Difference between revisions of "Voltcraft VC-350e"

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!Metex-connector pin (male)
!Metex-connector pin (male)
!RS-232 DE9-female pin
!RS-232 DE9-female pin
!Signal (computer side)
!Signal (multimeter side)
!Remarks
!Remarks
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== Photos ==
== Photos ==

Revision as of 11:51, 9 September 2020

Voltcraft VC-350e
Voltcraft VC-350e.jpeg
Status in progress
Counts 4000
IEC 61010-1 CAT II (750 V AC/1000 V DC)
Connectivity RS-232 (DB9)
Measurements voltage, current, resistance, diode, continuity, temperature, frequency
Features autorange, hold, bargraph

The Voltcraft VC-350e is a 4000 counts, CAT II (750/1000V) handheld digital multimeter with RS232 connectivity.

It is an OEM version of the Saftec SAF350E. The device was sold by Conrad Elektronik as article 125512 around 1997 and is not available any more.

Hardware

Multimeter:

  • Multimeter IC: Maxim MAX134 datasheet
  • CPU: SAF350E
  • Fuses: 800mA/250V 5x20mm and 20A/250V 6x30mm (superfast, ceramic fuses)
  • Battery: 9V NEDA 1604 or 6F22


RS232:

  • Transfer rate:1200 baud
  • Characters: 8-bit
  • Parity:none
  • Stop bits:1

This device uses what looks like a Metex connector, but it only has 4 pins (where 5 pins is seen on other devices).

Vc350e-rs232.png

Cable pinout

Metex-connector pin (male) RS-232 DE9-female pin Signal (multimeter side) Remarks
1  3 RxD
-  - empty space space between pin 1 and 2 on Metex where there is no pin/hole.
2  5 GND
3  2 TxD  
4  6, 7 DSR + RTS  DSR and RTS tied together on PC side

Photos

Multimeter:

Protocol

See Multimeter_ICs#Metex_14-byte_ASCII for the DMM IC protocol.

Model family

It seems that this device belongs to a family of several similiar devices and OEM models.

Metex Conrad PeakTech Radio Shack RMS Frequency Transistor Logic Temp Cap. Remarks
Metex ME-11 - ? RadioShack 22-805 ? ? ? ? ? ? Amps manual range; seems to be similiar to ME-42


Metex ME-21 - ? ? - - - - Manual Range
Metex ME-22 Voltcraft ME-22 ? ? ? ? Manual Range
Metex ME-22 RMS Voltcraft ME-22 RMS ? ? ? Manual Range
Metex ME-31 - PeakTech 3410 ? ? ? ? ?
Metex ME-32 Voltcraft ME-32 ? ? - - - Amps manual range
Metex ME-42 Voltcraft ME-42 ? ? - - - - - - Amps manual range

Resources

Measurement functions and ranges

Measurement function Range Resolution Accuracy sigrok result Remarks
V= 400.0 mV 100 μV ±(0.5% + 3) mq V, unit V, mqflags DC "
4.000 V 1 mV "
40.00 V 10 mV "
400.0 V 100 mV "
1000 V 1 V "
V≈ 400.0 mV 100 μV ±(1.0% + 5) mq V, unit V, mqflags AC 40 Hz - 100 Hz
4.000 V 1 mV " 40 Hz - 400 Hz
40.00 V 10 mV " "
400.0 V 100 mV " "
750 V 1 V " "
A= 4.000 mA 1 µA ±(0.8% + 3) mq Curr., unit A, mqflags DC
400.0 mA 100 µA ±(1.2% + 3) "
20.00 A 10 mA ±(2.0% + 5) "
A≈ 4.000 mA 10 µA ±(1.0% + 5) mq Curr., unit A, mqflags AC
400.0 mA 100 µA ±(1.5% + 5) "
20.00 A 10 mA ±(3.0% + 5) "
Ω 400.0 Ω 100 mΩ mq Res., unit Ω, mqflags - Continuity beep < 50 Ω
4.000 kΩ 1 Ω "
40.00 kΩ 10 Ω "
400.0 kΩ 100 Ω "
4.000 MΩ 1 kΩ "
40.00 MΩ 10 kΩ "
Diode 2.000 V– 1 mV mq V, unit V, mqflags DC,DIODE Max. 1.5 mA
Data Hold -

The column "sigrok result" contains in short form what the driver generates for the resp. data type.

The device seems to be extremely slow when the RS-232 interface is enabled and often takes up to about 10 seconds to detect a changed value or switch to another range. During this time a previous value keeps being sent. When changing to a new range automatically or manually, the device might send the old value scaled to the new range for a short time. This behaviour is caused by the device, not by sigrok! It improves slightly in manual range.