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Is there an inexpensive online retailer of said equipment?
Follow Ups:
Cheap LCR meters are not really that good, but the cap meter from ECG is pretty good. Cheap LCR meters lack the ability to measure very low inductance, below 1uH. That is what I need, however, these cheap meters are a GREAT buy!
I am not a tweaker, nor much of an electronics buff (but I do enjoy my stereo and all the tech jargon associated with it). I have 3 sets of cables coming from the Cable Company lending library this week, and thought it might be a good idea to take measurements while I had the cables. If I heard a signicant difference in one of them, the LCR measurements would be an interesting data reference. For me, anyway.
I also bought the cheap one from MCM and it worked fine. I figured I really only needed it to analyze my xover, so why drop $175+ for one use. If you only need it for one or two projects I would either buy that one, or find an electronics repair shop that will do the measurements for you.
I bought a tenma LCR meter from mcmelectronics ($39.95)
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/Search/level_5.jhtml?PRODID=42244&SKUID=41488
With that said, it is a piece of CR*P! - the unit I got didn't work at all because the case got in the way of a switch moving into the fully "on" position. (once I cut part of the case away it worked, but I can't say I'm happy with the product)mcmelectronics also sells the Wavetek LCR ($189.95)
joshua@willowisp.net
Any idea of its accuracy? Do the readings seem consistent?Hard to definitely tell I know, but any observations appreciated. TIA, Tim
No, they are not consistent.I have brought 2 and had a chance to use the 3rd one belong to my friend. The 3rd one is to further test the value of the inductance of inductors, coils, choke, even output transformer.
All of them give different reading and can be in average 20-30 %. All three of them are the price range of about 80-100 US$
The resistor part is quite consistent among the three.
The capacitance is OK, maybe around 10% tolerance among the 3.
For the inductance, it could be like 50% differerence depending of which setting you choose. But in general even with the same setting lets say 20H, the tolerance could still be very high.
I believe that these meters are using the same standard to check the inductance, i.e. using the same freq. So for your question, they are very inconsistent. just my 0.2 cents.
!
within a certain range, stated values measure correctly.
I am unsure if I am looking at inaccuracies in the meter outside that range or if I am dealing with dead capacitors (large old scavenged caps...)
so, in brief, I don't know.
Joshua
joshua@willowisp.net
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/Search/level_5.jhtml?PRODID=7336&SKUID=6581
Joshua
joshua@willowisp.net
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