This second, concluding instolment completes the description of Alon
willcox's lotest ESRmeter, with o suggesied stripboqrd loyout ond
component specificqtions
; n Part I lastmonrhI dealtwith
I ESRand its measurement, and
I describedthe sisnificantfea-
turesof my latestEISRmeter
design.I'll startthis monthwith a
description of the basiccircuitry
used.
Circuir description
Fig. 4 (see page 78 last monrh)
shows the basic ESR meter circuit.
The important features of the oscil-
lator and test interface sections
were covered last month. There is
no need for a regulated power sup-
ply. Just to remind you, the ampli-
tude of the HF output waveform
obtained from the oscillator (ICla)
is set by the characteristics,which
are virtually temperature-stable,of
the two diodes Dl and D2 in the
negative-feedbackpath between
pins I and 2. The amplification and
detection levels provided by the
other stagesare set by the ratio of
the source and feedback resistor
values used. This is standardopera-
tional-amplifierpractice.The way
in which operational amplifiers
work rvas covered in some detail in
my articles in the March/April
158
1999issues,so only a brief descrip-
tion is givenhere.
The frequencyof the Wien-
bridgeoscillatoris approximately
equalto ll(2nRC) whenresistors
Rl andR2 andcapacitorsCl and
C2 haveequalvalues.At this fre-
quencythereis no phaseshift
acrossthe bridgeandthusmaxi-
mum positivefeedback.At reso-
nance,the uppersectionof the net-
work (Rl, Cl) hastwicethe imped-
anceof the lower section(R2, C2),
so there'sa transmission lossof
l/3. To sustainoscillation,the over-
all gain (ALC) mustbe greaterthan
unity.The transmission loss
throughthe network is offset by the
gain determinedby the ratio I +
(R3/R4).In this circuit theALC
would be morethanthe threetimes
requiredwereit not for diodesDl
andD2, which overridethe effect
of R3 as mentionedabove.
The followingtrvostagesof
amplification(IC2aandIClb) are
straightforward,with no needfor
correctioncircuitry.CapacitorC3 in
the feedto the detectorstage(IC2b)
is includedto removeany DC com-
ponentandalsoto reducesensitivity
to low frequencies (mainshum or
rvhatever). Rl2 setsthe gain ln the
detectorstage.Becauseofthe high
intrinsic gain of an operational
amplifier,the forrvardvoltagedrop
acrossdetectordiodesD3 andD4 is
overcomeanddetectionat evenmV
level is not a problem.
Splirrcilgenerctor ond
buzJzer
That is all thereis to the basiccir-
cuit. But the operationalamplifiers
requirepositiveandnegativesup-
plies.This requirement is provided
by IC3b,seeFig. 6, which is config-
uredas a voltage-follower.Thereis
100per centnegativefeedback(pins
7-6),so theoutputvoltagemustset-
tle at half the supplyvoltage,setby
the equalratio of R I 4 and R I 5. I
was pleasedto find that the circuit
remainsstablewith outputsas low
as+3'l V. This lower supplyvoltage
rangeis quiteconsistent.
IC3a is configuredas a voltage
comparator.When the ESR reading
is lessthan0.5Q, the outputfrom
the detectorgoeshigherthanthe
forwardvoltagedrop acrossD8.
The outputat pin I of IC3 therefore
l a n u a r v2 0 0 5 T E L E V I S I O N
 FromR12/C4

rcl,tc2
pin 8

rc1,lcz
pin 4

goeshigh, activatingthebuzzer.
The ESR level at which the buzzer

j.
operatesis setby the overallgain.
This point can easilybe changedby

?irrH;s
alteringthe valueof R I 2. If its
valueis increased, the overallgain
risesand the buzzerwill operateat
a higherESR level. Icz+llR4 ?
@narJ1 [
The valueof I 00Q for R I 8 is
chosento limit the currentfrom an
.o^_. ?I
externall2V sourceto a recharse- ,{
Ftc
I
ablebatteryto the trickle level.lhe
t
Fuzzer
lt
t,\
overallconsumptionis so lorv that, t
.ll
if you areone of thosewho remem- I ,47
ber to switchoff battery-powered *
equipment whenit's not in use.an
ordinarybatteryis OK and will last
for quite a long time.
Althoughthe basicmetercircuit
is happyrvith a supplybetween6- It I t a at Top - Fig. 6: The
ta split-rail generator
30V the buzzerandLED won't be. al I
tl and buzzer com-
The valueof 2.7kQ for R I 9, which at I
parator circuits.
rl
is in serieswith the porver-onindi- I

catorLED, givesgood brightness fl Centre - Fig. 7:

over a supplyrangeof 6-9V with a]l Suggested layout
It I on stripboard.
only a few mA drawn.
I
ilt
I Left - Layout of
Procticol points tt I
r: .o ..!
the prototype
tt l
As the meteroperatesat 100kHz, h ,t!
{ meter on strip-
any inductancein a circuitbeing
at &
rr
:a
,:1 board
tl I
checkedwill producea high- ift.r'i Bottom - Fig.8:
impedancereading.If an EW coil
lf
$
producesa reading,it hasshorted
tt
at
rt a a
|| fafittif ota
oa
oafa
Wlt*,'.
oaao
The ESB meter
scale, shown full
turns.Anotheruseof the meteris aa a ..aaaaa aaaa aaaa aoaao size (58mm).
wherethe lineoutpurtransistor
appearsto be short-circuit.A quick etc.) can be tested. I've not taken
checkwith the meterrvill isolateit the trouble to design a new meter
- if theshortis elservhere. in most scale for this application, as I have
casesthe impedanceof the line out- no practical experienceof such
put transformerwill be in the way checks. It seemsto me that if such
and will resultin a highreading.If a capacitor gives any reading at all
there'sa lolv reading,the transistor other than short-circuit it will be
is mostoften the culorit. OK. This type of capacitor does not
ESR meterusershavecomeup changevalue.
with new applications. The non- I would like to think that the
polarised.h igh-voltagecapacitors present article just about sums
usedin the line outputstage(tuning everything up with respectto the

T E L E V I S I O lNa n u a r v2 0 0 5 r59
 Partslist
Item Valueftype CPC order code

R 1 ,2 3ko R E M F R 4f o l l o w e d b y t h e v a l u e
R3 220A
R4 100eJ
rt5 1O
R6 2.7A
R 7 ,9 , 11 , 1 6 ,1 7 1oka *The value of R12 sets the turn-on point for the buzzer,see
R8,10 100ko text. R18sets the charge current,see text. R19 is chosen
R12 *68kQ for good brightnesswith the LEDspecified.
R13 3.9kO
R14,15 56kO
R18 * 100eJ
R19 *2.7kQ

A l l 0 . 5 W .1 % m e t a l f i l m
VR1 10kQcermet oreset R E 0818 1 **Forcorrectoscillator
c1,2 4 7 0 p Fl o w - l o s sh i g h - s t a b i l i t y * * cA02068 operationC1andC2must be
c3,4 0 . 1p F c e r a m i cm u l t i l a y e r cAo2098 of the type specified.
c5, 6, 7 221tF,16Y cA01613
D1,2, 3, 4, 8, I 1N 4 1 4 8 s c 1N 4 1 4 8
D 5 ,6 1N4004 sc1N4004
D7 1N4002 sc1N4002
lc1,2, 3 TLOS2CN SCTLSO2
LED 3mm Superbright sc00023
M1 1 0 0 p Am o v i n g - c o i l PM11119
S1 M i n i a t u r et o g g l e s w i t c h sw-2201tz
Buzzer 5V DC 1S00654
Case ABS box ENs5030. See text
T e s tl e a d s 2mm plugto probes tN00772. See text
Veroboard PC00046
Spot face cutter for Veroboard PC00066
PP3battery clip lead BT02187
H i g h - c u r r e npt r o t e c t i o nc h o k e PW00037. See text

quick in-circuit location of faulty
electrolytic capacitors.If anyone
contemplatesthe design of a PCB
for the project, it is important that
separateoperational-amplifier chips
are used fbr the oscillator and the
first amplifier stage- to avoid
interf'erencebetween the oscillator
and the sensitive first amplifier
stage.Fig. 7 shor.vsa stripboard
layout for the meter's circuitry. Fig.
8 shorvsthe meter scale.
Don't be temptedto use plugs
and sockets fbr the test leads - you
rvould in time get problemsin the
low-ohr-nsrange.Soldereclconnec-
tions should be usedthroughout.I
use 2mm test leadsr.viththe plugs
cut off. Make sure that you file the
probes to give sharp points. The
coating that's on them has a signifi-
cant resistance.
The casespecifiedin the parts
list is a bit on the deep side.To
achieve a slimmer appearance,I
bought another case, type EN55029
(too slinr), and combined the
halves.This might sound extrava-
gant, but you still end up with two
casesand they cost only about f2.
Proteclion methods
ln a letterin theAugustissue
this
year Jim Littler su-tgested wiring
an inductor acrossthe test lead ter-
minals to protectthe rnetershould
it be connected to a charged capaci-
tor. I can see no problernrvith this,
anclfollorved up rvith a letter in the
Septemberissue.If a value some-
rvhatlorver than the l50pH recom-
nrendeclthere is used,producinga
leaclingof say 30Q. this reading
rvill be presenteach time the meter
is srvitchedon and you will know
that it is rvorking correctly.It
not affect the use of the meter."vill
We
are only interestedin valuesthat
are much lorver.
lf this method of protection is
used rvith a digital meter, the dis-
play rvill settleat a fixed reading.
This will show that all is well with
the meter and will also eliminate
superfluousreadings.In the caseof
a moving-coil display,it'"vill dou-
ble-up as a power-on indicator.
T h e u s eo f a c i r c u i t p r o t e c t o ri n
series rvith the test leads has been
suggested.The problem is that it
r'vouldtend to blorv too easily and
requirefrequentreplacement.
I
To reiterate.diode protection
(D5, D6) shouldalrvaysbe included,
Any comnrentsabout high-cur-
rent choke protection.rvhich seems
to be a unique idea. and on ESR
measurementin gcneralrvould be
lvelcome.
You can reach me by email at
alanesr(@ hotmail.com
I think that covers everything.I

160 J a n u a r2y 0 0 5T E L E V I S I O N