ESR meter.. Where to buy what to get.

Hi again, Well we all agree that the ESR drops as the temperature rises. :-) As one technician to another, I too prefer analog readout meters to digital ones. A moving needle instantly tells you what you want to know, without you having to mentally figure out what the speed of change of some numbers is. I fully understand what you're talking about. That's one reason why the Cap Wizard's so deservedly popular. The DSE ESR meter uses a digital display because they have the advantage of being small, cheap and mechanically rugged. They're also more suited to the digital circuitry it uses. You win some and you lose some. :-)

Regards Bob

Analog stuff does make a difference. One can always make a led bargraph. Both direction a speed, an analog meter is almost a necessity. I was just thinking, if we grew up with only digital clocks, my thoughts about time would be different. I think I always convert the digital to round analog in my head. greg

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:00:17 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@pitt.edu (GregS) wrote: (snip)

We have a whole generation out there (to be followed by more) who don't know the meaning of the term "clockwise".

To our everlasting shame at the way we have let eDyooKAyshUn go now, you are right. We have had a young girl just start working for us, and the other day, she asked if it was time for her to go home yet. My wife pointed at the wall and said " There's a clock up there " to which the girl replied " Oh, I can't read that ... "

Sad, but absolutely true.

Arfa

I'm the same. :) I should own up and admit that originally I did try to design an ESR meter with a LED bargraph, but it was a miserable failure....

Bob

Pretty scary in a way. These days it seems that almost no-one can spell properly and they're dependent on calculators for the simplest arithmetic, and slackness is creeping in everywhere. Sorta makes you wonder how it'll be in another 30 years or so.

Bob

"We" have not let education "go" at all. There are more educational opportunities than ever for even the most unfortunate and the most handicapped. The problem is that so many do not take it seriously and take advantage of what is available.

Leonard

Being an uncontrollable optimist I see this a bit differently. Yes, many, maybe even a majority of young people slide by not learning very much, just what they have to do to graduate from high school.

That presents a golden opportunity for those who chose the harder path. I do some work with young people in several high schools. The honors programs in all of them are jammed with students, eager to learn.

When I was in high school, back in the dark ages BD (that's Before Digital), a sophomore in the "college prep" track took Algebra for half the year and triginometry for the other half.

In a local high school, the sophomore honors track has a full year of Algebra and a half year of trig. Options include the second year of engineering prep for those so inclined. A bit tougher than my time I would say.

So today's kids who are the go getters will stand head and shoulders over the others, be the leaders of their generation and will do well. The others will grumble about how society never gave them a chance and the "college kids" get all the breaks. Some things never change.

JMHO

John

If only it were like that here in the UK. Education has been getting worse and worse, since the selective ability schooling system was scrapped in about 1970, in favour of the comprehensive system, intended to be a leveller of ability. All state schools are basically now of mixed ability, and there is little incentive for clever kids to shine. There is no official streaming within year groups, so kids of all abilities end up in the same classes. This makes it difficult for teachers to go at anything greater than the rate at which the least able can proceed. I know this intimately, because I have put three kids through two of the better schools in recent years.

I would actually doubt that most kids here would even know what algebra and trig are, let alone want to take them as subjects.

The other thing that has happened over here, is that parents have become lazy, or just lacking in parenting skills, so expect the schools to teach their kids absolutely everything that they need for life, and of course, there is not enough time in the school day for them to do this. It has, however, spawned *nonsense* time wasting subjects like "personal and social development". I say time wasting because parents should be teaching their kids this stuff, and the time spent by the school on doing it, would be put to better use teaching maths or English. The reason that the girl I mentioned cannot read a clock, is because her parents never taught her, and her school didn't have time. So yes, we have let education go, by not doing any of it ourselves, and allowing a clearly flawed education system, to be perpetuated by the "PC-everyone's-equal" brigade.

Arfa

What days, what schools? I took geometry in 8th grade, algebra in 9th, trig in 12th...graduated in 1971.

My daughter, in an academic magnet high school, took algebra in 8th, geometry in 9th, on algebra II now as a sophomore. I don't know when she'll take trig, but calculus is part of the program as well...probably

She's in her third year of German, plays violin in the strings orchestra and sings with the chorus. It's an exceptional school, to be sure, but a public one.

jak

Zackly. Spot on. Absolutely.

(my wife is a primary teacher here in Australia, and bemoans these same things on almost a daily basis).

Thus spake Ken Layton:

Thus spake Chris Jones:

And that's where it lies for me. IT's a toss-up between the BP/DS and the CA88a.

Who has had the chance to use both of these and can offer some comparisons?

And yes, I've seen the brief table of features on the 'net, URL posted earlier.

Thanks,

Both are good. The CA88A indicates shorted caps, that is something the DS unit can't. The probes that come with the DS/BP kit are not very good, but then they are 'free' as DS only added them after I nagged them for a few years... the CA88A probes are very nice. The CA88A can be turned on when stuffed into a tool kit, the DS turns itself off after a few minutes.

I have added a MOV to the DS kits we sell to protect against charged caps, otherwise I suspect either one would be fine for bench use.

We use the Bob Parker/DS ESR meter all the time, that's why I sell them!

John :-#)#