EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Hacking a Kill-a-Watt for very low power measurements

NiHaoMike · 08-14-14, 07:43 PM

Take one of those cheap power inverters and try to measure the output voltage with a multimeter. You'll find that only the good ones with DSP (or the old digitals with the really good analog front ends) will measure properly. Not even a classic analog meter will read properly.

It is possible to do it in analog (as those old Flukes show), but in practice, a modern meter is going to use DSP. It's simply much cheaper to throw in a processor than it is to mass produce a bunch of precision analog circuits.

08-14-14, 07:43 PM	#15
NiHaoMike Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 14 Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts	Take one of those cheap power inverters and try to measure the output voltage with a multimeter. You'll find that only the good ones with DSP (or the old digitals with the really good analog front ends) will measure properly. Not even a classic analog meter will read properly. It is possible to do it in analog (as those old Flukes show), but in practice, a modern meter is going to use DSP. It's simply much cheaper to throw in a processor than it is to mass produce a bunch of precision analog circuits. __________________ To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her...