On Sunday 17 November 2024 08:45:04 pm Andy via groups.io wrote:
TO-92 cases have several variations that can get you in trouble.
I have seen cheap (US$20 or so) component testers online, that now claim to be able to tell you what kind of device you have (e.g., cap vs. diode vs. FET vs. PNP or NPN), and can even identify which pin is which, and what is the gain (Beta or Hfe).? I have no idea how reliable they are about all that.? I have been tempted to get one.
Oh, you should. I have one that I've had for a while now, and it's really handy. The thing has been mounted in a little metal box with connections to banana jacks added, so I can use a set of leads from my curve tracer (I happened to have matching colored jacks on hand here) for those parts that won't fit into the test socket, like TO-3 cases and such. I've used it enough that the button you push to test is starting to get a little flaky, and I'm thinking about getting another one. These days they're available with cases, for less than what I paid for mine, which was pretty bare-bones. I sent my brother a link to one of those, and he bought one immediately. :-)
--
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James
M Dakin
