Modding

Just got my new Aneng AN8009 Multimeter in the mail. I’ve made an old post about improving the responsiveness of the Aneng AN8008 in an earlier blog post. I loved that meter, but I gave it to my son who is just beginning on his electronic journey. So naturally, I needed a replacement. After checking eBay, I found that there’s a new model, the Aneng AN8009 so I decided to get that model. It has the same problem that the Aneng AN8008 had; it’s slow to settle on a value when measuring. Fortunately, my old modifications work on the Aneng AN8009 as well. ...

If you are on the lookout for a sub $30 Multimeter (or $15 on eBay) for working with low voltages, the best one right now in my opinion is the cute and tiny Aneng AN8008 TrueRMS Multimeter or the newer model, the Aneng AN8009 with NCV and temperature measurement. They have a lot of functions and can measure µA current, and both are a 9999-count meter. The continuity tester is reasonably fast, but there is one little problem that bothered me. It takes 5 to 10 seconds for it to settle on a correct voltage reading. When it finally ends, it’s spot on, but the waiting is annoying. But fortunately, there is a simple fix for this problem. ...

Here is the second part of how to improve the quality of an old CD player, the Pioneer PD S-505. You can find the first part here. In this section, I’m going to show you how to install a better, more stable clock circuit into your 505 to lower the jitter. This particular clock comes from Kingwa, that has a series of crystal oscillators for improving DVD players, CD players, and DACs. The price is reasonable. I’ve installed them in three different units and had zero problems, so the quality seems reasonable. Ok, so why install a new clock? Isn’t there one in there already? Yes, your right. But by using better parts like crystals with lower ppm and also design a very clean power supply to feed the clock, you can make your CD-player sound much better. And the reason is lower jitter. But what is jitter? There is plenty of excellent places to go read up on it. Here’s some. ...

Part two of this series is now up. Read on how to install a better clock in your Pioneer PD S-505 CD player. Mods your Pioneer PD S-505 CD Player for better sound quality So I bought this Pioneer PD S-505 for $40 to test how good audio quality I’m able to squeeze out by modifying it. But It will not be just the standard subjective judgment of improvement but also measurements. Back in 2000, you had to pay about $400 for it. It uses the stable platter which means you have to put the CD in upside down. So let’s get going. ...