Lidmotor's Penny circuit help needed.

[Dark Alchemist]

You have to admit this monster is a new beast we need to tame.
What is causing the HUGE negative spikes I last saw?

Since I am going to work with coils and such, and I do not have a waveform generator, I think I will purchase one of these:

[TinselKoala]

Yes, an RCL meter is very handy. I use the ProsKit, and I also made a neat L meter using Arduino. It's good to have a couple different checks, just to remain sane.

Meanwhile:   All but the "proper" BC337 transistor. But it works great with the MPSA18. Now I seem to be able to get three modes: first startup, without 1.2 nF cap,  is moderately bright, then when I connect the cap it gets brighter, then when I _disconnect_ the cap it gets brighter still !
I haven't scoped this version yet. Here it's running on a tiny AG4 - LR626 button cell, has been for half an hour or so. It's starting to dim a bit now.

[Dark Alchemist]

Very nice and what I am trying to figure out is why it gets brighter after you remove the 1.2nf cap?  I added it to get it to run and it ran brighter in the simulator but removing it made it even brighter than both?  That seems so odd to me that stepping it like that made it brighter.  I just wish I knew how much it was putting out and how much it is sucking away for all three modes.

I am torn between that LCR meter that has a screen and the connections and buying an Arduino mega 2560 with no screen but I can update it when needed.  The fun thing about the one I linked is that it tells you what the ESR of caps is and what Transistor you just put in it.  I really want the Arduino but the all in one already built is nice and basically they cost the same.

[TinselKoala]

The neat thing about the Arduino is that it can be used for so many different applications. And once you get a sketch running doing something you like, like the Inductance meter, you can put the sketch into a Pro Mini, which costs about 4 dollars from Singapore, for a permanent installation.
I use the Parallax brand 2x16 LCD display, which is very simple to use and has a backlight and a miniature speaker, and the Arduino Uno is powerful enough for most all I do. I do have a Mega but the only project I use it for is the 4x4x4 LED cube display.

Here's a demo of my Arduino inductance meter, showing on the scope how it does its thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx3B89379eQ
I found a usable comparator chip in an old TV circuit board.

I use the LCD/Arduino for all kinds of things. It makes a good optical tachometer by adding a IR sensor and LED, and I made a Sous Vide temperature controlled crockpot with it too. My most recent Arduino project is a 12-LED color organ with realtime software FFT, but that doesn't use the LCD.

The meter you are getting sounds pretty neat, with more specialized functions. I don't know how I'd implement those in an Arduino sketch. I'm no Arduino expert but I love the little things, they are very useful to make gadgets with.


The negative current spike you are getting... I dunno. Maybe that's the Free Energy leaking in!
My current traces are pretty different from yours, both with the cap in the loop and out of it. I'm using the depleted batteries for power though, so they may not be sourcing enough current, compared to your sim's battery model. I'm going to try using a low voltage regulated supply to see if my current traces can look more like yours.

The differences in brightness are because the thing is shifting frequencies between several stable modes. Why it does this, I don't know, but so far I can tell that the power supply voltage and impedance is a factor. I managed to observe two modes on the scope but unfortunately I didn't video them, and I don't think I'll be able to get to it tonight. They are very different looking and very different frequency.

[Dark Alchemist]

The reason of the Mega 2560 is I can get a 2013 SainSmart with the USB cable delivered for $17.99 and I still can't touch the UNO for that.  SainSmart Mega2560 R3 ATmega2560-16AU + ATMEGA16U2 + USB Cable For Arduino 2013  http://www.ebay.com/itm/271187169712?ss

Yes, the voltage does play a HUGE factor with what you get on the scope even in the simulation.

Now, here is a screenshot of what all I can put in for the battery.  The other tabs for this item play no role.