| Custom Front Panel |
Personalize and dress up your M3 Semiconductor Analyzer with your own faceplate. If you have developed your own front panel and would like to share your results, email us a picture and a brief description of how you made your panel and we will add it to this page. Share your expertise with others. Below is an example of how you can use your printer to make a custom faceplate.
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This analyzer was constructed by Steve Reeves. He opted to use his own enclosure for the kit. He made his faceplate by using Corel Draw and printing on glossy photo paper. He sprayed the enclosure cover with adhesive and then glued the faceplate to the enclosure. He then covered the faceplate with clear contact paper to protect it. As you can see, Steve brought his test leads out the bottom of his analyzer and has labeled the color coding for his clips on the faceplate. This made a very nice looking unit.
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| OP-1 Adaptor |
 
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| The optional OP-1 adaptor to test common opto-couplers can easily be constructed on perf board. All that is required is an 18-pin IC socket, a 1N-914, 100K 5% resistor, 10 ufd electrolytic capacitor, 7 posts, and a Radio Shack General Purpose IC- Board (#276-150). The schematic for the adaptor is included in the User's Manual. Click on the image on the left above for a detailed wiring diagram. The 2 posts on the bottom left and right sides are to allow the you to test non-standard devices such as opto encoders using alligator clip leads. The picture to the right above shows an OP-1 constructed on a protoboard and mounted in a plastic box that was available. |
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| For those that prefer to make their own circuit boards, a template is provided above (left) for the OP-1 Adaptor, suitable for use with Press-N-Peel. Simply right-click on the image and save to a file on your hard drive. PC board size is 1.2" X 2.37". A parts placement guide is shown on the right above. The 10 ufd electrolytic capacitor should be installed on the solder-side of the pc board if you chose to place your adaptor in an enclosure. This will allow the 18-pin DIP socket to extend through an opening in the enclosure. |
 
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| "Cheezy" Test Hooks |
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| We worked very hard to assemble quality parts for the analyzer kit and think we succeeded with the exception of the mini-grabber style test hooks. We have not been happy with the quality of the clips that ship with the kit but Fluke or Pomona style clips would have increased the overall cost of the kit by about 10%. This was also unacceptable to us. The biggest drawback to the clips is that the test lead is only 7-strand and it connects to the clip itself by feeding through the end of the cap - exactly where you need to press to open the clip. This places stress on the lead and causes it to eventually break off the clip. For those that have even minimal mechanical abilities, this can easily be rectified. The photo above shows how to modify the clips to a side feed. Simply slide the cap off and unsolder the lead from the hook. Remove the cap from the lead and drill a 3/32" hole in the side approximately 1/16" from the end. Pay attention when drilling this hole - look inside the cap. You will see that there are slots on two side of the cap to accept the clip itself. Position the cap for drilling so that the hole to be drilled is perpendicular to the two slots (in other words, don't drill the hole on the same side as either slot!). Feed the lead through the new hole and resolder the lead to the clip. Slide the cap back in place, insuring that the clip seats into the two slots of the cap. |
Click here to view customized Analyzer kits submitted by users.
