> Would a "good Fluke" meter be sufficient for measuring the PIN
> connection being floating? I'm not sure what a range meter is (I only
> do software), and these guys just say that the meter is good enough,
> though I'd just like to make sure so I can start ticking off possible
> problems.
>
Some Flukes do have a low ohm setting, but most don't.

You can sacrifice a 1.5V battery by making a simple tester that can
"measure" resistance of the solder joint by connecting as follows:

Get your fluke meter connected to measure "volts". Clip to the black lead
of the meter to the negative terminal of the battery, connect the positive
terminal of the battery, THRU a 1 ohm 1-watt resistor, to the red meter
lead.Be careful, the resistor might get hot.

Unconnected, the meter will read 1.5V. Now, touch the BLACK meter lead to
GND, and with the RED meter lead, touch each GND pin of the PIC. If you
measure anything higher than 0.1V, you have a poor GND connection.

Now, measure the PIC VDD pins as follows: Unconnected, the meter will read
1.5V. Now, touch the RED meter lead to VDD, and with the BLACK meter lead,
touch each VDD pin of the PIC. If you measure anything higher than 0.1V,
you have a poor VDD connection.

This method will ensure that the PIC is not damaged by the measurement.

- - -

I, too, am suspicious of the decoupling caps. What value are they? Just
two caps is really not enough, and the value needs to be 0.1uF to .1uF and
they must have a very low impedance.



--Bob A


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