I always have the crystal standing off the board, ever since I built a kit years ago and found out, (eventually), the crystal body was shorting out the pads the pins were soldered to. :) Congrats on the 11K subs, BTW.

@englishrupe01

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip! I have always soldered mine close to the board and not had a problem....but i guess i was just lucky. I will remember to stand them off a little now....thanks!

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

Having them standing off a bit also lets the lead wires act as a bit of a vibration damper to isolate the crystal from mechanical vibration in the rest of the device. Not a big issue in this application, but it can me important in other devices.

@englishrupe01

2 жыл бұрын

@@pileofstuff Cool....thanks!

KZreadr "TheHWcave" has done a whole series of videos on this kit, where he makes slight mods & writes multiple improved versions of the firmware. This was to provide better precision as a counter plus repurposing it as a tacho counter etc. Well worth a view to make good use of such a cheap kit.

I think you are right with the kit being more a "Working and in the ball park" type tester. It can only be as accurate as the components supplied in the kit, and it is not exactly a oven controlled crystal or high accuracy caps and resistors supplied in the kit. It really was a great, relaxing build and even just watching it on KZread was a great way to wind down after a crazy busy week

@DrexProjects

2 жыл бұрын

Mine worked perfect. Check this out: kzread.info/dash/bejne/hWd_qZNyidTPYdI.html

Greetings: The counter can be used to display the carrier frequency of a radio station when the intermediate frequency is loaded into a register of the PIC controller. The push button is used to select that function and input the IF value (I assume). Since I no longer need to worry about dial tracking, I will use the RF trimming adjustments to widen my tuning range. I have not yet completed my kit yet, but it will become the substitute frequency display for the tuning dial in my kit tube AM radio with a 455kHz IF. Old age (72) has limited my manual dexterity, so I use my son to do what I cannot.

Have one of those kits to do so I can try to test some old crystals. Good to know about cutting/shearing the crystal leads.

I also enjoy a bit of kit building for relaxation. Thanks for sharing. Best regards Chris

That was a really enjoyable, relaxing build. Thank you for bringing us along for the ride!

This is absolutely stellar

Crystals behave differently depending on whether they are intended for series or parallel connection. Crystals from car clocks are nearly always good quality and accurate since they need to work over pretty big temperature ranges while still keeping accurate time. Crystals from old radio equipment are nearly always spot on too, since they needed to conform to specific standards to avoid interfering with neighbouring frequencies. So calibrating the counter against a couple of known good crystals should allow for reasonably accurate measurements or an offset compensation chart to be created. Maybe not the most accurate device, but good enough for the home hobbyist and to confirm that a crystal is oscillating and undamaged. Bits of crystal can shatter off if they are dropped raising the crystal frequency. Older cans with a crystal held between spring clamps can be retuned or trimmed to higher frequencies using fine emery paper to slightly reduce the thickness of the crystal.

If you had a good quality crystal, you could insert it and adjust the capacitor until it reads correctly. Then at least it will be as accurate as the crystal you chose.

Thanks for the tip on cutting crystal leads, that was a new one on me. Makes mechanical sense. On my unit, that pot only adjusted the strobing rate of the LEDs from blank to functional, and in getting it to work as a frequency counter, I had to adjust the signal generator's output level to a fine degree - something like 4.8v +/- 50mV.

I built 3 or 4 of those, use two for frequency counters on 2 waveform generators I built as well., then hook into x-y inputs on scope to make lisajous(sp) patterns.

The original designer's page, DL4YHF, has much useful information on this board and some of its variants found on the web. Includes info on using that button, additional capacitance for loading the XTAL port, and etc.

I hope I never need rocket surgery...!

Crystal clear video! :D

nice and as you say a simple relaxing kit build and too watch:-)

It you use the round nose pliers close to the tip and up against the resistor body the bends look neater and take the lead strain from the components

Good build, love doing kits myself, they rarely have much practical use but fun to assemble. The beer you highlight at the beginning interests me, but most if not all are not available in Ontario.

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

It's unfortunate that LCBO has a limited amount of out-of-province brands they're willing to carry.

I have built one of those kids. Would I remember it wasn't very accurate & I was not too impressed with the interface. It was fun to build though!

It’s a good kit that I do use, but finding a crystal to calibrate the crystal to calibrate the crystal….🤷🏼‍♂️

@DrexProjects

2 жыл бұрын

Mine worked perfect. Check this out: kzread.info/dash/bejne/hWd_qZNyidTPYdI.html

as long as the crystal in your hand does not turn red or the skeksis come knocking ...

I didn't see you use the push button at all. I think it has more functions than just 'push to test'. There might be a setting for calibration.

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

It is mostly for setting test memory positions and parameters.

I don't think using the oscilloscope when adjusting trimmer capacitors is a good idea. The scope and its probe have their own capacitance which would detune the circuit.

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

They did a little, but setting the probe to 10X reduced the influence quite a bit. It's not perfect, but it's the best option I have available at the moment.

@SpeccyMan

Жыл бұрын

Even your own hand near the circuit will introduce capacitance whilst adjusting the trimmer!

I have the same unit and another different unit with the yellow button. Both units will NOT read above 20 MHz properly. example, 37.600 MHz displays 15.53xx. Other 37, 38 45 MHz crystals show similar results. They 'divide' by 3-ish and that's what they display. Anyone know the fix?

Hi, I built one of these a couple of months ago, I couldn't figure out what the trimmer cap does, it didn't alter the frequency but just the amplitude of the waveform..

@matambale

2 жыл бұрын

On my unit, I found that adjusting that cap made the display go from completely blank, to strobing the segments, to working properly.

1 kh test signal on the scope?

Hmm pin straightener for chips

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

Hand made from several exiotic hardwoods. Larry sent it to me as a gift for my 100th mailbag video.

@dtec30

2 жыл бұрын

@@pileofstuff yeah was thhinking to straighten the first chip with bent leggs

Looks good for a good time of soldering. May i ask what exact solder wire you are using?

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

My current spool is MG 60/40 .032" www.mgchemicals.com/products/soldering-supplies/solder-wire/60-40-solder/

@repairman2be250

2 жыл бұрын

@@pileofstuff Thank you very much.

Crystals are my weak area --- not sure why but every time I try to build a circuit or just even try to measure one I do not succeed. I even purchased this kit and successfully put it together but um ... can't seem to measure crystals with it successfully. 😆

@onecircuit-as

2 жыл бұрын

Check ALL the components carefully. When I built mine the kit contained three transistors instead of two transistors and a voltage regulator. Luckily I had a voltage regulator to throw in. 😮‍💨👍

How difficult might it be to hack this thing into a clock .. I mean a clock would be useful at least ^^

@pileofstuff

2 жыл бұрын

Probably as "simple" as re-programming the microcontroller. Though PICs need some special hardware that i don't have, so that is a limiting factor.

@tinygriffy

2 жыл бұрын

@@pileofstuff So I delivered both : a new item for the ebay list AND a modding project for a frequency counter :D

@ekenpad8482

2 жыл бұрын

@@pileofstuff A cheap TL866II will reprogram the PIC easily. Then put on the alternate firmware to increase the resolution and features of the kit too.