Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Accurate LC inductance /Capacitance Meter

About The Project 

This is accurate home made LC inductance/capacitance meter built with very common components which are very easy to find all around . The range of this LC Meter is extremely good at measuring very low value of capacitance and inductance.

LC Meter's Inductance Measurement Ranges:
- 10nH - 1000nH
- 1uH - 1000uH
- 1mH - 100mH

LC Meter's Capacitance Measurement Ranges:
- 0.1pF - 1000pF
- 1nF - 900nF


it auto calibrate when power up , so there is no chances of human error in calibration. we can also re calibrate at any instance of time by pressing the reset button.this meter is completely auto range.

Components.

  • No particularly accurate components are required, except for one (or more) accurately known "external" capacitors used to calibrate the meter.
  • The two 1000pF capacitors should be fairly good quality. Polystyrene are preferred. MKT are fine. Greencaps tend to drift in value too much. Avoid ceramic capacitors. Some of these can have high losses (and it is hard to tell).
  • The two 10uF capacitors in the oscillator should be tantalum (for low series resistance/inductance).
  • The 4MHz crystal should be a genuine 4.000MHz one, not something approximate to 4MHz. Every 1% error in crystal frequency adds 2% error to the indicated inductance value.
  • The relay should be a low current one. The PIC can only provide about 30mA of drive current.
  • Don't forget the "catch" diode across the relay coil!




PCB Design






Download the Firmware and schematic

Click here to download  




Posted by Gaurav Singh at 7:37 PM
Labels: , ,

37 comments:

  1. tolik777December 2, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    What is J1?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gaurav SinghDecember 8, 2011 at 11:10 PM

    j1 and other jumper j2,j3,j4 grounded same as j1

    used for calibration and debugging

    ReplyDelete
  3. loserJanuary 2, 2012 at 3:18 PM

    Thancs for sharing.
    This is a very nice project.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Swaminathan BalagangatharanFebruary 10, 2012 at 9:56 PM

    i have try this circuit relay was getting on but .. i had a out put is "000000001" . if i disconnect the J1 means "over Range" .. please replay

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gaurav SinghFebruary 11, 2012 at 4:15 PM

    when you connect the jumper if it show 000000 it means l c oscillator is not oscillating due to some connection fault ,,wrong value or faulty components


    The "Overrange" message is displayed when the oscillator frequency exceeds 655350Hz or falls
    below 2560Hz.

    and the value you saw is telling 00 hz

    ReplyDelete
  6. Swaminathan BalagangatharanFebruary 13, 2012 at 2:50 PM

    Hi, Can you plz post source code or send to my mail id swami.gangatharan@gmail.com. Thanks in advance. I tried your serial lcd. It is very useful Thanks for that too......:)... your tutorials are very useful

    ReplyDelete
  7. Иван КалпакчиевFebruary 22, 2012 at 9:08 AM

    Hi to all,
    in my case display shows only CALIBRATING and nothing else. What is wrong with my setup? Best regards and many thanks in advance for your kind cooperation
    Ivan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaurav SinghMarch 15, 2012 at 12:34 PM

      if your prototype stuck on calibrating then please check the firmware

      Delete
    2. UnknownMay 25, 2014 at 7:29 AM

      mine is stuck at calibrating too , what to do now?
      kindly explain jumpers j2,j3,j4 connection?

      Delete
  8. omerMarch 13, 2012 at 4:50 PM

    hi my friends...
    I'm from Türkiye.... my name is omer and I need this project a lot....

    but ı couldn't download it.... Who can help me to download......

    And is this project run?
    İf you can know about this project, can you help me...
    Thanks a lot...
    Please contact me with my e-mail.... : e.tronik@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaurav SinghMarch 15, 2012 at 12:33 PM

      i have checked the download like and it's fine please try again

      Delete
  9. Piyush BhattMarch 22, 2012 at 3:52 AM

    Hi,

    have you made any circuit that tell me the voltage rating of a capacitor. i have doubt on voltage rating written on a capacitor.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownJune 3, 2012 at 3:31 AM

    Do you happen to have the source code available? I'd like to see if I can try to adapt it for a PIC16F88, and possibly 7 segment displays... Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. GeethalJuly 5, 2012 at 5:34 PM

    Hi,
    Can you pls give me the original pcb file?, coz i really dont have very much knowledge abt pcb drawing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownSeptember 2, 2012 at 4:41 PM

    Hello Gaurav,

    Post the source code for this please so we can modify/port.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownOctober 4, 2012 at 6:08 AM

    can i replace pic16f628 with pic16f84a?

