https://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/The electronic test and measurement group is intended to prove information on electronic test and measurement equipment, including thermal imaging technology, and also answer any questions you may have.en-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/w/documents/72079/ni-pxi-quiz-test-and-measure-your-skills-and-win-an-exclusive-prizeWed, 15 Jul 2026 09:47:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c28b7b2c-b887-4363-96e4-cb563b4f578eOwainMImagine what you could achieve if your test system kept pace with your engineer challenges. It’s time to break out of the box and rethink what’s possible in automated test and measurement. NI PXI combines high‑performance modular hardware with powerful, software‑defined control to deliver flexibility, scalability, and precision—breaking the limits of traditional fixed instruments. This interactive quiz will challenge your assumptions and help you discover how NI PXI, powered by software, can accelerate innovation and adapt to whatever your test needs demand for tomorrow. We’ve also included some handy resources to help you along the way. To earn the NI PXI Badge, score 100% on the quiz in any number of attempts Giveaway to the Top Scorer Complete the quiz for a chance to win an NI / Emerson swag bundle, plus exclusive element14 community items. Three (3) winners will receive a branded promotional prize bundle consisting of NI / Emerson and element14 community merchandise. The exact contents of the prize may vary and are subject to availability. No cash or other substitution will be offered. Points are earned based on how many attempts it takes to earn a quiz score of 100% (multiple-choice questions). In the event of a tie, a tie-breaker question will be given to the top scorers. 1 attempt 25 points 2 attempts 20 points 3 attempts 15 points 4 or more attempts 10 points Tie Breaker Question (#5) 0 to 5 points See Terms and conditions on the contest. NI PXI QUIZ Score 100% in the Quiz and leave a comment ! To earn the NI PXI Quiz Badge, score 100% on the quiz in any number of attempts and leave your feedback on the quiz as a comment. In Collaboration with Resources NI Product Information PXI Flyer NI Blogs NI Blog – What Determines Bus Performance? NI Blog – NI PXI Chassis Design Advantages NI Blog – NI PXI Timing and Synchronization Design Advantages NI Blog – PXI Platform Power and Cooling NI Blog – NI PXI Embedded Controller Design Advantages NI Blog – What Is the NI LabVIEW+ Suite? NI Blog – Introduction to the PXI Architecture NI Blog – NI PXI and LabVIEW Deliver Unrivaled Performance, Flexibility, and Value for Automated Test NI Case Studies Production Test Platform Success NI Case Study – Accelerating Wireless Innovation: Qualcomm’s Strategy for Smarter, Faster Validation NI Case Study – Raytheon Uses NI SystemLink ™ to Improve Quality, Reliability, and Efficiency in Manufacturing NI Case Study – Worldwide Standardization of Semiconductor Characterization Test at Melexis NI Case Study – Using NI PXI Solutions to Build a Universal Integrated Intelligent Test System to Escort the Launch of More Than 100 Satellites Terms & Conditions community.element14.com/.../0317.NI-PXI-Quiz-T_2600_C15072026.pdf About the Sponsor Emerson delivers future-ready test and measurement solutions through the power of the NI platform—a combination of high-performance open software, modular hardware, and AI-driven capabilities that enhance productivity. Flexible and scalable, the NI platform transforms how engineers automate measurement, control, and testing of complex products that move our world forward. For more information, click here.NI-e14pxifpgaNI Quiztest and measurementAutomated Test and MeasurementNI PXIquizautomationhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/b/blog/posts/the-wire-stripperSun, 12 Jul 2026 14:59:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:28eed5ef-90f4-4cf2-958c-1a5cdfdd10c5kk99Till now, I have used a self-adjusting wire stripper. It was quite good but sometimes stuttered during stripping. It didn't have an option to regulate the length of a stripped area of wire. I have decided to try something which allows me to regulate the stripped area. I bought the Weidmuller Stripax, which supports wires from a range of 28-8 AWG. In comparison to the old one, we have the three options of regulations here: - we can adjust cutting depth, - we can adjust the stripping length, - there is an option to quickly set the partial stripping: standard (set by us length), 5 mm or 3mm. The option of fixed stripping length is really nice, especially if we are working with a fixed wire size and want the same effects, e.g. preparing connection wires for breadboard. The small drawback is when we often change the wire diameter, then we need every time to adjust the cutting depth a bit. After a few weeks of usage, I have the following observations: - generally the device is handy and comfortable in usage. I mainly worked with wires in the range of 24 - 20 AWG. The good thing is that during stripping it does not damage the isolation of the wire in the place where it grabs the wire (in the case of softer isolation, there could be some clamp marks.). Almost the whole device is made from plastic, apart from cutters and some