Blog

  • Building a Frequency Synthesiser

    shabaz
    IntroductionThis post is about building a frequency synthesiser for various uses such as for a home lab or as a module for a larger project. The implementation can be useful from a few tens of kHz up to 160MHz; not anywhere near the capabilities of a...

  • Reviewing a Fluke VT04 Visual IR Thermometer

    DaveYoung
    www.youtube.com/watchThermal cameras can be a huge help around the electronics lab. With the ability to instantly visualize the many different temperatures of an area, there are applications beyond the obvious heat sink performance characterization. ...

  • Remotely controlling the Agilent 34461A

    6thimage
    The Agilent 34461A provides many different connectivity options, USB, LAN and GPIB (as an optional extra), which means that it should easily fit into a modern lab or test system. For test systems, it is likely that custom software will be written to ...

  • Practical use of the Agilent 34461A

    6thimage
    I was originally planning to show the use of the multimeter in a tutorial style, however, the multimeter is very easy to use and I feel that a tutorial approach is likely to seem, and be, patronising. So this blog post is just going to focus on pract...

  • Agilent 34461A Road Test: (3 of 3) Interfacing with LabVIEW

    tassieengineer
    Part 1Part 2Part 3 (you're there)This is the part I was looking forward to the most.Interfacing the device with LabVIEW is simple, and quick. In fact I think it took less time to get it talking to LabVIEW than it did to do the initial set-up (eve...

  • Agilent 34461A Road Test: (2 of 3) Everyday Use

    tassieengineer
    Part 1Part 2 (You're there)Part 3So your Agilent 34461A is sitting on your desk all set-up and running. What now?Well, now you use it. Lets go through a few of the most common ways that you might use your new multimeter.Each of the six white...

  • Agilent 34461A Road Test: (1 of 3) Unboxing

    tassieengineer
    Part 1 (You're there)Part 2Part 3It was obvious that this kind of post or review was bound to appear at one stage, but my aim is to walk people through my thoughts on the product and so appearance is important (to me at least).On that note, on with t...

  • Agilent 34461A Blog #3 - In pursuit of randomess

    Instructorman
    Randomness doesn't always come easilyAs described in my  previous blog entries, I have set up a PIC18F4520 to drive the data in line on a string of WS2811 RGB LEDs.  There are 240 LEDs in the 4m long string.  Previously I wrote a funct...

  • Agilent 34461A Blog #2 - Histograms

    Instructorman
    This blog entry describes my experience with the histogram function on the Agilent 34461A 6 1/2 digit multimeter.Note:  the symbol table function in the e14 blog editor is not working for me tonight, so I've compromised by using the word &qu...

  • Introduction and unboxing of the Agilent 34461A

    6thimage
    The Agilent 34461A is a 6.5 digit multimeter designed as a replacement for the 34401A. It improves on the specifications of the 34401A and, most noticeably, includes a 4.3 inch display instead of the 34401A’s vacuum fluorescent display (VFD).Specific...

  • First blog on Agilent 34461A - Trend analysis of oscillators

    Instructorman
    I first posted this blog entry in my personal blog.  It was meant to be posted in Test and Measurement.  It is now posted in both places. In this post I compare the trend analysis feature on three instrument:  The Agilent 34461A, ...

  • Pseudo-Random Noise; Using it and How to Create it

    shabaz
    IntroductionThis post shows the result of some experiments with noise generation. The first stage was covered here, and the circuit is now extended to become a useful test tool.If you’re a beginner in Engineering, don’t let the graphs below scare you...

  • Controlling Oscilloscopes from your PC

    shabaz
    This post provides information on how to configure and collect data from oscilloscopes (or other test equipment) via your PC. The example here shows how to configure, collect, process and plot data all from a single free open source application; GNU ...

  • Building an Event Counter / Rotary Measurement device for $15

    shabaz
    I recently needed a quick device to count pulses and measure distance/rotation and I thought it worth documenting in case others have similar requirements. If you’re building something mechanical (e.g. a robot) then this could become a standard ...

  • Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity

    e14 Contributor
     Closed circuit TV (CCTV) is a common necessity in public places, like airports, casinos or even supermarkets.  Generally speaking they are inconspicuous.  Often they are covered by an opaque dome. But, they are also hard to reach, by ...

  • Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity

    e14 Contributor
    Today’s vehicles, whether a concept car or your commuter, are choke full of sensors and controls.  In the idealized world of the car designers these sensors and controls totally and completely monitor and control all the functions of the vehicle...

  • Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity

    e14 Contributor
    If you ever flown at night, you would have seen these bright lights and signs on the runway, directing the pilots to their correct paths and destinations.  Unlike the lights in our homes and offices, these lights are wired in series, not in para...

  • Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity

    e14 Contributor
     Nowadays, very few of us get to see the controls of a wide body jet.  But for one of Agilent’s customers working in the aerospace industry as a design engineer, this is a common work space.  He would make changes at the control here a...

  • Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity

    e14 Contributor
    Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity These communication boxes are popping up in a neighborhood near you, just like this one in a suburban parking lot.  In the battle to shorten the “last mile” of copper wiring to your wire line phone, tele...

  • Application Notes & Technical Reports

    sleuz
    What do I really need to focus on doing my design? How do I find the right component for my application? Which technical data is relevant in my case? How do I interpret information from data sheets?As you might know yourself, there is a lot to look o...

  • New Probes, Scopes from LeCroy

    GardenState
    LeCroy Corporation’s new WaveLink differential probe product line – the Dxx30 Series – offers models available at 8, 10 and 13 GHz. These probes offer high input dynamic range – 3.5Vpk-pk – and large offset range - ±4V.  With their combination o...

  • Agilent Technologies to Demonstrate Oscilloscopes at ASEE

    GardenState
    Agilent Technologies will demonstrate the recently introduced Agilent 1000B oscilloscopes at the American Society for Engineering Education Conference and Expo next week at the San Antonio Convention Center (Booth 413),. The four two-channel 100...

  • Arduino radiation detection on the cheap, and for Japan

    Catwell
    www.youtube.com/watch The Libelium Team have created a Geiger Counter (radiation sensor), and shipped the first batch to Japan's Tokyo Hackergroup and other people helping in the relief effort. The Arduino sensor board can sense radiation all th...

  • Battery tester schematic

    Eavesdropper
     E. Lelic has given out a battery tester circuit, controlled by a PIC 16F88PIC 16F88, that can charge, discharge, measure internal resistance, and capacity of Li ON, Li Po, Ni Cd, Ni Mh, and regular cell batteries.  Capacity is measures thr...

  • Meeting the Challenge of 4G System Testing

    GardenState
    No one needs a 4G mobile phone, but it seems as if everybody wants one, if for no other reason than to receive such bandwidth-intensive services as streaming video on demand. So, with consumers clamoring for multimedia-on-the-go and other mobile data...