Accuhard A101 User manual

Accuhard A101 LCR Meter accuhard.com
Accuhard A101
USB LCR Meter
User Manual
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Accuhard A101 LCR Meter accuhard.com
Getting Started
1. Install A101 software from installation CD or download from www.accuhard.com.
2. Connect A101 device to PC.
3. After driver installation rocedure started, set check box “Include the ath” and choose driver
for
your Windows version in “C:\Program files\A101\Drivers\” or in “C:\Program
files(86)\A101\Drivers\” or find it on installation CD “:\Drivers”. For 32-bit versions use “x86”
folders and “x64” for 64-bit versions.
You can get your version of windows by o ening “Settings > System > About”.
Most Windows XP versions are 32-bit.
4. If driver installation rocedure did not start, o en Device Manager, find A101, right click on
it and choose “U date driver”. Than do as described in #3.
5. Run A101 software.
6. Connect leads or robe to A101 device.
7. Calibrate A101 device with connected robe or leads “Main menu > Calibrate > Calibrate”.
8. After calibration save calibration file “Main menu > Calibrate > Save calfile as..”. It is better
to include test leads’ ty e into calfile name. If you will change test leads’ ty e, do calibration
again.
9. Save rofile “Main menu > Profile > Save rofile as..”.
Safety and Warnings
Do not a ly voltage to in ut terminals.
Discharge ca acitor before testing.
Do not measure owered circuits and connected to ground.
Connections
Figure 1: Connection of test leads, tweezers and USB cable to A101.
HC means high side current connector, ositive olarity.
HP means high side otential connector, ositive olarity.
LP means low side otential connector.
LC means low side current connector.
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Display Panels and Menus
Display
Full list of measured arameters may be found in “S ecifications” cha ter.
Main value is basic measured element of equivalent schematic. This indicator dis lays current
ty e of measurement, measured value and unit of measurement. See CLR anel for more
information.
Auxiliary value is second element of equivalent schematic.
Figure 2: Dis lay and anels, normal view.
It may be:
Rs (ESR) – equivalent series resistance Rs = Z.im * D;
R – equivalent arallel resistance R = Z.im / D;
C – equivalent arallel ca acitance for Rac C = 1 / (2 *p* F * Rac / D);
“Auto start” button runs continuous measurements.
“Manual start” button runs single measurement or sto s continuous measurements.
 Im edance value indicator dis lays either real (Z.re) and imagery (Z.im) arts of im edance
or module (Z.md) and hase angle (Z.Θ), see view menu for more information about view
o tions.
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Admittance value indicator dis lays either real (Y.re) and imagery (Y.im) arts of im edance
or module (Y.md) and hase angle (Y.Θ), see view menu for more information about view
o tions.
Reference value indicator dis lays “main” value used for sorting or relative measurement.
It uses the same units as main value.
Delta value indicator dis lays result of relative measurement.
CLR anel is used to choose necessary ty e of measurement.
Range anel is used for auto or manual range choice.
Frequency anel is used for auto or manual frequency choice.
Sorting anel is used to dis lay results of sorting and for fast access to tolerance arameters.
Nominal frequency indicator dis lays rounded value of real measuring frequency.
All dis layed im edance and admittance values are recalculated from real frequency to nominal
frequency.
Signal level indicator dis lays currently used out ut signal level. Signal level may be set in
work menu.
Status indicator dis lays connection state of A101 device. It must be “Ready” for
measurements.
DC voltage indicator dis lays Direct Current (DC) bias voltage on high side connectors (HC
and HP), see Figure 1.
DUT voltage indicator dis lays voltage on Device Under Test (DUT).
Real frequency dis lays exact value of measuring frequency.
Rst voltage dis lays voltage on standard resistor, see Figure 56.
To start work, run A101 a lication, connect device or vice verse, choose ty e of measurement,
connect leads to DUT and ress “Auto start” or “Manual start” button. “Auto
start” means continuous measurements until “Manual start” button will be ressed. “Manual start”
means single measurement with fixed range choice or a few measurements with auto range choice.
