I couldn't imagine the development time required to get something like this out the door. So complex and powerful. Respect to those guys for what they have created with this.
Shahriar, thank you so much! Personally, among all video modes, these long deep conversations and theory within a review are awesome! We know there is a lot effort, time and passion you put into this! So do we when we watch you.
Great video as always mate, really appreciate the effort you go to with these videos, it must take a lot of time and effort to make them and it doesn't go unnoticed.
I really appreciate software that understands you are an engineer, if i want someone less trained on a production line to do something i can write or have software written i also really like the design language that helps devs design their own frontends and tests. This was something i first encountered with blender where you can mouse over things and it tells you the API path to it (with dev tool tips enabled) and you can right click things and view the exact python code for it. Give the user the ability to tell the software that you know what you are doing and wont be harassing support every 2 minutes.
I am impressed by how quick and easily you were setting up the measurement of the harmonic distortions of a loudspeaker membrane. Loudspeaker designers may crave for such a setup. I wonder how a .1 to 5 MHz crystal might show its impedance over a frequency range. Ever tried it?
Very interesting, thx! For ultrasonic/speaker demo it could be interesting to add some dc offset to a speaker - this way sound waves (ac) can be differentiated from a speaker cone position (ac+dc) showing measured distance
Excellent video again. You have also worked with lock-in amplifiers of SRS before, I believe SR844. Do you actually prefer amplifiers like the SRS (or equivalents like the SR860 or the cool analog SR2124) where all the controls are right at the front, or you prefer the flexibility of systems like the MFLI/MFIA?
Excellent review. I use a ZI MFLI and a UHFLI at work and it's a really nice piece of hardware. However, I despise ZI's business model of making every piece of functionality as software unlocks. Admittly they did a good job for creating the handy interface and that cost significant money, but I simply don't feel comfortable with deliberately cutting down the capacities that is already there.
Agree, sucks if you spend a ton of cash on a nice instrument, with all the balls removed in software. Much rather like the NanoVNA, TinySA business model, dump the design&software to the internet and let the Chinese build them for cheap ;-)
Shahriar, please consider an online masters degree or private course with RF theory, deep dive into precission instruments (noise budget, noise sources, noise in passives) . Maybe gather other minds that hold knowledge and are good teachers. Nowhere is teached how to build such instruments. I want that knowledge
every time i see that pile of gear, I wonder if there are certain instruments you don't use anymore and why, maybe you could elaborate on that in another video? like which features are the ones you use the most, and how many channels of which instrument is enough for you and such
@@mikesradiorepairWhat would you a Zufalls use those for? Creating super small and stable currents? I would imagine a resistor like that to be really noisy.
@@lbgstzockt8493 Used in picoammeters, high voltage bias circuits, piezo electric drivers. When your working high voltages around 100kV a Tera Ohm doesn't seem like such a high resistance.
Taken to it's extreme, such a machine can become another tricoder technology. Imagine getting a sweep of a vial of water from DC all the way to 110 GHz and getting all the amplitude and phase info. Some AI will then be able to give you a breakdown of tons of info about the sample. Hopefully one day, the entire thing can exist on a single IC.
When current is flowing or when the pn junction is illuminated, LEDs are not in thermal equilibrium. I expect this fact enters into the variations in the LED signal -- but I don't know the details. Have you tried moving one LED and monitoring the signal? It could be a lensing effect where different areas are illuminated for different relative positions. If this is the cause, then small movement will make a big difference. (Heat from your hand near one lead might cause enough expansion to do it...)
Again, a fantastic review of a fantastic instrument. Yes, this LED experiment was very interesting. My first thought was to throw a blanket over it to remove any ambient light. Nowadays, when the lights do not flicker at 120 or 100 Hz any more but at much higher frequencies, you sometimes get fooled by the lamps. But then, on the other hand, why would they not be visible on the steady-state on- and off-capacitance readings? The slow settling after the plastic piece was inserted was also interesting, perhaps another effect of the same phenomenon. Was there some kind of saturation involved, or a non-monotonic current-capacitance response? Perhaps shielding the ambient light and varying the excitation LED current might give some hints. Or at least more questions :-)
What exactly is the purpose of this instrument? I mean, it has great resolution, and presumably also great accuracy. The only reason I can see for using it is to create calibration standards.
I used it in grad school for Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy and High Speed Capacitance-Voltage-Frequency measurement for III-V semiconductor devices. The high speed combined with using a cryostat to lower the temperature allowed me to look at the material properties, like doping and trap behavior.
I couldn't imagine the development time required to get something like this out the door. So complex and powerful. Respect to those guys for what they have created with this.
Shahriar, thank you so much! Personally, among all video modes, these long deep conversations and theory within a review are awesome! We know there is a lot effort, time and passion you put into this! So do we when we watch you.
Great video as always mate, really appreciate the effort you go to with these videos, it must take a lot of time and effort to make them and it doesn't go unnoticed.
I really appreciate software that understands you are an engineer, if i want someone less trained on a production line to do something i can write or have software written
i also really like the design language that helps devs design their own frontends and tests. This was something i first encountered with blender where you can mouse over things and it tells you the API path to it (with dev tool tips enabled) and you can right click things and view the exact python code for it. Give the user the ability to tell the software that you know what you are doing and wont be harassing support every 2 minutes.
