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Issue #214 May 2008
Where Analog And Digital Collide
An Easy-To-Use LCR Meter
Third Place Microchip 2007 Design Contest
by Miguel Rusch
Miguel’s portable LCR meter makes it easy to analyze the analog performance of virtually any device under test, whether in the lab or on the job. The dsPIC30F4012-based meter uses DDS techniques and DSP methods to condition the resulting voltage and current signals. Its handy user interface and graphic LCD make it easy to operate and read.
Start | LCR Meter | Back to Basics | The Big Picture | Creating a Wave | Analog Stages | Signal Conditioning | User Interface | Firmware | Take a Measurement | System Performance | Further Development | What's Next? | Sources & PDF
In the back of my mind, I keep two lists of tools that I would like to add to my electronics workbench. The first is made up of tools that I will inevitably own one day. I just have to wait for the right project to come up to justify the purchases. The second is a wish list of things I will probably never justify or afford, such as a spectrum analyzer, a hot air rework station, or a digital oscilloscope. An LCR meter was firmly on the second list until I decided to build one for the Microchip 16-bit Embedded Control 2007 Design Contest (see Photo 1). In this article, I’ll describe my design. As you’ll see, you can use digital methods to measure the frequency domain performance of passive components.
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| Photo 1—The dsPIC-based LCR meter prototype was built around Microchip Technology’s 28-pin 16-bit development board. The system includes three other boards: a user interface board (front left), an analog board (front center), and an antialiasing filter board (front right). |
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