If device already was calibrated and calfile was saved and settings were saved in rofile, they
will be auto loaded and you will see them on ca tion of a lication form.
Panels
CLR Panel
CLR anel rovides fast access and visual control of current measurement.
Figure 3: CLR anel.
“Cs” means ca acitance, series model.
“C ” means ca acitance, arallel model.
“Ls” means inductance, series model.
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“L ” means inductance, arallel model.
“Rac” means Alternate Current (AC) resistance, arallel model.
All buttons have hints with equivalent models for every button.
Figure 4: CLR anel’s equivalent schematics.
Range Panel
Range anel rovides fast access to auto or manual choice of range and visual control of current
range.
Capacitance:
Figure 5 Ca acitance, range anel with auto choice.
with auto range choice, current range’s value is highlighted in green color
Figure 6: Ca acitance, range anel with manual choice.
and with manual range choice, recommended range’s value is highlighted in green color.
Inductance:
Figure 7: Inductance, range anel with auto choice.
with auto range choice, current range’s value is highlighted in green color
Figure 8: Inductance, range anel with manual choice.
and with manual range choice, recommended range’s value is highlighted in green color.
AC resistance:
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Figure 9: AC resistance, range anel with auto choice.
with auto range choice, current range’s value is highlighted in green color
Figure 10: AC resistance, range anel with manual choice.
and with manual range choice, recommended range’s value is highlighted in green color.
Frequency Panel
Figure 11: Frequency anel with auto choice.
Frequency anel with auto range choice, current frequency’s value is highlighted in green color
Figure 12: Frequency anel with manual choice.
and with manual range choice, recommended frequency’s value is highlighted in green color.
Sorting Panel
Figure 13: Sorting anel.
Sorting anel shows tolerance relatively Reference value. Click on a button will o en “O tions”
window with “Sorting” age to adjust tolerance arameters for the button and the bin.
Menus
Profile Menu
Figure 14: Profile menu.
“Profile” menu allows all current settings to be saved to or loaded from
a rofile file. Profile is useful when you need eriodically re eat a few
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different measurements like tolerance sorting for different values and
different tolerance settings.
View Menu
In “View” menu you can choose:
- normal or com act a lication size,
Figure 15: Com act view.
Figure 16: View menu.
- anels’ visibility,
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Figure 17: Panels’ visibility menu.
- format of values – Cartesian with real and imagery arts or Polar with module and hase angle
arts,
Figure 18: Format menu.
Figure 19: Exam le of formats.
- format of numbers - General or Scientific,
Figure 20: Number menu.
Figure 21: Exam le of numbers.
- set “Stay on to ” view mode,
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- number of digits,
Figure 22: Digits menu.
and
- o en “O tions” window to set DC bias voltage scan arameters and tolerance arameters for
sorting.
Figure 23: O tions window.
Work Menu
In “Work” menu, which is useful if CLR, range and frequency anels are hidden,
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Figure 24: Work menu.
you can choose:
- ty e of measurement: ca acitance with series model “Cs”, ca acitance with arallel model “C ”,
inductance with series model “Ls”, inductance with arallel model “L ” and AC resistance with
arallel model “Rac”.
- range of value: with auto choice (“Auto” on range anel or menu) or manual choice by user,
Figure 25: CLR and range menus.
- measuring frequency: with auto choice (“Auto” on frequency anel or menu) or manual choice
by user,
- set averaging value from 1 to 50,
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Figure 26: Frequency and averaging menus.
- set signal level 0.5V or 0.05V,
Figure 27: Signal level menu.
- o en direct current (DC) voltage scan arameters age (“DCV scan”) to start scanning,
Figure 28: DCV scan menu and O tions window.
- set last main value as reference (“Set as reference”) or double click on the main value,
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Figure 29: Set as reference menu.
- set arbitrary value as reference on “O tions” window or double click on reference value,
Figure 30: Set reference menu.
- o en sorting arameters age,
Figure 31: Sorting menu and window.
Also click on “Sorting” anel will o en “O tions” window to edit a value of this bin. Names of
bins on sorting anel are values of maximum limits.
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- start recording of data in new worksheet (Alt + N) or add last data (S ace),
Figure 32: Record data menu.