parts of the mechanism, so I hope that it will last for long in case of working with a bit thicker wires, e.g. 14 AWG. Maybe when there will be an occasion for an update of some electrical installation, it will be a good time for more durability tests for it. The old one was made whole from metal, so it is an area to more testing, - the wire cutting option is also nice and smooth, - on the bottom handle there is rubber that performs the role of limiter. Once it happened that she fell out of her place, so it's something worth mentioning to not lose it. Here is a short video of stripping the 24 AWG wire: www.youtube.com/.../Ea98oGEWU90 A few more examples:wire stripperswire stripperwire cuttershttps://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/b/blog/posts/benchwave-a-free-mac-app-with-support-for-fnirsi-test-gearThu, 02 Jul 2026 14:17:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:77f26085-57c5-488e-8700-2e45aad47e52sebnastA while back I picked up a couple of FNIRSI instruments, a 2D15P scope and an LCR-P1 component tester. Good kit for the money, but the software is a letdown: mostly Windows-only, so on a Mac you're stuck dragging screenshot files off a USB drive by hand, or booting a VM just to flash firmware. I wanted two things fixed: get the scope's captures onto my Mac properly, and update the LCR-P1's firmware without touching Windows. So I built Benchwave to do exactly that. It kept growing from there, and it's now a full bench companion, free, and public: https://benchwave.co.uk What it does today Captures land in a proper library instead of a USB folder. Add a drive or folder as a Sync Location, the scope's USB share, an SD card, a camera, whatever holds your captures, and Benchwave imports new screenshots automatically. Nothing hardcoded to one instrument; it just watches wherever you point it. You can pick two or more captures and compare them side by side, with readings plotted on a graph across the sequence, handy for before/after checks like a voltage drop under load. On a supported Mac, Benchwave reads the numbers off a capture itself using Apple's on-device models, no cloud round-trip, and gives you a plain-English summary of what it's looking at. Firmware updating for the LCR-P1, natively on macOS. FNIRSI only ship a Windows updater, so I reverse engineered the IAP serial protocol and reimplemented it myself. I've flashed a real LCR-P1 from a Mac with it, which as far as I can tell makes it the first non-Windows updater for the device. There's a proper component inventory too: quantities, locations, datasheets, low-stock alerts, with categories and manufacturers that suggest themselves as you type. Projects tie it together. Each one holds its own captures, a parts list you build straight from inventory or import as a BOM CSV, and a running set of notes. Add a part and it deducts stock automatically, and flags anything you're short on. From a project you can export a branded Project Sheet or a customer Quote as a PDF, resell prices only, your cost and margin stay private, itemised or combined, however you bill. Any datasheet or image you attach can be marked up, arrows, text notes, freehand, without touching the original file. If the same document is shared across several projects, each one keeps its own markup on top of it, nothing gets duplicated or overwritten. Everything backs itself up automatically on launch, plus a one-click full export if you want a copy off the machine. What's next Benchwave on iPhone and iPad, so your library, inventory and notes travel with you, synced through your own iCloud (firmware flashing stays on the Mac). A cross-platform version for Windows and Linux, already in progress, so this doesn't stay Mac-only. Deeper on-device AI for reading and summarising captures. And support for more instruments beyond FNIRSI's two, depending on what people ask for. Give it a try Grab it here: https://benchwave.co.uk If you've got a 2D15P, an LCR-P1, or any bench gear that dumps screenshots to a USB drive, I'd like to hear how it goes: what works, what's missing, what you'd want next. There's also a community translation kit if you want to get it into your language (Polish is already done). Thanks for reading, and happy building. SebBenchwavetest equipmentopen tools2D15PmacosLCR-P1oscilloscopelcr meterFNIRSIhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/f/forum/50744/multicomp-pro-mp750065-function-generator---1st-impressions/236291Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:41:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:17dfb4d4-a108-4ca7-a7d9-696b3ca3c3e7Jan Cumpsmicroknight if you share your settings, I'll see if I can replicate it.https://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/f/forum/50744/multicomp-pro-mp750065-function-generator---1st-impressions/236282Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:22:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:81e5ce4c-fa28-4d2a-aa3e-316819f74fc8shabazHi, could that be due to delay from your circuitry? Or are you observing the input of the circuit (i.e. function gen output) directly too?https://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/f/forum/50744/multicomp-pro-mp750065-function-generator---1st-impressions/236281Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:10:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:f8380451-7bbc-4d9f-8610-da7b9df0dc21microknightI