college assignment

[kathleen147672]

hi everyone
i am currently undergoing my second year at college, i have been asked to do a project on electronics. i have decided to use and clampmeter which measures AC and DC current,i am also using a hioki battery tester which measures voltage and impedance.

my question to you is how can i connect the two together to make them work as one device??

i would be greatful of any ideas you may have.

p.s some sort of plug in idea would be best as i don't have room in the hioki to add new boards to it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So you've got a test instrument which is designed to check the condition of batteries, and something which measures current flowing in a conductor.

What kind of "one device" do you think you could create from these, and what kind of function do you want it to be able to do?

 

[kathleen147672]

i have two separate instruments and i want to be able to connect the two together so that i can get all readings from one instrument. perhaps add a small box to the side of one with a display so that the other on can be plugged into it and then all the test results are on one instrument. i basically want one instrument to measure voltage, impedance and current of batteries.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What you're asking for is a bit like saying I have some kitchen scales and a meat thermometer and I'd like to connect them together to display the weight and temperature of my steak on one instrument.

You have two measuring devices which measure different things, in different ways and connect to the object being measured in different places and in different ways. Neither has the ability to display information measured by something else, and I doubt that either has the facility to output display information that could be used by something else.

And I doubt that your college would take too kindly to you trying to modify the internals of either piece of test equipment, particularly the battery tester, given how much it costs.

 

[OwainDIYer]

hi everyone
i am currently undergoing my second year at college, i have been asked to do a project on electronics. i have decided to use and clampmeter which measures AC and DC current,i am also using a hioki battery tester which measures voltage and impedance.

my question to you is how can i connect the two together to make them work as one device??

Maybe try something like one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/velleman.search first.

 

[kathleen147672]

My employer has provided me with the clamp meter and battery tester, and all i want to do is add a box onto the side of the battery tester with a display so that i can plug the clamp meter into the separate box and see a reading on there. i wouldn't have to break in to the battery tester or modify any part of its existing parts or components.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Then surely you'll have to break into the clamp meter and modify its internals.

 

[davelx]

i have decided to use and clampmeter which measures AC and DC current,

Please tell us what model of clampmeter that is! Also suggest you have a search to find out how a clamp meter works.

 

[kathleen147672]

i have decided to use and clampmeter which measures AC and DC current,

Please tell us what model of clamp meter that is! Also suggest you have a search to find out how a clamp meter works.

the clamp meter is a tenma T2 - 7226. i am searching now for more information on the meter. there are test leads with the meter which i want to be able to plug into a stand alone unit with a display which will show what the meter is reading. so in effect its just a bigger display i want.

 

[electronicsuk]

What you want to do is not only pointless, it's also near impossible without a little (lot) of reverse engineering of the clamp meter. For someone with little electronics experience, I'm afraid I have to be blunt and tell you that you haven't got a hope in hell.

As someone with an electronics background consisting of GCSE electronics, A level Systems & Control and NC Electrical & Electronic Engineering, I can tell you that even I wouldn't bother with this project. You'd be better to start from scratch with a basic clamp-on current transformer and engineer your own meter to read from it.

You could buy a CT and suitable ammeter, but I'd hardly call connecting the two together an electronics 'project' suitable for a second year college student.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

there are test leads with the meter which i want to be able to plug into a stand alone unit with a display which will show what the meter is reading. so in effect its just a bigger display i want.

Those test leads are to plug into input sockets on it so it can measure things other than current via the clamp, such as voltage, resistance....

What on earth made you think they'd be outputs you could connect to a display? Surely you aren't doing a second year electronics project never having seen or used a multimeter or any form of test equipment?

 

[mfarrow]

What exactly have you learnt, and what have you been remitted to do?

Have you been given any electronics training (555's, op-amps, 4011's, PICs?) or have you been given this blind?

You won't get anywhere with your proposal, but we might be able to give you ideas for something else.

 

[kathleen147672]

mfarrow



Joined: 02 Nov 2009
Posts: 256
Location: Warwickshire,
United Kingdom
Thanked: 18 times
Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:34 pm Rated: +1
Post Subject:



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What exactly have you learnt, and what have you been remitted to do?

Have you been given any electronics training (555's, op-amps, 4011's, PICs?) or have you been given this blind?

You won't get anywhere with your proposal, but we might be able to give you ideas for something else




i've just been given the project blind....and i've done some research over the weekend and i think your right its not a very good idea....if anyone has any ideas of what i could do i would be grateful for any help or advice you can give me

 

[chivers67]

How about a project on green energy or something similar. Research on solar panels, wind farms, wave farm etc??
Or does it need to be purely "electronics"

 

[ban-all-sheds]

PC acting as a controller for a dimmer and a datalogger for measuring voltage, current and light output (or maybe just the logging functions, with the dimmer twiddled by hand).

Produce plots of power consumption vs light output to demonstrate the savings from dimming for different types of lamps.