Salvage Scanner

...for when you are too lazy to look for a datasheet

Project status: Abandoned

Abandoned in favor of ArduTester 1.13 maintained by plouc68000 together with adding 3310 display support myself (I'll try). The ArduTester works so much better (tested through serial monitor for now). For example a 10.08uF foil cap was measured as roughly 8500nF by the ArduProj, while ArduTester measures it as 10.04uF. Measuring inductors (100nH, 1000nH) was much worse. The values were often of different magnitudes and unstable. Sometimes it didn't see an inductor at all and measured a capacitance between the probes as multiple uF (what?). I haven't changed the wiring when switching to ArtuTester so that is ruled out.

This Arduino sketch allows you to measure many electronic components (you have just salvaged from e-waste) with the goal of identifying them, checking basic functionality and determining the pinout without googling the part number (if any; if readable; if PDF available online).

Compatible components

PNP, NPN transistors
N or P Channel MOSFETs
Diodes, Zener diodes
Resistors
Capacitors
Inductors
Thyristors, Triacs
IGBTs

Other features

generating PWM signals 100Hz..25kHz (uses timer1)
measuring frequency up to 4 kHz (uses timer1/comparator)

What is different from mTester, AVR Transistortester and ArduTester?

no need for custom board like AVR Transistortester
only supports Nokia 3310 or 5110 displays (everybody and their dog had one of these phones back in the day)
code is simpler and easier to contribute to unlike ArduTester (yes, but it's not usable at least for me)
is DIY unlike mTester