- set ower net frequency and thereby do 100Hz (50Hz) or 120Hz (60Hz) frequency choice.
Figure 33: Net frequency menu.
“CLR”, “Range” and “Frequency” menus in “Work” menu are du licated with “CLR”, “Range”
and “Frequency” anels.
Calibrate Menu
Figure 34: Calibrate menu.
“Calibrate” menu allows to start new calibration and than save it as calibration file (calfile) and
later o en it to save time if maximum accuracy is not necessary.
Charts& Menu
“Charts&” menu rovides access to all created charts and data worksheets.
Figure 35: Find and show result window.
Help Menu
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“Hel ” menu gives access to this User Manual and “About” window with link to www.accuhard.com.
Figure 36: Hel menu and “About” window.
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Making C L and Rac Measurements
Connect leads to LCR meter as shown on Figure 1.
Connect LCR meter to com uter, run “A101” software.
Connect leads to Device Under Test (DUT) as shown on figures 37 – 39.
Measuring Capacitance (C)
Connect leads to Device Under Test (DUT) as shown on Figure 37.
All ca acitors must be discharged before connection to LCR meter.
Select “Cs’ or “C ” ty e of measurement on CLR anel or in CLR menu.
Set “Auto” on range and frequency anels or in range and frequency menus.
Press “Auto start” or “Manual start” button.
Read the dis lays. If the main value is colored in red and status bar has a label “Out of range”, check
the range and frequency and also check leads’ connection, it may be shorted.
If auto range choice cannot find right range, set the range manually.
Since test leads have significant uncom ensated inductance, u to 0.5µH and even more, and
this inductance very strong de ends from the leads’ osition, it is hard to kee the inductance stable
to com ensate by calibration. For measuring frequency 100kHz the uncom ensated ortion of the
inductance will give reactance com arable with reactance of the ca acitors with ca acitance of a few
µF and higher. So you need to be very careful with measuring frequency 100kHz. LCR meter must
be freshly calibrated before such measurements take lace. Leads’ osition must be unchanged after
calibration.
Figure 37: Through hole, SMD and low ESR SMD ca acitors' connection.
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Measuring Inductance (L)
Figure 38: Inductor’s connection.
Connect leads to an inductor as shown on Figure 38.
Select “Ls’ or “L ” ty e of measurement on CLR anel or in CLR menu.
Set “Auto” on range and frequency anels or in range and frequency menus.
Press “Auto start” or “Manual start” button.
Read the dis lays. If the main value is colored in red and status bar has a label “Out of range”, check
the range and frequency and also check leads’ connection, it may be o en.
If auto range choice cannot find right range, set the range manually.
Since test leads have significant uncom ensated inductance, u to 0.5µH and even more,
and this inductance very strong de ends from the leads’ osition, it is hard to kee the inductance
stable to com ensate by calibration. For measuring frequency 100kHz the uncom ensated ortion
of the inductance will give reactance com arable with reactance of low value inductors with the
inductance less than tens µH. So you need to be very careful with measuring frequency 100kHz.
LCR meter must be freshly calibrated before such measurements take lace. Leads’ osition must
be unchanged after calibration.
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Measuring AC Resistance (Rac)
Figure 39: Resistor’s connection.
Connect leads to a resistor as shown on Figure 39.
Select “Rac” ty e of measurement on CLR anel or in CLR menu.
Set “Auto” on range and frequency anels or in range and frequency menus.
Press “Auto start” or “Manual start” button.
Read the dis lays. If the main value is colored in red and status bar has label “Out of range”, check
the range and frequency and also check leads’ connection, it may be o en.
If auto range choice cannot find right range, set the range manually.
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DC Bias Voltage Scan
Click “DCV scan” in “Work” menu to begin DC bias voltage scan.
Figure 40: DC bias voltage scan settings.
Use “DCV scan” age of “O tions” window to set arameters and start DCV scanning.
Better to use fixed range, not Auto range, for DCV scan.
DCV scan age on O tions window also gives ossibility to measure ca acitance with any
fixed DC bias voltage in range 0 – 30V.
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