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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- This is a brief overview of the Peak Atlas DCA Pro semiconductor component analyzer, the model DCA75 from Peak Electronics. Some brief comparisons to the inexpensive multi-function testers available today as well as a large full-blown curve tracer, as we take a look at the basic and advanced features of this great little tester.
The unit shown in this video is an older version of this:
www.peakelec.c...
Amazon link:
www.amazon.com...
The inexpensive tester shown is essentially this:
www.amazon.com...
The Tektronix Model 576 Curve Tracer is:
w140.com/tekwi...
A more complete video on the 576 can be found here:
• #290: Vintage Tech: Te...
Great Video! The DCA75 is definitely worth the extra money if you need more than a "GO", "NO GO" result! Thanks!
Another great video. I bought the '75 after seeing this - and ended up buying the LCR and ESR testers as well. Really handy on the bench...
The DCA75 is a GREAT test instrument........and with the software it's a FANTASTIC test instrument. My money well spent.
I just bought one of these only to realize that I had bought one last year that I had forgotten that I bought. Now I have two. Somehow the first one that I bought was stacked away before I opened the package. That package also had several components and other items that I ended up having to order again, because I never could find them. Getting old sucks, but forgetting things is even worse.
I bought 2 units, this is the best small component tester on the market.
Hello Allan. I am looking forward to purchasing one of these units in the near future. Can't wait to play with it. Thank you for the excellent videos!
See, we can still make good stuff in England!! 😁
...and it doesn't leak oil!
@@w2aew HEY! I Love our Land Rover!
@@jimmuehlberg2153 ...and I loved my MGB Roadster!
LoL!
As a mechanical engineer who once worked for Land Rover and the Rover Group (whilst under Ford & BMW ownership) I could never understand the issue with keeping the oil on the inside! Still, I only worked on chassis design not powertrain!! 🤣
@@w2aew like a RollsRoyce Tay turbo fan engine...
Nothing beats the sound of the curve tracer switches. Well done Alan,
I have zener diodes that are higher than 12V. That is why i built a DIY zener diode tester. Its basically a simple boost converter using a 555, coil and a MOSFET. The output current is limited and a small panel mount volt meter shows the voltage across the zener.
Another fantastic video! Your teaching methods are so good. Seriously thanks for all you do!
I’ve a Model 575 that I use for measuring my Germanium PNP transistors.
Thanks for in-depth review of the DCA57. I guess its time to retire my old trusty B&K 520B tester.
Cool little device! Glad you showed it off to us. Keep up the good work and keep posting videos😊
Just for giggles, I busted out my LCR-T4 "inexpensive" tester and EEVBlog-issued BM235, on the milliamp range. With Vbat reported by the 'T4 at 7.74v (apparently I should change the battery 😅), I'm reading 7.07 mA of test current in both directions, and the LCR-T4 is reading my meter as a 2.45- to 2.49-ohm resistor across 3 runs. I just had the BM235 leads touching the surface mount component pads, so I'd say that's pretty good run-to-run variance for the LCR-T4, given I spent a whopping US$10 on it some 5 years ago. Now that you've shown me a fancier shiny, though... 🤪💸👍
Cheers Alan, I've got the older version of their in circuit ESR meter & it's boss. Glad to see they've scored themselves another ambassador.
I've had one for a number of years and love it for quickly identifying components. All of the curve tracing in the software is pretty nifty, but not something I've personally used. It was interesting to see your comparison to a real curve tracer. The DCA75 is a pretty neato tool!
Nice to have you back. Looking forward to great new clips.
superb video. I own a DCA55 and very glad with it.
Wow - I did not know those Peak Atlas analyzers could do curve tracing, else maybe I would have bought one. A few years ago from eBay I bought an old Jud Williams Model A Transistor Curve Tracer made by Sprague in the 1970's. I paid $150, but it was in perfect working condition, with probe and leads intact. It's sort of an adapter, like the Peak, but it goes in between the DUT and an oscilloscope instead of a DUT and a computer. But if I had know the Peak Atlas did curve tracing, I would have probably bought one of those instead. Although, my Sprague seems to handle much higher gate currents and sweeps much higher, up to 80 volts.
I had never seen one of those Model A units - thank you for mentioning it so I could look it up.
I never saw this before.... Would be handy for the shop! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the video, I've not bought the 75 yet but still use the older DCA55 and that's great. May have to upgrade to the 75 now 😊
Being able to compare an unknown transistor to a known one is a winner! I have a bag of unmarked transistors I suspect are 2N3866s now I can check against a real one!
You can find out what they are using a VOM also, but it is more time consuming.
I like mine. It’s a newer one with the backlit lcd which is nice - black on white. The mini grabber leads break off a lot and I have to strip them back and resolder. Might switch them to Pomona branded ones. I like my analog curve tracer too. I had a strange fault with a pnp transistor the other day which the dca75 would sometimes test as good, and sometimes say no component detected, but the 575 showed what was really going on in real time
Very fair comparison vs. legacy unit which can go to much higher voltages.
