Multimeter discrepancy

[WIMorrison]

@Graham Radish

 

I am not aware of any posts where you are demeaned for buying a cheaper product, actually the only person demeaning anything is yourself where you disparage the Hornby Elite as a 'toy' - if it is a toy it is a very capable toy that is used for many model railways, I have also seen clubs using it on exhibitions where it met their needs admirably.. 

 

With regard to me experience of the DR5000 I had been told it was the answer to all my needs and on paper it seemed to be however in practice it didn't and still doesn't live up to the hype and where there are issues they cannot be resolved by software updates (not that I expect that there will be any more updates) as the issues are fundamental to the design and chipsets used. I personally used the DR5000 until 1.5.4 of the firmware, beta testing that and later 1.5.5 for Digikeijs, however I gave up on the DR5000 for the reasons that Keith mentions and a few others. n essence you have now what you will be getting for the future .

 

With price point of the DR5000 steadily increasing, little chance of any updates to resolve issues, plus relying on the continued provision of 3rd party applications to use it and, no Mac support the attraction of the unit is reducing for many people. 

 

The DR5000 is a capable unit, but comparing the quality, reliability and performance to a Z21 or Lenz system isn't a tenable argument,

[Graham Radish]

Ok fair enough, but not having mac support is not the issue, OSX is a minority os same as linux, for digikeijs to make a mac app wouldnt make sense, i mean how many people would take £1,700 laptops to a show? new ipads are about £750, apples way of doing things is horrid, once something stops working its time to buy a new laptop lol.

 

Im lucky not to have that freezing issue, but i bought mine with 1.54 firmware.

 

 

[WIMorrison]

You should really stop believing your personal prejudices are in any way representative of anyone other than yourself and expressing such unjustified prejudice and belief on a public forum.

[SHMD]

I just love this thread - such value for money!

 

 

...but, Melmerby's scope is definitely the best "DCC meter" going.

Although the current function in the DCC Concepts Alpha unit is useful and the voltage reading is quick to monitor any sudden changes.

 

On 27/06/2020 at 23:50, melmerby said:

My scope does this:

 

 

Kev.

[Tim V]

To get back to the OP's question, I got out my four meters and measured the output (of a Multimaus by the way).

 

a. 17.57

b. 17.3

c. 17.5

d. 16.2

 

first three are digital, the last is an analogue meter.

Edited July 1, 2020 by Tim V
Correcting spelling

[WIMorrison]

I wonder if you mean the Roco 10764 Digital Amplifier which was sold with a Multimaus (cabled)?

[Tim V]

19 minutes ago, WIMorrison said:

I wonder if you mean the Roco 10764 Digital Amplifier which was sold with a Multimaus (cabled)?

Yes, as sold together.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Graham Radish said:

Ok fair enough, but not having mac support is not the issue, OSX is a minority os same as linux, for digikeijs to make a mac app wouldnt make sense, i mean how many people would take £1,700 laptops to a show? new ipads are about £750, apples way of doing things is horrid, once something stops working its time to buy a new laptop lol.

 

Im lucky not to have that freezing issue, but i bought mine with 1.54 firmware.

 

 

Although I'm with you to a certain extent re iOS there are still an awful lot of iOS phones out there, even if they are a diminishing proportion.

Mac support these days is mainly for phone use, as with the Z21 app not tablets and laptops.

 

The firmware is not the issue, i've tried them all from 1.1.1 up to 1.5.5, there is something about the device that causes the freeze up.

The DR5000 is a versatile bit of kit and for most users would not exhibit any problems but there are certain configurations where it falls down.

 

[melmerby]

47 minutes ago, SHMD said:

I just love this thread - such value for money!

 

 

...but, Melmerby's scope is definitely the best "DCC meter" going.

Although the current function in the DCC Concepts Alpha unit is useful and the voltage reading is quick to monitor any sudden changes.

 

 

 

Kev.

A single channel, 10Mhz one is around £100 including VAT & delivery but excluding a probe, from Pico or also available from RS, Farnell, Amazon and no doubt many other resellers.

[Graham Radish]

2 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

You should really stop believing your personal prejudices are in any way representative of anyone other than yourself and expressing such unjustified prejudice and belief on a public forum.

Thing is its all true fella, mac osx compared to windows is laughable, if i was making an app i wouldn't make one for apple either, they are a tiny minority. last year there were more linux users.