watched your reviews a few years ago, just before I got mine. I've used the sweep function fairly often, but today I've been trying to use the sync output. I'm just capturing the output of an audio circuit sweeping from 300 to 6K, so not very taxing. However, I'm finding that the sync occurs about 2.5mS early and you get the last few cycle of the previous sweep after the trigger. Is there some setting I'm missing. Obviously I can adjust my scope trigger delay, but it doesn't seem right to have to do this.https://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/b/blog/posts/portable-multimeter---sanwa-pm-300Sun, 28 Jun 2026 15:44:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:0881fbb1-2c8f-4e61-a535-3374f47f3966kk99{gallery}Sanwa PM300 A few years ago I looked for a replacement for my portable multimeter, the Appa iMeter 5, for which I was not fully satisfied. I have found a Sanwa PM300. I have been using it till now, and I am very happy with it. The quality of build is better in comparison to the Appa, it has a really good case. The test probes TL-39T are also very good and have removable test pin covers, which reduce the unshielded area of the pin. Additionally, it supports True TrueRMS on ACV. The only drawback is the lack of the current measurement, but it was really limited in the case of Appa. Below there is specification of Sanwa PM300: Here is a more detailed specification from the user manual: The specification as for a multimeter that can fit in the pocket is reasonable. I have performed some tests to show how it behaves in real usage. The first test was to check DCV with usage of the AD584K voltage reference. Below the results: {gallery}DCV test Voltage reference AD584K Measurement of 2.5 V Measurement of 5.0 V Measurement of 7.5 V Measurement of 10.0 V The next test was related to the measurement of precision resistors: one of 0.005% and the rest of 0.1%. Below there are results: {gallery}Resistance test Measurement of Vishay S102CT 1 kOhm 0.005% 2ppm Measurement of Vishay 10 kOhm 0.1% 25ppm Measurement of 1 MOhm 0.1 % Measurement of 150 Ohm 0.1% Measurement of 15.1 Ohm 0.1% I have also performed a quick check of some diodes. Below are results: {gallery}Diode test Measurement of 1N5817 Measurement of BAV18 I have also checked the capability of measurement of capacitors. Below there are results: {gallery}Capacitor test Measurement of 470 uF 16 V Measurement of 47 uF 35 V Measurement of 470 nF 63 V Measurement of 33 nF 250 V Measurement of 2.2 nF 400 V The last test was for ACV and frequency. For that purpose, I have used the waveform generator built in the Analog Discovery 3. Below there are results: {gallery}ACV and frequency test Measurement of sinus 1 kHz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 1 kHz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 100 kHz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 50 kHz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 50 Hz 5V pp Here is check how ACV measurements behave in the case of a frequency change of 1 Vpp sinus signal from 50 Hz to 5 kHz. Below are the results: {gallery}ACV test Measurement of sinus 50 Hz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 100 Hz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 200 Hz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 500 Hz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 1 kHz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 2 kHz 1 Vpp Measurement of sinus 5 kHz 1 Vpp The continuity check is quite responsive. Additionally, it is nice that it uses very low voltage at open, only 1.0 V. Based on results, they are in the range of provided specification. Probably the things that could be nice to see in the next version, if there is one, will be a backlight and the possibility of measurement of current even in a narrow range. I saw on eBay the version PM300BT, which is probably dedicated to the Japanese market, which excepts standard PM300 features, and has support for Bluetooth for remote measurements via a dedicated application.PM300multimetersanwahttps://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/b/blog/posts/gdm-8341-trace-capabilities-reviewFri, 26 Jun 2026 15:40:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c521abad-42e7-4861-b6fb-2e8fda954a7aobonesBack in March, I was flabbergasted to be chosen as the grand prize winner for the Fun and Games competition I mean, I was participating for the fun of it, thinking to myself "heck, if I reach second place, that'll be a good occasion to replace my aging soldering station by one with a hot air output, and if I'm a finisher, the fume extractor would be a very nice addition to my setup". Last time, my choice was easy, as I did not have an oscilloscope on my desk, but now I had to think about it a bit more which lead to me asking a question about the usefulness of DMMs. All the good answers I received confirmed my choice and after a few days, with the help of E14Alice, I received the GDM-8341 from GW INSTEK. Its look is a bit vintage, but I don’t mind at all, I really appreciate the VFD displays, they have this “sturdy” feeling that I sometimes miss in LCD based approaches. It took me a while to find