This was very informative, thank you.
I always appreciate your sharing of knowledge. Great video as always, thank you :)
What a cool device 👍🏼. Thanks for the informative introduction.
Awesome! Always wondered the difference and never expected so much features on the Peak.
Would you make a teardown of it and compare it?
Thanks Alan! I may have to add one to the test bench. In conjunction with the cheap tester, you could do surface mount components as well.
Peak Atlas also has a SMD holder that you can buy. I have one and it works well.
Thanks for the nice thorough video. It seems like PEAK has another unit for zener testing only that goes to much higher voltages. Should combine them in an upgraded 75 :-) Also missing linux support :-(
Very interesting video, Alan. Thank you!
Analyzing the curves produced by various faulty transistors would be helpful for me.
I have one. Works great. Good quality.
Another good video, Allen.
Thanks, Alan. I love my DCA75 Pro and other Peak Atlas meters. It's also pretty cool that they're made in England.
I might add that the DCA75 Pro will miss the occasional bad diode or transistor. It rarely happens, but I have seen it happen two times. I even documented it one time in one of my articles. It is better to test P/N junctions with a VOM that has the X10K with the extra 9V battery, or a battery of higher voltage. And decent VOM's are inexpensive. So, if you are having a tough-dog repair, before you pull your hair out test the diodes and then transistors with your VOM. You can thank me later...
Yes, most of these testers are good at testing good devices, but not so good at testing bad devices unless they're shorted or open.
@@w2aew Yep. The good thing is that it rarely happens. But it can drive you crazy if you aren't aware of it. I also think that the lowly VOM gets a bad rap. They are good to have even in the modern age.
@@robertcalkjr.8325 Yes - I love my VOMs too!
But can it test tubes ? 😄
Quite a step forward for these testers, may get one.
Thanks for the great video.
P.S.
Dont throw away your BIG analyzer because it can probably test tubes.....
Great. I almost want to buy one even though i have no need. Thanks.
Another great video, thanks.
Many years ago I bought the previous version, the one without USB connection. Shortly after, of course, this one came out 🤦♂ Great video as usual. PS: I thought we lost you to POTA :)
Very nice tool. Thanx for sharing.
Well done Alan. I've have a number of Atlas Products for over a decade. Atlas advertised in QEX for a number of years. They are based on the UK. The DCA Pro qualifies as a "Nifty Gizmo".
Good to see you. Thanks for video......
Peak make good equipment, I have many of their units.
Great review...cheers.
That's an impressive little gizmo. Too bad that the software only works under windoze, which I don't run here. I do have one of those cheap little testers, mounted in a box with some connectors so I can use my hook-type test leads, and a B&K curve tracer that doesn't see a whole lot of use (the source of my test leads :-)...
Nice review, thanks. Perhaps a bit unfair to compare a $10 device to a $200 device. Surely if you're making a living in electronics the DCA Pro is the way to go. If you're a hobbyist, the cheap Chinese $10 tester is a great help to quickly test if a component is faulty.
Yes, the $20 tester is super handy for pinout ID, and quick go / no-go testing. The DCA75 is better suited when you need additional parameters on the device for more in-depth testing or device matching. Certainly an unfair comparison between all three - just trying to show some common ground and the main differences. Glad you liked the review.
The cheap device is an almost bare ATmega328 microcontroller with ingenious open-source software and a display. That makes it a really cool thing.
I think this is a fair review. On the face of it, one could be forgiven for thinking the DCA75 is just another basic tester, but with a hefty price tag. This review nicely shows that the DCA75 is so much more than that, and that you get what you pay for. Great review Alan, think I might get myself one of these, with the backlight of course 🙂
Not sure fairness Is relevant - the review gives a good reference for hobbyist and the budget they have to buy equipment.
My preference is the 576. My experience is that to really test a device you more than 12v… i
Might be worth noting that the "not expensive version" is an open source project by some clever hobbyists. It was then manufactured by other people (in China I assume, but without any objections from the original designers). That's why it is so cheap and why you can find many different versions of it. It's a good idea to check if it has the latest firmware before buying, or just make it yourself if the forum with the source code is still around. FWIW I also believe it predates the expensive closed source device (the DCA).
I have almost the whole suite of Peak analyzers and use them all the time...maybe you should team up with Peak to design a modern full-bodied curve tracer with specs near the old Tek? ;-) 73 - Dino KLØS
Great! Can it do dual-gate MOSFETs? Lookin' for the elusive close match for the old 40673!
One gate at a time....
Hey there Alan, I am trying to do a project where I have an RF and an LO signal of, say, 10MHz and 10.001MHz. I need a circuit (possibly a mixer maybe) that can discern the difference between the two. Any help in this regard?
