Collaborate Disseminate
Frustrated by his Aldi multimeter’s backlight turning off after just 15 seconds, [Steg Steg] took matters into his own hands. His solution? He added a manual toggle switch to control …read more Continue reading Backlight Switch for a Better Multimeter
Inspired by electronics repair videos on YouTube, [Steven Leibson] recently found himself hunting down something to fix on eBay. This ‘something’ ended up being a certified classic: a Keithley Model …read more Continue reading Fixing a Malfunctioning Keithley Model 179 Digital Multimeter
If we had to make a guess at the single piece of electronic bench equipment owned by the highest proportion of Hackaday readers, it would not be a budget oscilloscope from Rigol, nor would it be a popular portable soldering iron like the TS100. Instead we’re guessing that it’s a …read more
When a fine piece of lab instrumentation crosses your bench, you’ve got to do your best to put it to work. But even in the highest quality devices no component lasts forever, especially vacuum tubes. For some vintage instruments with vacuum fluorescent displays, that means putting up with less-than-perfect digits in order to get that sweet, sweet precision. Or not – you can always reverse engineer the thing and add a spanking new OLED display.
The Hewlett-Packard 33401A digital multimeter that fell into [qu1ck]’s lap was a beauty, but it had clearly seen better days. The display was full of …read more
Have you ever been so frustrated with a digital display that you wanted to rip the whole thing out and create a better one? That is exactly what [xi] did. Replacing their constantly used HP 3457A multimeter’s LCD display with a brighter LED one was a necessary project — and a stress reducing one at that.
While this digital multimeter is well-known for its reliability, its standard display is rather lacking. In fact, there are several mods already out there that simply add a backlight. However, as [xi] notes, LCD screens always have a certain angle where they still don’t …read more
Continue reading LEDs Give HP 3457A DDM’s LCD Display the Boot
Let’s face it, in your workshop there are convenient tools, and there are quality tools, but so often they aren’t both. Think back to the tools you reach for first. Very often for me, speed and convenience win out. I don’t want to look too hard for that drill or saw, and want them to work as expected when I reach for them. At the same time, there are some tools that simply must be stored away, and can’t perch on my workbench forever or sit on a shelf.
It really is a balancing act sometimes. I don’t have a …read more
Continue reading Ask Hackaday: What Tools Do You Reach For First?