Other Basic Electronics, Multimeters, & Oscilloscopes

This thread is about basic electrical, electronics, Multimeters, and Oscilloscopes. It is an outcome of interest that various members have expressed about these subjects.

@Janger , @Johnwa , and @kevin.decelles have all recently obtained a starter Oscilloscope so I think the timing is good for a thread like this.

The primary resource will be a book (available on Amazon in paper or kindle) called Electronics for Dummies by Kathleen Shamieh. The book isn't a requirement, but it always helps to have a reference of some kind to facilitate discussion. Other references might get added as the thread progresses.

I'm not picturing this thread as a course, just a good place to ask questions, find answers, and share knowledge and experience about basic electrical knowledge and testing.

As always, a good time and lots of great jokes are expected!

 

[Doggggboy]

Comes up as page not found for me on the scope. Just saying.

Gone for me now as well.

 

[jcdammeyer]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002439042775.html

 

[Susquatch]

Comes up as page not found for me on the scope. Just saying.

@Doggggboy too.


Might be that Ali updated the page. Maybe with a lower price?

@jcdammeyer's link works

In future, just search ALI for "1014D" and look for the lowest price.

 

[terry_g]

I just placed an order for one of the 1014D scopes. It should be here Friday. I was considering a Rigol 100Mhz scope for almost twice the price but I just can't justify the extra cost.

 

[Susquatch]

I just placed an order for one of the 1014D scopes. It should be here Friday. I was considering a Rigol 100Mhz scope for almost twice the price but I just can't justify the extra cost.

You won't be disappointed. The 1014D is a lot of scope for just under $200. Don't forget that it also includes a decent function generator.

Don't get me wrong, the 1014 isn't a Tektronix, but I submit that 100% of what we do as machinery hobbiests doesn't require a Tek.

The Rigol is a very nice scope but it isn't a Tek either. And it doesn't have a function generator. My opinion is that the 1014D is a very good choice.

 

[Tom O]

I just came upon this it seems a place of vast information on Scopes.

Scope basics | RIGOL

www.rigolna.com

 

[Susquatch]

I just came upon this it seems a place of vast information on Scopes.

Good thing you are using it not me, cuz there is no way I'm ever gunna watch that much youtube!

But I do like the outline.

 

[Tom O]

Hell I don’t have one if I did it could probably smoke meat!

 

[terry_g]

The new oscilloscope showed up today and so far I'm impressed. I compared it to my Iwatsu SS-5706A and they both read very close.
The signal generator I used has a tough time with a square wave once over 2 MHZ. The iwatsu probably cost as much as a new car in the mid 1980's.

 

[Canadium]

I got this 15A DC motor speed controller from Princess Auto today for $3. I was wondering if I could use it to control a DC motor on my South Bend lathe? The current motor is about 1HP and I would want about the same power. Is there a particular variant of DC motor I would need to use? The board has pins for external connections labelled L1, L2/P1,P2,P3/T1, T2/ and M+,M-. I'm guessing these are for a switch, a potentiometer, a motor, and power but not sure which is which(I'm guessing M+- is power, P1,P2,P3 is potentiometer). Any thoughts?

 

[jcdammeyer]

I got this 15A DC motor speed controller from Princess Auto today for $3. I was wondering if I could use it to control a DC motor on my South Bend lathe? The current motor is about 1HP and I would want about the same power. Is there a particular variant of DC motor I would need to use? The board has pins for external connections labelled L1, L2/P1,P2,P3/T1, T2/ and M+,M-. I'm guessing these are for a switch, a potentiometer, a motor, and power but not sure which is which(I'm guessing M+- is power, P1,P2,P3 is potentiometer). Any thoughts?

View attachment 38258

I'm going to guess L1, L2 are line 1 and 2 input. M+ and M- are the DC motor and P1..P3 are the potentiometer for speed control.

 

[Susquatch]

I second @jcdammeyer 's guesses.

L is almost always Line in.
M is almost always Motor.
P can be many things but a voltage dividing potentiometer makes the most sense since there are 3 connections and most pots have three connections.

 

[jcdammeyer]

I'm going to guess L1, L2 are line 1 and 2 input. M+ and M- are the DC motor and P1..P3 are the potentiometer for speed control.

The controller is similar to one I bought to run this 1.5HP 100VDC treadmill motor. The other end of the motor shaft is a bit bunged up so I'm not sure how well I could add an encoder to it to determine unloaded RPM but it does wind up pretty fast. Here's a quick 1 minute video I made.

 

[Canadium]

The controller is similar to one I bought to run this 1.5HP 100VDC treadmill motor. The other end of the motor shaft is a bit bunged up so I'm not sure how well I could add an encoder to it to determine unloaded RPM but it does wind up pretty fast. Here's a quick 1 minute video I made.

What kind of resistive value did you use for a potentiometer?

 

[jcdammeyer]

What kind of resistive value did you use for a potentiometer?

It's marked 5K. I believe it came with the controller. The motor came from PA. I don't remember where I got the controller. Ebay or Amazon I think.
Edit: Apparently my controller is called an MC60 series motor controller. Prices range all over the place.

 

[Doggggboy]

I got this 15A DC motor speed controller from Princess Auto today for $3. I was wondering if I could use it to control a DC motor on my South Bend lathe? The current motor is about 1HP and I would want about the same power. Is there a particular variant of DC motor I would need to use? The board has pins for external connections labelled L1, L2/P1,P2,P3/T1, T2/ and M+,M-. I'm guessing these are for a switch, a potentiometer, a motor, and power but not sure which is which(I'm guessing M+- is power, P1,P2,P3 is potentiometer). Any thoughts?

View attachment 38258

Lol. I bought a couple of them today as well and just sat down to ask the same questions.

 

[whydontu]

T1 and T2 is a bit odd for an MC60 controller. These terminals might be for a thermal cutout switch inside the motor. If nothing happens when you wire up your pot/motor/line, check for line voltage across T1/T2.

Other thing to watch for is many of these have a zero-start function, so the pot has to be zero before the motor will start. Think treadmill - we don’t want Gramma to be launched across the room if the treadmill starts at 90mph.

 

[Tecnico]

It's marked 5K. I believe it came with the controller. The motor came from PA. I don't remember where I got the controller. Ebay or Amazon I think.
Edit: Apparently my controller is called an MC60 series motor controller. Prices range all over the place.

Coincidentally I scooped up a free treadmill today (Weslo Cadence 860) with the MC-60 controller and the much sought after motor choke. For reference, the slider type pot on the console has a 10k value.

Before any vultures take flight and eye up the choke, it's earmarked for an SCR type controller combo. It's the main reason I picked up that TM.

I'm on a roll this week, that was my third freebie. Kijiji is my friend!

D

 

[Tecnico]

Lol. I bought a couple of them today as well and just sat down to ask the same questions.

LOL! I eyed up one of these at PA yesterday and walked away thinking I didn't know enough about it to make it worth playing with. The had a whole box of them on the shelf.

I've come into a number of interesting boards from treadmills lately but with what's turned up in this thread it might be worth the $2.99 each to pick up one or two to play with.

D

 

[Tecnico]

T1 and T2 is a bit odd for an MC60 controller. These terminals might be for a thermal cutout switch inside the motor. If nothing happens when you wire up your pot/motor/line, check for line voltage across T1/T2.

Other thing to watch for is many of these have a zero-start function, so the pot has to be zero before the motor will start. Think treadmill - we don’t want Gramma to be launched across the room if the treadmill starts at 90mph.

The "T" connections may be for "tach" input. That leads to the question what are they doing with it?

D