Tme

For a long time I wanted to build an SCPI capable thermometer to keep track of the ambient temperature in my small lab. The list of requirements was fairly short: Reasonably high precision (Sensor with <= 0.3°C max. uncertainty) Power and SCPI communication over USB Compact enclosure with a display Design After researching temperature sensors I chose a Texas Instruments TMP117M temperature sensor with quite impressive specs. With an accuracy of ±0.1°C (max.) between 25°C to 50°C and ±0.05°C (typ.) between 0°C and 70°C it is much more than good enough for my purpose, but why not overspec the sensor a bit? Because of the tiny package (WSON6, 2mm x 2mm) I was a bit nervous. As it later turned out, soldering the IC using a hot air soldering station was a bit more time consuming than e. g. a typical SOIC package (preparation), but not that difficult. ...

Many older HP/Agilent instrument share a similar feet design. There are at least two different types though: One with a metal part to prop up the instrument and one without it that can be used on all four corners. The feet can be detached from the instrument, e. g. for use in 19" racks. This also means they got thrown away too often, so that many used instruments come without them. For some time they were available on ebay at a reasonable price. ...