A well-equipped electronics laboratory will characteristic a wide selection of take a look at tools. However the finish of the day — whether or not you are a novice or skilled — loads of electronics work is a matter of poking contacts to see in the event that they instantly join with one another. This kind of continuity tester performance is constructed into practically any multimeter, however for those who’d like one thing much more handy for this job, the Tiny Continuity Tester, as defined by David Johnson-Davies on Technoblogy, appears like a superb answer.
The gadget includes a flying lead that may be poked onto a circuit or plugged right into a breadboard, together with a PCB physique that holds the battery, an ATtiny202 microcontroller, a piezo buzzer, and the probe itself, a dressmaking pin with the purpose barely blunted. There’s additionally an indicator LED for good measure. The straightforward circuit and elements are fashioned into a pleasant pointy package deal, making it straightforward to maneuver round for measurements, and it passes lower than .1mA by means of the circuit beneath take a look at to keep away from affecting delicate elements.
Johnson-Davies’ purpose-built gadget has no on/off change, however as an alternative goes to sleep when idle 60 seconds. With a standby energy consumption of lower than .04µA, its CR1025 coin cell battery ought to final for a number of years.
Whereas the instance tester runs on an ATtiny202 in an SOIC kind issue, this system/PCB setup ought to work with any eight-pin chip within the ATtiny 0- or 1-series. The continuity tester is an improve to Johnson-Davies’ 2017 undertaking right here, and the sharp PCB probe design can be paying homage to his LED tester that we featured beforehand.