a proper place to have it installed in my home lab, but now that it’s settled, my first use was to try logging a “slow changing” voltage that I’m seeing when I power up one of my bench top power supply. As you will notice on the video, the two embedded meters are starting from a very high value before settling to the programmed value. https://youtu.be/fSK3N4F_FNA What I was wondering is that if this is a meter module artifact or if the output voltage is indeed overshooting for numerous seconds. As the DMM is provided with a device USB port (type B), it can be connected to a computer that would “talk” to it and get measurements. The manufacturer’s page gives USB Driver and LabView integration, so I thought this would be the perfect occasion to get introduced to LabView that I have seen mentioned around here quite a few times. The goal was to setup the DMM, read values in a loop and post those values into my InfluxDB instance as they come along. I figured this would be a way to exercise my Cursor AI licence and sure enough, it was able to provide me with a plan of action in order to achieve this. Sadly, as LabView files are in binary format, all I received was a “click through” plan of actions with almost every time a choice of possible ways to do things but without any clear recommendation. Even worse, the mentioned menus or buttons most often did not exist in my 2016 Q1 version and even after strongly insisting, it did not provide me with entirely valid instructions. This is most likely related to the delay between training and inferring which can be years. What I find most annoying is that despite telling it I was a perfect noob at this, it failed to explain LabView’s base concepts, the most important one being that everything runs at the same time (on every system tick?), even if the “boxes” are connected. This is perfectly counter intuitive to people like me with a developer background. In the end, I got a set of VI files, with a “master” one that links to the others in what I find a very convoluted way for something that I believe has to be quite simple: A seasoned LabView user would most likely have done things in a simpler or clearer way, but at least I now have values in InfluxDB and can display them in a dashboard like this: The value does not appear to overshoot the programmed value, but it did not feel right that the graph is so “jaggy” with this broken lines aspect. As it turns out, the issue was not with the reading frequency in the LV project but just with the way InfluxDB displays values in a dashboard. Basically, it always “groups” values in bins and uses the aggregation value of each bin as the point in the graphic. As you may have noticed at the top right, this is the “window period” and in the above case, its length is 167ms, automatically computed according to some heuristics that I have no idea about. But this is configurable in the dashboard and with a setting of 1ms, it gives this smoother image: Still no sign of overshoot which is quite reassuring. And for good measure, I fired-up the oscilloscope to better observe the on-ramp which gave this: Well, with more than 600ms rise time, it’s no surprise there is no overshoot, the logic inside the power supply has more than enough time to properly sample its output. With all this, I should be satisfied but LabView still seems like a bazooka to splat a fly, and I don’t really like depending on a software whose usage rights have seen recent tightening, giving a feeling that what happened to VMWare could happen here as well. Furthermore, it still feels mostly foreign to me, and I must admit that using a LLM to “help” build this did not give me any time to actually learn anything of value. Yet another case of fast reward but null long-term return on investment. So, I went back to Cursor and asked it to create a C# application within VSCode, a language and environment that I already master and for which I’m more than confident I can better harness the code generator. The basic idea is to get a version of the same setup/loop idea, using the direct COM based protocol that is described inside the User Manual provided by the manufacturer which appears to be mostly SCPI/IEEE488.2 compatible. And sure enough, this generated a set of code files that make much more sense to me, even if the output is less “sexy”: 2026-06-26 17:00:41,734 INFO - Opening COM6 @ 115200 baud 2026-06-26 17:00:41,767 INFO - Logging DC voltage at max speed. Ctrl+C to stop. 2026-06-26 17:01:14,492 INFO - Stop requested (Ctrl+C)... 2026-06-26 17:01:14,514 INFO - Done. samples=1306 rate=39.9 Hz errors=0 And with this I am now able to “see” the noise that gets picked when the leads are left floating: I’m not sure where it’s coming from exactly, but with so many electronic gadgets around, it’s not surprising to see this. Next steps would be to make the type of measurement configurable from the command line, allow to read both displays at once, something well within my reach, with or without any help from a stochastic parrot. In the end, I’m glad I chose the DMM as the challenge prize, its logging capabilities will allow me to measure and trace long running variations in the future. Thanks to E14 for this opportunity and to all the community members that keep answering my sometimes dumb questions.loggingdmm