If you apply 10MHz and 10.001MHz to a mixer, and low-pass-filter the output, it will output 1kHz (the frequency difference).
@@w2aew I used a 1496 IC in a mixer configuration but it didn't seem to do well in the KHz range.
Was your curve tracer recapped? Mine works but I am nervous about destroying it trying to recap.
Not been recapped.
Check out the updated K or L versions of cheap tester. Reverse beta, zeners, opto couplers (4 pin, some 6 pin), and zeners. There is also a serial port. Just beware of buying them, the atmel/microchip shortage has them using bad software ports on any micro they can find. They are eaay to make and you can use lots of differmt displays; 16x2 text to color 1.8".
Where did you find them please ?
In relation to Early voltage, does the lenght of the line indicate resistence? For example, long line, less resistence, short line more resistence for that current?
No, it is the slope of the line that tells you the resistance.
@@w2aew thank you
1Great Comparison. Thx
I’m happy you scored that puppy to your lab. I had no idea of the capabilities of the DCA pro to this time, so very useful review. I think this is a good excuse to setup some experiments with lm3045 or lm3086 and back to basics building blocks…
I wonder how Curve tracer and DCA75 check the reverse diode (tunneling diode), or Gunn Diode, or impatt diodes?
Thanks for the quick tutorial. I bought one this past winter and just got my shop cleaned up so I will give DCA75 a go now.
send it to me, I need one...
On the Vce-Ic plot of a bjt, why the trace lenghts are getting shorter with higher base currents?
There is a resistor in series with the voltage source, so higher currents mean that more of the voltage is dropped across the resistor, and thus less voltage available at the DUT terminals.
@@w2aew Thank you.
Did I miss the part where you test a mosfet using all 3 terminals?
You didn’t miss it, I didn’t show a MOSFET example.
The DCA Pro will show the transistors parameters and plots but the next video lesson is how do you use these measurements and plots to "apply them" to biasing the transistor? Most small signal gain transistors T0-92 should be tested under +24vdc to get the parameters and plots. I'm not sure why curve tracers or the DCA Pro doesn't tell what the FET or Transistors dissipation wattage and bias current should be when plotting out the graphs.
Very Interesting
I got some hg-2879c transistors id like checked
Very neat, thanks
Thank you
great little device... its only drawback is its inability to test higher voltages.
Seems like you’re biased (pun intended) towards the Atlas device. It would be great if it had a bigger screen like the cheap testers. And colored. Then it could show the picture with colored pins so you don’t need the silly text Red-B Green-E Blue-C stuff.
Hm... do. you think it would cost more? :)
I speculate that the Peak device was created by a fanatic, or a more likely a grey beard with 40+ years experience 😂 The fact it recognised germanium transistors was remarkable.
For matching devices there are already circuits proposed in youtube.
But what I like is to send the output of two transistors to a logarithmic amplifier, and then to substrate them using op amp, and then send the result to an anti log amplifier.
This way we get the ratio of the output two transistors. we want this ratio to be as close to 1 as possible. We also add max and min detect circuit to this and we get maximum variation between these transistors under different biasing point, as a figure of merit for matching. Also, we can test the speed of these transistors by measuring square wave raising edge and falling edge and comparing the two transistors. Also we can frequency sweep these two transistors under the same bias and circuit to check for 3dB bandwidth and unity gain frequency.
This way you check the devices variations in terms of doping, lithographical, and packaging changes that cause changes in gain (gm) and parasitic capacitor (Cpi and Cu).
Of course, you can do this digitally by sending each point through USB to computer and let computer to manipulate the data. Or using Analog method (i.e. Analog computer) similar to method mentioned above.
In this case Analog computer will be much faster. In general a combination of Digital and Analog method usually is preferred.
*** we have lost the speed of Analog methods, to flexibility of digital methods. ***
Nice. The hardware is essentially the same, possibly with slightly better accuracy and calibration, but the extra functionality are technically possibly with some firmware upgrades. Software is pretty decent, but without some open source code or specification of USB protocol, it is a pass for me.
The cheap tester gave the capacitance of the Zener diode. The Atlas didn't, it seems.
Correct, the Atlas does not measure capacitance.
@@w2aew For us crystal radio guys, that's important, isn't it?
@@w2aew Thanks for answering -- most don't.
@@franzliszt3195 Yes, that is one nice thing for the inexpensive analyzers (as well as LCR functionality that the DCA75 doesn't have).
I won't be buying this tester £/$200 is absolutely insane. Im happy with my cheap chinese tester.
DCA PRO can not measure power mosfet or transistor
Max terminal voltages are
A shame there is no Linux support.
73` 88` 👍🙏
Nifty device, but INSANELY HIGH priced, like all their products!
Thanks 👍