 

Digikeijs did the right thing.

 

 

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Graham Radish said:

Thing is its all true fella, mac osx compared to windows is laughable, if i was making an app i wouldn't make one for apple either, they are a tiny minority. last year there were more linux users.

 

Digikeijs did the right thing.

 

 

 

Stop throwing unverified figures around.

That's pie chart is meaningless, there is no date and it shows Linux at just 1%, one fifthteenth of Apple, contrary to your claims.

Also there aren't many Linux phones around

 

Try looking at the share for phones where Apple have a healthy although declining share of the market

That's where the iOS will be used, not in Macbooks.

 

 

 

 

 

[jpendle]

1 hour ago, Graham Radish said:

Thing is its all true fella, mac osx compared to windows is laughable, if i was making an app i wouldn't make one for apple either, they are a tiny minority. last year there were more linux users.

 

Digikeijs did the right thing.

 

 

You might want to make sure that your Pie chart agrees with your text. According to that chart it looks like there were 15 times as many Mac OS users as there were Linux users.

 

Regards,

 

John P

[newbryford]

This is much more entertaining than a "gauge war".

 

 

[s182ggu]

10 minutes ago, newbryford said:

This is much more entertaining than a "gauge war".

 

 

6 pages in less than a month!! 

 

As newbryford implies, it's better than rivet-counting!!

 

Hat, coat .......gone!!

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, s182ggu said:

6 pages in less than a month!! 

 

As newbryford implies, it's better than rivet-counting!!

 

Hat, coat .......gone!!

What's more it's nothing to do with the original post

[s182ggu]

15 minutes ago, melmerby said:

What's more it's nothing to do with the original post

Man - I thought I was going a bit stir-crazy, but you guys are something else!!

 

Still, I guess you're enjoying yourselves! 

[RAF96]

The problem with Picoscope DCC serial decoding is the software hasn’t been fully developed yet to cope with 14 bit multifunction decoders. It is on their agenda but with no immediate priority.

 

I have a link file that decodes the DCC binary commands into plain text in the lower screen table (as far as the software allows).

 

If anyone with a Picoscope would like a copy on the understanding it is work in progress them PM me and I will send it over. You can always improve it and pass it back.

 

 

[Oldddudders]

2 hours ago, newbryford said:

This is much more entertaining than a "gauge war".

 

 

I liked the earlier spat about "bipolar" which ISTR used to be called "manic depressive" and may have some resonance in the discussion. 

[kevinlms]

19 hours ago, Tim V said:

To get back to the OP's question, I got out my four meters and measured the output (of a Multimaus by the way).

 

a. 17.57

b. 17.3

c. 17.5

d. 16.2

 

first three are digital, the last is an analogue meter.

Oi, stop quoting common sense!

 

This is something like what multimeters should be showing and more than adequately meets most needs, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate to 14 decimal places!

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I liked the earlier spat about "bipolar" which ISTR used to be called "manic depressive" and may have some resonance in the discussion. 

AC that also sometimes thinks it's DC

[newbryford]

AC/DC and a railway theme?

 

 

[kevinlms]

On 03/07/2020 at 01:50, newbryford said:

AC/DC and a railway theme?

 

 

I'm sure this thread warrants a Hitler Rant on measuring DCC voltage measuring!

[kevinlms]

On 03/07/2020 at 01:50, newbryford said:

AC/DC and a railway theme?

 

 

No, the railway shots are definitely for DC only!

[Dagworth]

13 hours ago, kevinlms said:

I'm sure this thread warrants a Hitler Rant on measuring DCC voltage measuring!

 

[NinOz]

I use a small adaptor based on a circuit published around 1995 on NCE yahoo groups, to measure the voltage using a DC meter, analogue or digital, or a DMM.  I use a 20V DC analogue meter.  Works a treat but a digital readout would be better for visibility at a distance.

Basically stores averaged near peak voltage in a capacitor.  Consists of two transistors, three capacitors and three resistors.  Claimed to be accurate to within 100mV, probably due to the necessary charge and bleed resistors plus transistor biases.

Should cost about 5 to 10 quid to make.

Pity the topic wandered in the realms of expensive equipment and daft views of DCC/AC wave forms rather than just address the original simple question and application.

Edited July 5, 2020 by NinOz