Thank you for your work on producing this video on a very important topic.
Impressive presentation and experimental demonstration showing great capability for super advanced user.
That's an impressive piece of kit. I love these deep dives.
a well-implemented lock-in amplifier is such an elegant thing.
I am impressed by how quick and easily you were setting up the measurement of the harmonic distortions of a loudspeaker membrane. Loudspeaker designers may crave for such a setup.
I wonder how a .1 to 5 MHz crystal might show its impedance over a frequency range. Ever tried it?
Always enjoy your discussions even when, like this one, it is way out of my ability
Very interesting, thx! For ultrasonic/speaker demo it could be interesting to add some dc offset to a speaker - this way sound waves (ac) can be differentiated from a speaker cone position (ac+dc) showing measured distance
Brilliant!
At 48:15 could the over/undershoot be from a small current being induced into the receiving diode causing some discrepancies in the measurement?
Excellent video again. You have also worked with lock-in amplifiers of SRS before, I believe SR844. Do you actually prefer amplifiers like the SRS (or equivalents like the SR860 or the cool analog SR2124) where all the controls are right at the front, or you prefer the flexibility of systems like the MFLI/MFIA?
Im genuinly surprised at the cost of this instrument. Yes its WAYYYYY outside my budget but its not that expensive for what it provides
Interesting! Good news Pricing on web site. Starting at ~ $15.5 k with test fixture / 500 kHz
Excellent review. I use a ZI MFLI and a UHFLI at work and it's a really nice piece of hardware. However, I despise ZI's business model of making every piece of functionality as software unlocks. Admittly they did a good job for creating the handy interface and that cost significant money, but I simply don't feel comfortable with deliberately cutting down the capacities that is already there.
Agree, sucks if you spend a ton of cash on a nice instrument, with all the balls removed in software.
Much rather like the NanoVNA, TinySA business model, dump the design&software to the internet and let the Chinese build them for cheap ;-)
Shahriar, please consider an online masters degree or private course with RF theory, deep dive into precission instruments (noise budget, noise sources, noise in passives) . Maybe gather other minds that hold knowledge and are good teachers. Nowhere is teached how to build such instruments. I want that knowledge
How do you like this compared to the LCX200?
I find it funny you switched from saying "The signal path, NO pun intended" to "The signal path, pun intended" these days 😄
every time i see that pile of gear, I wonder if there are certain instruments you don't use anymore and why, maybe you could elaborate on that in another video? like which features are the ones you use the most, and how many channels of which instrument is enough for you and such
What is this nice and compact AMETEK cooling chamber?
You can see me repair it in a previous video.
@@Thesignalpath got it. Nice job and thank you
How would you measure the impedance of inductance from 50Hz to 10kHz when the terminals are up to 2m away from each other? Is this even possible?
I guess use 4 wire, just calibrate before measurement
why are the parts numbers or high resolution images never shared ?
I would have been interested in that too. I have already sent him an email, but unfortunately no reply.
Tera Ohm?
I have a couple different values of 1 and 2 Watt resistors in the 500 Giga Ohm to 1 Tera Ohm range in stock. More common than you might think.
@@mikesradiorepairWhat would you a Zufalls use those for? Creating super small and stable currents? I would imagine a resistor like that to be really noisy.
@@lbgstzockt8493 Used in picoammeters, high voltage bias circuits, piezo electric drivers. When your working high voltages around 100kV a Tera Ohm doesn't seem like such a high resistance.
Taken to it's extreme, such a machine can become another tricoder technology. Imagine getting a sweep of a vial of water from DC all the way to 110 GHz and getting all the amplitude and phase info. Some AI will then be able to give you a breakdown of tons of info about the sample. Hopefully one day, the entire thing can exist on a single IC.
When current is flowing or when the pn junction is illuminated, LEDs are not in thermal equilibrium. I expect this fact enters into the variations in the LED signal -- but I don't know the details. Have you tried moving one LED and monitoring the signal? It could be a lensing effect where different areas are illuminated for different relative positions. If this is the cause, then small movement will make a big difference. (Heat from your hand near one lead might cause enough expansion to do it...)
Again, a fantastic review of a fantastic instrument. Yes, this LED experiment was very interesting. My first thought was to throw a blanket over it to remove any ambient light. Nowadays, when the lights do not flicker at 120 or 100 Hz any more but at much higher frequencies, you sometimes get fooled by the lamps. But then, on the other hand, why would they not be visible on the steady-state on- and off-capacitance readings? The slow settling after the plastic piece was inserted was also interesting, perhaps another effect of the same phenomenon. Was there some kind of saturation involved, or a non-monotonic current-capacitance response? Perhaps shielding the ambient light and varying the excitation LED current might give some hints. Or at least more questions :-)
What exactly is the purpose of this instrument? I mean, it has great resolution, and presumably also great accuracy. The only reason I can see for using it is to create calibration standards.
I used it in grad school for Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy and High Speed Capacitance-Voltage-Frequency measurement for III-V semiconductor devices. The high speed combined with using a cryostat to lower the temperature allowed me to look at the material properties, like doping and trap behavior.