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Cost Effective Signal Generator
If anyone is looking for a cost effective signal generator this little guy from Amazon is pretty good for the price.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07PC...13NParams&th=1
You can configure it for fine adjustment (0.01 to 0.50) or course (0.1 to 5.0) separately for both VDC and mA. Also can set range and display mode for both VDC and mA. Can also be powered by external 24VDC or USB. Terminal block appears to be pretty cheap, would probably connect some aligator clip leads and leave them there.
kontrol out
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"Open is as open does." - Forrest Gump
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"Interoperability? You can't handle interoperability!" - Nathan R. Jessup
“What’s that? Aaa… open protocols? Don’t talk about…. open protocols? Are you kidding me? Open protocols? I just hope we can hardwire an interface!” - Jim Mora
Watch it here!
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Post Likes - 5 Likes, 0 Dislikes
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Got a few of these.
https://buildingsys.net/low-cost-eba...nal-generator/
Has its own battery, micro USB to charge. Does 0-12vdc, 0-20ma sink/source and even has 24vdc (low current) supply. Accuracy was pretty darn amazing for the price when I checked it.
Was all over fleebay. Would look around, seems it still available.
https://www.hicomponent.com/0-10v-4-...generator.html
One thing is sure. There are a ton of better options for less than half the cost of that POS kele sells.
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Thanks for this, I really hated using the Kele ones for obvious reasons..
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Almost bought 40 of the hicomponent one today (for all our service techs). Found a really good review for it online. But they are based in China and would not take a credit card so our service dispatcher bailed.
https://buildingsys.net/low-cost-eba...nal-generator/
Actually just realized whose blog this is. Heh.
Found this one on Amazon but had no reviews so only bought two to play with.
https://www.amazon.com/Generator-Int...1734433&sr=8-8
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There all over fleebay as well.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...rator&_sacat=0
These sub $30 generators with rechargeable battery likely all come from China. Would be bit careful recharging one that gets left on and goes totally flat. Aka maybe don't recharge it unattended in the service van.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/13386937208...IAAOSw8K1hNepO
https://www.ebay.com/itm/35320655329...gAAOSwkf1fZDNh
Ordered a few of the others that seem comparable for a peek. Handy to have in the laptop bag and cheap enough to not care if its lost somewhere.
Last edited by orion242; 09-15-2021 at 08:25 PM.
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Originally Posted by
bigguy158
Would take a look at the ma when running on battery. Least the I got seems to have some quarks with the ma mode. Haven't figured out what it doesn't seem to like yet, but I think its having it connected before turning on. When it pukes, the output is only driven with ~5vdc and it cannot output over ~16ma. Plug the USB in and it comes to life. The screen on all of these shows the what its set for, so when its off in lala land you might think the output is something its not.
Got another off ebay that looks to be a knock off of this one, but it doesn't have that issue.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/11496409207...IAAOSwvgFhLutJ
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Have to piss with these more. Seems the battery charge at the time also plays into this.
After that connect to one leads AIo or GND standard resisitor 250 Ohm for safely measurements.
Think translation is min resistance of whatever is connected to the ma output should be 250 ohm on this guy or it may fall off in lala land if the battery is not totally charged. And totally charged = letting it fully complete a charge cycle as it won't start one unless the battery is below a certain threshold.
No low battery cutoff, so its the same as the first one I looked at. Leave it on till its totally flat serves a hot supper to the battery and it could become angry after that.
Last edited by orion242; 09-19-2021 at 09:19 PM.
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i have a chinese one , never actually used it
Keep it simple to keep it cool!
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This is the best in my opinion.
Very cheap considering that I am using it 3 years with high accuracy signals (0.01 volts difference) and no problems.
https://star.aliexpress.com/share/sh...%3DsocialShare
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This is what I use most.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009V2QT...2Aentries%2A=0
Zero and 9 volt 2 position tester.
Single point most of the way open, but I usually have access to the controller when I need to do more checkout than just verify the actuator operates. Just be careful putting this in your pocket with the non locking panel keys (Read spare coin)
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Originally Posted by
billcontrols
This is what I use most.
Lol. Pretty much done the same for the last few decades. Now that some of these are piss cheap, they have their place. Had a live cut over or two that these eliminated some hassle of water filled flesh bag becomes BMS by watching gauges and twiddling knobs for a while.
The old controls sig gens where way overpriced for what the did. The 9v a better option for 99% of the uses given the alternative. Now hitting $30 mark, user friendly'(ish), etc, hard to beat the functionality and far less expensive than making a run to the gas station for a 9v. 9v batteries are not that common in the gear I carry anymore so its not just a matter of robing something. Flip side, if they burn your service van / customer site down...that 9v battery is still the winner supreme!
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So an update on the WZ Signal CVS III.
I finally forgot about one I had and ran the battery down to nothing. Will not power up anymore with USB power, will not charge. Tore it apart, pulled the battery out (and boy is that bastard glued down), the battery has its own protection onboard which I couldn't see before. Haven't had a chance to dig into what exactly happened but it seems the battery is fine, the unit not so much. Its in bits for further investigation on a rainy day. Guessing the MCU got hooped when the battery got low but before its protection kicked in and cut off.
Too bad, I like the interface on this guy better than the other two I got.
Last edited by orion242; 10-14-2021 at 10:16 PM.
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Originally Posted by
ishaitz
This is the best in my opinion.
Very cheap considering that I am using it 3 years with high accuracy signals (0.01 volts difference) and no problems.
I own two older versions of this generator. It is surprisingly accurate and stable. Battery life is excellent too.