Build a shutter tester for Focal Plane shutters - Cheap, Easy & it Works

[LIK]

There are clearly no problems with lighting. I have both the seals and the frame installed. I'll see what the problem is. Thanks

 

[LIK]

There are clearly no problems with lighting. I have both the seals and the frame installed. I'll see what the problem is. Thanks

 

[LIK]

Solved the problem. One of the screws clamped the wires and broke the insulation on the M sensor

 

[meiserati]

in few Days, i am ready with the first, two laser version, the esp32 follows with a nearly same construction.
Alloy frame and 3d printed parts.

thanks for the firmware

 

[Niglyn]

HI, looks good. Your 3d printer has been working overtime )

 

[meiserati]

Hi.
first "twolaser" version.

Question. I searched in the whole thread - But i dont found an answer why
i have in the second row a "Err" for both lasers/sensor. I made a senn test, "blocked" is
flashing with seen, but worked in ambient light slightly. i changed sensor, but the same.
i cant change the nano board, because new auth. code is necassary.
any idea?

many thanks

 

[Dmitry K]

Hi!
Finally managed to finish this project. Not the perfect one (somehow I switched sensors\lasers placement), but I like it. A huge thank you to Niglyn and everyone who posted their builds, it helped a lot in the process! And I think it works perfect! No strange readings or anything like that. I've tested two of my cameras already and the results look plausible.

 

[Niglyn]

Hi.
first "twolaser" version.

Question. I searched in the whole thread - But i dont found an answer why
i have in the second row a "Err" for both lasers/sensor. I made a senn test, "blocked" is
flashing with seen, but worked in ambient light slightly. i changed sensor, but the same.
i cant change the nano board, because new auth. code is necassary.
any idea?

many thanks

Hi,
Reset (or power up) the tester whilst holding the 'display average' button.
Keep the button pressed until after the splash screen and this will take yo to the alignment screen.

The screen should look like this :-
Sensor 2 Sensor1
Blocked Blocked


The word 'Blocked' will toggle between Blocked & **Seen**
depending on the sensor state.

This will help you diagnose the issue.

With the sensor covered, it should say 'blocked.
When the Laser is aligned correctly with the sensor, it should say **seen**

If the display is rapidly alternating between Blocked & **seen** then there is an issue. It could be flickering light, from a LED light or from a computer screen.

If I have my tester too close to the PC screen, I get this issue and so have built a little hood out of cardboard, that fits above, to the sides and over the top of the sensors, to protect them from stray light.

Err is displayed when first powered up, as no reading has been detected (this is changed in the latest firmware version to be released soon and instead shows 0.0)

If during a testing cycle, the results fail the sanity check (too short for example, caused by flickering LED light, Err is displayed to show there was no valid test.

Let me know how you get on.

 

[Niglyn]

Hi!
Finally managed to finish this project. Not the perfect one (somehow I switched sensors\lasers placement), but I like it. A huge thank you to Niglyn and everyone who posted their builds, it helped a lot in the process! And I think it works perfect! No strange readings or anything like that. I've tested two of my cameras already and the results look plausible.

HI, that looks really good, thanks for posting the photo of your build.

 

[meiserati]

I have a problem with my laser receiver.. when laser is in the middle i have 0V,
In asolut darknes, closed all sides with fingers... a max of 2V.
I read that some other had problems with receiver wich dont work.
Is it right? LOW with Laser? how much V is HIGH ?

thx

 

[meiserati]

I have a problem with my laser receiver..

I checked all my receiver boards (7 pcs.), all the same.
in darkness roundabout 2,2V, with laser in middle 0V.
The avr differece betwen high/low is between 2V - 3V.
It seems, that the BS12B20 board is for the temperature sensor.
what is the name of the phototransistor?

thx

 

[Niglyn]

I checked all my receiver boards (7 pcs.), all the same.
in darkness roundabout 2,2V, with laser in middle 0V.
The avr differece betwen high/low is between 2V - 3V.
It seems, that the BS12B20 board is for the temperature sensor.
what is the name of the phototransistor?

thx

Hi, sounds like you have a short on your 3.3V line or a high resistance on the 3.3V going to your sensors.

Check you have not used the 'CMD' terminal, but the correct 0V terminals on the breakout board, as specified on the schematic.
(Boards have the CMD terminal incorrectly labelled as GND)

POWER OFF the shutter tester and remove the sensors only, from the sensor board. Power up the shutter tester.

Measure the voltage on the 3.3V terminal on the breakout-board, which goes to the sensors. Check it is actually 3.3V.

Measure the voltage on the sensor boards pins using the VCC & GND pins on the sensor board. Ensure it is 3.3V.

Measure the voltage on the sensor board pins between the middle pin and GND. ensure it is 3.3V



The sensor board has a 'pull-up' resister on it (between pin 1 &2 on the diagram below). What ever the input voltage on the sensor board is (3.3V), the middle pin will output this same voltage (3.3V) via the pull-up resister.
(If you are only getting 2.2V on the sensor input, then you will only get 2.2V on the sensor output).

When the sensor sees light, it will operate the transistor between pin 2 & 3, thus dumping the pull-up resister voltage to ground.
This then gives 0V on pin 2.

Light = 0V on pin 2
Dark = 3.3V on pin 2


Pull-up resisters are very important in electronics. They give a 'bang-bang' clean switch between 0V and 3.3V (or what ever voltage the circuit is using).
Without them, stray voltage is picked up on the pin, giving spurious input readings.


The sensor board is a simple generic board.
It just has a 10K-ohm pull-up resister between pin 1 & 2, a smoothing capacitor between 2 & 3
It has an LED, with current limiting resister.
So it could be used for any number of different digital sensors.

The senor itself is an ISO203 as shown below. It incorporates an optical lens, voltage regulator, light sensor, amplifier and switching output.
So it makes using them very easy, without the need for additional circuitry.

 

[meiserati]

...

Der Sensor selbst ist ein ISO203, wie unten gezeigt. Er enthält eine optische Linse, einen Spannungsregler, einen Lichtsensor, einen Verstärker und einen Schaltausgang.
Dadurch wird ihre Verwendung ganz einfach, ohne dass zusätzliche Schaltkreise erforderlich sind.

View attachment 397275

Problem solved > curios.
The receiver boards i bought from amaz are all 10 the same.
But! it seems that the high-density converter have changed.
No ISO203 , its a TSL257.

I changed to the pinout like the datasheet and it works.. pin 2 and 3 overcross.

in dark 0V.
with laser 3,5v oder more.


thx, Andreas

 

[Niglyn]

Problem solved > curios.
The receiver boards i bought from amaz are all 10 the same.
But! it seems that the high-density converter have changed.
No ISO203 , its a TSL257.


View attachment 397276



I changed to the pinout like the datasheet and it works.. pin 2 and 3 overcross.


View attachment 397277



in dark 0V.
with laser 3,5v oder more.


thx, Andreas

Hi, not sure why the TSL257 is being supplied. The TSL257 is an expensive sensor compared to the ISO203, but they are both expensive to purcase individually, rather than as part of the sensor module.

Have you left a review for the sensor on amazon, pointing out it is not directly compatible with the sensor board?

Looks like the output is reversed compared to the ISO203, so you will have to change the sensor type parameter in the Alignment utility to 'Old'
and put some sleeving on the sensor legs, so they do not short.