Resistor Color Code Finder App

Does anyone know if there is an iOS or Android app that lets you take a picture of a resistor and then it does a look up based on the color code and returns the resistance value?

No idea but I would be surprised if there was:-

  1. It is so hard to identify colour from an image
  2. The colours on real resistors do vary wildly
  3. It is so stupidly easy to do yourself.

Grumpy_Mike:
No idea but I would be surprised if there was:-

  1. It is so hard to identify colour from an image
  2. The colours on real resistors do vary wildly
  3. It is so stupidly easy to do yourself.

True, though i do find those online converters slow to deal with at times, especially if i have a lot of mixed resistors to sort thru. I bet we will see one as camera color sensors or near-object focus get better in the future.

here is my app, its really fast, runs on the paper platform, and never needs charging

The only mnemonic I ever learned is unpublishable... anyone have a better one? XD

Yes, I was taught the 'raw' version in the Air Force, no women in our class, but I'm sure they have changed that sense. However between my aging eyesight, and the many extra color bands added these days for various who knows reasons, and the weird shades of colors used sometimes these days, I always, always, measure the resistor as a final check. I have a good quality fluke model 45 bench DVM so I tend to trust it more then my eyesight. Wanting a smart phone to tell me the value of a resistor is just very very stupid in my opinion. If you don't own a decent DMM then you shouldn't be playing with resistors in the first place.

Lefty

Lefty, I agree with you 100% There is a great color code reference in Chapter 22 of the ARRL handbook...
Table 22.4
Resistor Color Codes
Color Significant Decimal Tolerance
Figure Multiplier (%)
Black 0 1 { ? (0) }
Brown 1 10 1
Red 2 100 2
Orange 3 1,000
Yellow 4 10,000
Green 5 100,000 0.5
Blue 6 1,000,000 0.25
Violet 7 10,000,000 0.1
Gray 8 100,000,000 0.05
White 9 1,000,000,000
Gold 0.1 5
Silver 0.0 10
No color 20
This is a rough cut and paste from the handbook but the information has been in the "Public Domain" for so long, I have no issues with repeating it
There will not be a 3 or 4 band resistor with a 3rd band greater than blue or 000000 6 zero's. Not in the EIA standard list.
There is a big bunch of resistors that can be purchased from Amazon, for $29.00 you get 4550 resistors, All 1% metal film and Blue bodies, that for my old tired eyes, even with one of those headband magnifiers @ full strength... makes me grab my Fluke 179... just to make sure.

Doc

retrolefty:
Yes, I was taught the 'raw' version in the Air Force, no women in our class, but I'm sure they have changed that sense. However between my aging eyesight, and the many extra color bands added these days for various who knows reasons, and the weird shades of colors used sometimes these days, I always, always, measure the resistor as a final check. I have a good quality fluke model 45 bench DVM so I tend to trust it more then my eyesight. Wanting a smart phone to tell me the value of a resistor is just very very stupid in my opinion. If you don't own a decent DMM then you shouldn't be playing with resistors in the first place.

Lefty

Same here, aging eyesight means double check with a DMM.
You could even use your arduino to measure a resistor and speak the value.. :slight_smile: