[time-nuts] Voltage Standards

[Neon John]

On Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:32:23 -0600, Brian Kirby <kirbybq at bellsouth.net> wrote:


>Maybe we should consider coming up with a standard voltage reference as 
>a TAPR project.  We have a lot of good brainpower out here and it seems 
>a lot of experience available.

I think that this is a spectacular idea.  Actually, two standards would be
nice.  One low-ppm one for us "volt-nuts" (maybe this list ought to change
names to "standards-nuts" or "precision-nuts") and another good enough to
check 3.5 and 4.5 digit meters.  With all the cheap-spit Chicom DVMs on the
market, some of which don't even make a good SWAG, a cheap standard that any
ham or other nerd could afford would go a long way toward eliminating a LOT of
headaches for folks like us.

I answer numerous tech questions every day and one of the first questions I've
learned to ask when voltage measurements are involved is "what kind of DVM are
you using?"  If it's a sub $50 chicom special, I suggest that they buy a
better meter before we waste time working on the "problem".

Awhile back I bought several ChiCom DVMs from a flea market vendor for $5 a
pop, thinking I could toss one in each car for on-the-side-of-the-road
troubleshooting.  Problem is, the damned thing varies over half a volt on the
20 volt scale between a new 9 volt battery and one that just lights the low
battery indicator.  They're using a standard DVM chip so they had to actually
WORK at it to make it that bad!!!

One day when I have a few spare round tuits I'm going to open one up and see
what's going on.  Bet I find a simple resistor divider instead of the voltage
reference or something like that.

Anyway, here's my vote for a TAPR Volt!

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
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Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
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