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownSeptember 9, 2013 at 5:51 PM

    how can i change hex code to c language coding.... and also want to know that how can i make microchip ic burner so that i can burn ic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaurav SinghSeptember 9, 2013 at 6:32 PM

      sure you can do this is c no problem what so ever.


      here is the link to my another posts whic shows two different programmer .
      http://www.circuitvalley.com/2011/07/pickit-2-clone-universal-microchip-pic.html

      http://www.circuitvalley.com/2011/05/microchip-pic-serial-port-programmer.html

      Delete
  15. UnknownNovember 11, 2013 at 5:16 PM

    i tried this project and the lcd just give "orange" and and some blocks then after press cal button it gives
    "0.4 L= calibr" what is the problem

    ReplyDelete
  16. SnehasishMarch 4, 2014 at 8:03 PM

    please , send me the exact size of PCB in pdf .....:- esnehasish@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. UnknownMarch 18, 2014 at 6:57 AM

    im building a similar project with pic18F242 can I please have the C source code so i can work on it
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  18. hiendsadJuly 1, 2014 at 8:27 AM

    thanks Gaurav

    ReplyDelete
  19. motodaddoAugust 5, 2014 at 8:22 PM

    Thank you for this project, is possible to have the source code, or an explanation on how it works?
    Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  20. marcoaurelioktSeptember 2, 2015 at 10:17 PM

    Pcb design is available?

    ReplyDelete
  21. UnknownMarch 5, 2016 at 5:38 PM

    at robinkmarkose@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. UnknownMarch 16, 2016 at 5:43 AM

    I need the program for this project. Only Hex file is given here

    ReplyDelete
  23. UnknownJune 20, 2016 at 11:55 AM

    I have a problem. " over range " what is problem

    ReplyDelete
  24. danSeptember 20, 2016 at 3:57 PM

    is this realy working or not?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaurav SinghSeptember 20, 2016 at 3:59 PM

      yes it works pretty well , i still have it with me since i made it.

      Delete
  25. UnknownNovember 8, 2016 at 10:10 AM

    Hello,

    Can you give me the original pcb file?
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Abu-HafssFebruary 27, 2017 at 9:31 AM

    Hi Gaurav

    I tried to simulate the project in Proteus and the display gets stuck at "Caliberating..". After thorough checking I found that your posted schematic does not match with the actual pinouts of the microcontroller. Please see the your schematic below with indicated correct ports. Kindly verify if the port numbers are correct or the pin numbers?

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20969135/Very-accurate-LC-Meter.png

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Abu-HafssNovember 15, 2017 at 9:51 PM

      Hi Gaurav

      It has been fairly long time I not received your response. I hope everything is fine with you. Would you please spare time to reply me.

      Thanks.

      Delete
    2. andrewJuly 22, 2020 at 4:53 AM


      Hello friend, I have also tried to simulate the project in proteus, but I present the same problem as you.
      You have managed to solve the problem.

      Delete
    3. Abu-HafssJuly 22, 2020 at 4:11 PM

      Hi friend

      I am sorry, no.

      Delete
  27. UnknownApril 28, 2017 at 9:27 PM

    Hi Sir,dy done the inter
    I am also doing the same project currently for my final sem.I have already done the LCD interfacing with PIC microcontroller. But i am unable to do the calculation part in the program. Can you please provide me the source code or .c file?
    my mail id is: dodoarnab@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. illias28January 29, 2020 at 12:39 PM

    could you pleasegive us the pcb that you have ade with eagle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaurav SinghJanuary 30, 2020 at 12:13 AM

      Due to harddrive crash i have lost lots of data i do not have any soure anymore.

      Delete

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