thank for the link and to the OP for the thread

  • #10
    Senior Member
    SCADA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Country Vic.
    Posts
    530
    Thanks
    113
    Thanked 520 Times in 197 Posts
    Rep Power
    250
    Reputation
    3635

    Default

    Do a search for "Buck boost" on Ebay if you ever need an efficient, DC to DC, low voltage power supply. You can not build them for the money. Great value.
    If a man says something in a forest and there is no woman there to hear it, will that which has been said still be wrong?

    Some people are like clouds. When they go away its a beautiful day.

  • #11
    Premium Lager

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Age
    60
    Posts
    4,882
    Thanks
    1,635
    Thanked 2,711 Times in 1,230 Posts
    Rep Power
    1174
    Reputation
    40746

    Default

    I bought one....should be a good addition to the shack test equipment.


    thanks
    __________________________________________________ __
    Statistically, if you wait long enough, everything will happen!

  • #12
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Age
    61
    Posts
    122
    Thanks
    11
    Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts
    Rep Power
    189
    Reputation
    50

    Default

    I couldnt resist, I bought one too :-)

    Thanks....

  • #13
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    1,485
    Thanked 956 Times in 416 Posts
    Rep Power
    544
    Reputation
    18321

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SCADA View Post
    Do a search for "Buck boost" on Ebay
    I use a few of these in projects around the place & they go well. Last time, I bought five and including postage, the cost was less than ONE of the regulator ICs from a large, well known electronics retailer.

  • #14
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    1,485
    Thanked 956 Times in 416 Posts
    Rep Power
    544
    Reputation
    18321

    Default

    If you are in to programming EPROMs, look for the MiniPro TL866CS universal programmer - there are many eBay vendors selling it. I think I paid about $60 in March 2013. Dave Jones did a teardown on it a while back and there's a bit of an effort to reverse engineering it discussed in the thread on his Eevblog site:

    and

    The software is a bit quirky, but functional. So far, it's programmed everything I've thrown at it (mostly ancient 4K EPROMS and some PIC chips). It's useful for testing logic ICs too.

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to shred For This Useful Post:

    tristen (23-08-14),Uncle Fester (13-06-14)

  • #15
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    319
    Thanks
    110
    Thanked 102 Times in 70 Posts
    Rep Power
    242
    Reputation
    1740

    Default

    The MiniPro TL866CS is a great programmer, I have had some issues not being able to program some flash chips with it but other than that great value for money.

  • #16
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    10
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Rep Power
    0
    Reputation
    10

    Default

    Thanks for sharing this!

    Cheers!

  • #17
    Premium Lager

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Age
    60
    Posts
    4,882
    Thanks
    1,635
    Thanked 2,711 Times in 1,230 Posts
    Rep Power
    1174
    Reputation
    40746

    Default

    Mine arrived today, Chucked a few trannies on it, pressed the button and in a few seconds it displayed the type of tranny, npn, pnp, and a few charistic values which I will read up on their meaning.

    All in all for the price a GREAT little box of tricks.
    __________________________________________________ __
    Statistically, if you wait long enough, everything will happen!

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to porkop For This Useful Post:

    BillyGoat (11-06-14),tristen (13-06-14)

  • #18
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    146
    Thanks
    67
    Thanked 21 Times in 10 Posts
    Rep Power
    201
    Reputation
    153

    Default

    I thought this was cheap and so useful beyond its designed purpose.
    Works great on my winch.


  • The Following User Says Thank You to Krustyone For This Useful Post:

    tristen (13-06-14)

  • #19
    Senior Member
    Uncle Fester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Commonly found in a pantry or the bottom of a fridge, searching for grains, fermented or distilled
    Posts
    6,405
    Thanks
    2,289
    Thanked 4,414 Times in 2,517 Posts
    Rep Power
    2046
    Reputation
    81778

    Default

    I am very pleased to see the good suggestions in this thread

    Just an update on the component tester:
    I suddenly got a message on the display that it was not calibrated.
    It gave me then clear instructions how to do that.
    Afterwards when I shorted all the probes I got on all 0.00 Ω, yippy!

    A shame though that you can't select this calibration procedure in the menu. The self-test by connecting all three probes together, pressing the button and quickly pressing the button again when it says self-test, didn't seem to zero out the probes on my device.

    When you select the ESR mode in the menu (holding the button down for a few seconds) you can test a large PCB full of elctro-caps very fast as it stays on and continually detects different values but it does eats the 9V battery just as fast.
    I like portability so external power supply is not an option.
    I am thinking of using a small LiPo. I have a 7.4V 1Ah that would fit if I move the test button more to the centre. LiPo has 8.4V fully charged. The device cuts off around 7.0V.

    I have also had only good experience with those buck boost regulators. Makes power supply issues so much easier.

    I just received this nice remote controlled 2CH relay board I mentioned before on another thread.

    Apart from costing only 8 bucks it comes with a remote key FOB that feels remarkably solid, has a metal frame around it and a secure slider to cover the buttons, better than many FOBs from cars that I have seen and had to fix.
    The standby current of the receiver is only 0.5mA, still works on 9V cuts off at 8V, relays use 30mA @9V. They are momentary switched and wired to the supply so that one button will run a motor forwards and the other reversed as long as the button is pressed but the copper tracks could be scraped away for other applications
    The code can be set with soldering tabs both on the FOB and receiver board and mine needed to be as they did not arrive soldered with the matching code.
    The FOB has actually 4 buttons inside and by soldering the right code I could use it to set my alarm system. So I am after these remote FOBs to replace the disgusting cheap quality ones that came with my alarm, of which one I have lost. The newer ones I ordered were all for learning type alarms not my old trusty alarm system. Finally I can clone them myself or just reprogram when ever I want with the soldering iron.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

  • The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Uncle Fester For This Useful Post:

    cmangle (28-02-15),GT250 (26-08-14),loopyloo (22-08-14),tristen (13-06-14)

  • #20
    Premium Member

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    4,311
    Thanks
    5,982
    Thanked 4,171 Times in 1,771 Posts
    Rep Power
    1348
    Reputation
    50392

    Default

    Thanks for the post, nomeat.

    I have just bought 2 of the remote control pcb's you mentioned.

    Yes, and I bought a quantity of buck-boost regulators several years ago and can also recommend them.

    Thanks also for the valuable tips regarding the component tester. Much appreciate your starting this thread.

  • The Following User Says Thank You to tristen For This Useful Post:

    Uncle Fester (14-06-14)

  • Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •