Remember... you were using YOUR test leads. That may make a difference, as I'm sure they spec'd it with the OEM leads. Just a thought... especially for L/C readings
I bought a BM4070 LCR meter from E-Bay a few years ago. It looks like its selling for around $30 today. Definitely a notch below the Uni-T products quality wise, but functionally it works pretty well. The BM4070 has two slots to plug your component into and a tilt up display. Cheesy yes but its been surprisingly handy. Seems to do inductance well.
I've had one of these for several years. Mine is labelled Newcason XC4070L, but is identical to yours. It's been very useful, but I did have to replace the on/off switch.
I'd be curious to see an A-B comparison with your 100+ meter. And a comparison with, as someone suggested, the supplied leads vs. your leads. Nice vid though, tnx
Pretty much all components have a % tolerance, like the last band on a resister tells you how far of spec the actual resistance may be. What's the tolerance in that inductor marked 33uH that read 43uH? As long as you know the tolerances of both the component and the measuring device you can have reasonable confidence in the values.
5:00 That 200 is just the range it's in. As if you wasn't able to read what position the rotary switch was in... Most cheap multimeters have better Ohm and Caps measurement built in, so all you really need is a good Inductanse meter. Always wonderes if they chose the name HoldPeak so they could use the HP name on their products.
05:11 Iit's the indication you have on the rotary switch, see at 06:26. Moreover you are using your wires for the measure. It can have some influence over the reading
I spec'd one of those HP Yokogawa LCR meters back 30 years ago for an automatic test station where I worked. I hated it. LCR meters should have a L, C, R button on the front panel. That unit had a menu selector to choose one of 9 measurement modes. It was connect through the IEEE488 bus, for auto test, but to use it manually was a pain. It worked, but was overkill to measure EMI components in a modular Lightning, HIRF protection unit (It was called the LHP-4000/4001) it was my design. Used in a card cage in avionics. The box was called IAPS for Integrated Avionics Processor System, originally designed for the Beechcraft StarShip, Model 2000 airframe. It was a flight control box, with flight management, of a dual-dual architecture. It became a real money maker for Collins Radio, a division of Rockwell International, which morphed to RCI, the UTC, now Raytheon. Glad to be retired from there.
That is a generic standard LCR that a lot of different companies sell with their own branding on it. I've had the 4070L for many years now. It works amazingly for my intents and purposes. The best feature is you can measure capacitance in-circuit. That is the main reason I bought it. Also, I needed a capacitor tester that measured as low as 1 PF and this meter does. Because it goes that low, the upper range is not so great. Only about 2000 uF but, I have another meter that goes up to 20,000 uF. I've only used the Inductor tester a few times, mainly for passive speaker crossover inductors in the low mH range but it was accurate. What's good about the L tester is it goes all the way past 20 H! The Resistance tester works great as well but, I have 5 other multimeters so... that functionality wasn't as selling point for me. I can 100% recommend it for people on a budget. You got a great price at $17. I paid about $40 a few years ago. Which is still a good deal in my opinion.
Looks like they were doing this with a standard DMM case, switch and display, and likely the chipset is a clone of the ICL7107 as well. Resistance is easy, just use 1% resistors and the chip does the rest, but inductance and capacitance will really depend on the way they did it, probably using a fixed frequency per range, and measuring the AC voltage across your capacitor, and similar for inductors, so giving a DC voltage to feed into the converter. Transistor tester because they likely had a spare position or two, and did not want to use those sockets for connecting capacitors, as they likely will wear out after 15 uses, so transistor test it is.
My biggest use case would be to measure hand wound inductors but the 2 mH minimum range isn't going to work. And yes, my DMM does capacitance and resistance good enough. Too bad it doesn't do low inductances. For sub-$20 it would have been an easy buy...
I’ve seen those super cheap LCR meters, and just figured it was one of the cheap “M8 transistor testers“ put in a multimeter case. I’ve been a big fan of the multifunction testers, because of the functionality it gives to DIY and hobbyists. But One thing I hope to see, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been added… Is the functionality of variable frequency “in circuit esr”.. Similar to what’s found on the DE-5000. (i’m aware in circuit ESR in circuit isn’t ideal… But I find it useful when troubleshooting on location “in the field”) it’s allowed me to do hundreds upon hundreds of repairs remotely, when a client calls me out to a factory or lab or whatever… It’s allowed me to immediately get their equipment running and the board repaired. Saving me several days of taking it back to my lab, putting it in the queue, fixing it, and then taking it back out to reinstall. In the circuit ESR is priceless for someone who is well-versed in using it. But it’s definitely the exception not the rule. And should be used with caution.
How did you pick your test frequency for in circuit esr? I've got a U1733C that supports different test frequencies I just don't utilise them. Any pointers for me?
my LCR meter can use 100 120 1K 10k 100k frequencies. the standard used on datasheets is usually 120 Hz I believe. If you are worried about ESR in a circuit, then the frequency closest to the use case would be the one I choose. ESR is usually only a problem on electrolytic capacitors and those are usually used at low frequencies
I can't find the manual, but it seems to lack the option to cancel out the capacity and inductivity of the leads. That's probably why it isn't too good at measuring in the µH and sub nF ranges. A 'zero' button might fix that. Too bad, because I need to measure >=10pF capacitors and >=µH inductors. .
I appreciate your effort in making the video, but as others have said it would have been of more interest if you would have compared the readings alongside your UniT meter. I watched for 15 minutes thinking any minute you were going to pull out your other meter for an A-B comparison, and disappointed it never happened.
But most DMMs will do caps too, probably better. I have one DMM that does Inductors - the Amprobe 37 (and 38). But my B+K LCR meter is much more accurate (and controllable).
Where did you find it at this price? I can`t find it below 35€. The best RLC meter that I had was a RLC bridge with tubes, an magic-eye as null indicator and a huge dial on the front panel. It was useful mainly for radio components (nF, pF uH, nH) but was completely accurate. I had a friend at the university and once few years we checked it and it was very good compared with laboratory calibrated instruments. But, it was also big and heavy.
I'm aware how math works. The meter specs are really a joke. I think the datasheet has typos. In any case assuming a +/-0.3% capacitor is 0% doesn't change the results.
I've been using this model for many years (15+ years) with no issues other than the silly stand on the rear which is all but useless. Never heard it called an LCR meter before, I guess that some colloquial term used in the US.
25 digit accuracy on capacitance and inductance! Why bother with a 4 digit display? You loose one of it anyway through that. Oh wait, people don't care about that.
You get what you pay for, and this meter IS a dog turd. You can get a good quality LCR meter off ebay for less than £100, don't waste your money on this meter.
Remember... you were using YOUR test leads. That may make a difference, as I'm sure they spec'd it with the OEM leads. Just a thought... especially for L/C readings
And keep 'm as short as possible....
Surprise, a threaded insert for the battery cover!
I bought a BM4070 LCR meter from E-Bay a few years ago. It looks like its selling for around $30 today. Definitely a notch below the Uni-T products quality wise, but functionally it works pretty well. The BM4070 has two slots to plug your component into and a tilt up display. Cheesy yes but its been surprisingly handy. Seems to do inductance well.
I've had one of these for several years. Mine is labelled Newcason XC4070L, but is identical to yours. It's been very useful, but I did have to replace the on/off switch.
Why 200? The LCD indicates that your meters switch was on the "200" scale. ...and 2 later...
I'd be curious to see an A-B comparison with your 100+ meter. And a comparison with, as someone suggested, the supplied leads vs. your leads. Nice vid though, tnx
Pretty much all components have a % tolerance, like the last band on a resister tells you how far of spec the actual resistance may be. What's the tolerance in that inductor marked 33uH that read 43uH? As long as you know the tolerances of both the component and the measuring device you can have reasonable confidence in the values.
5:00 That 200 is just the range it's in. As if you wasn't able to read what position the rotary switch was in...
Most cheap multimeters have better Ohm and Caps measurement built in,
so all you really need is a good Inductanse meter.
Always wonderes if they chose the name HoldPeak so they could use the HP name on their products.
Some always said HP stood for high price. maybe they should have the initials LP
@@IMSAIGuy No, LQ would be better. Low Quality 😆
05:11 Iit's the indication you have on the rotary switch, see at 06:26. Moreover you are using your wires for the measure. It can have some influence over the reading
I spec'd one of those HP Yokogawa LCR meters back 30 years ago for an automatic test station where I worked. I hated it. LCR meters should have a L, C, R button on the front panel. That unit had a menu selector to choose one of 9 measurement modes. It was connect through the IEEE488 bus, for auto test, but to use it manually was a pain. It worked, but was overkill to measure EMI components in a modular Lightning, HIRF protection unit (It was called the LHP-4000/4001) it was my design. Used in a card cage in avionics. The box was called IAPS for Integrated Avionics Processor System, originally designed for the Beechcraft StarShip, Model 2000 airframe. It was a flight control box, with flight management, of a dual-dual architecture. It became a real money maker for Collins Radio, a division of Rockwell International, which morphed to RCI, the UTC, now Raytheon. Glad to be retired from there.
At what frequency? That changes the value a lot.
That is a generic standard LCR that a lot of different companies sell with their own branding on it. I've had the 4070L for many years now. It works amazingly for my intents and purposes. The best feature is you can measure capacitance in-circuit. That is the main reason I bought it. Also, I needed a capacitor tester that measured as low as 1 PF and this meter does. Because it goes that low, the upper range is not so great. Only about 2000 uF but, I have another meter that goes up to 20,000 uF. I've only used the Inductor tester a few times, mainly for passive speaker crossover inductors in the low mH range but it was accurate. What's good about the L tester is it goes all the way past 20 H! The Resistance tester works great as well but, I have 5 other multimeters so... that functionality wasn't as selling point for me. I can 100% recommend it for people on a budget. You got a great price at $17. I paid about $40 a few years ago. Which is still a good deal in my opinion.
Looks like they were doing this with a standard DMM case, switch and display, and likely the chipset is a clone of the ICL7107 as well. Resistance is easy, just use 1% resistors and the chip does the rest, but inductance and capacitance will really depend on the way they did it, probably using a fixed frequency per range, and measuring the AC voltage across your capacitor, and similar for inductors, so giving a DC voltage to feed into the converter. Transistor tester because they likely had a spare position or two, and did not want to use those sockets for connecting capacitors, as they likely will wear out after 15 uses, so transistor test it is.
My biggest use case would be to measure hand wound inductors but the 2 mH minimum range isn't going to work. And yes, my DMM does capacitance and resistance good enough. Too bad it doesn't do low inductances. For sub-$20 it would have been an easy buy...
😂 I kept rereading that, I guess I haven’t had my coffee yet… But I read it as “hand wound“ … As an an injury or open cut that needed to be bandaged
I’ve seen those super cheap LCR meters, and just figured it was one of the cheap “M8 transistor testers“ put in a multimeter case. I’ve been a big fan of the multifunction testers, because of the functionality it gives to DIY and hobbyists.
But One thing I hope to see, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been added… Is the functionality of variable frequency “in circuit esr”.. Similar to what’s found on the DE-5000.
(i’m aware in circuit ESR in circuit isn’t ideal… But I find it useful when troubleshooting on location “in the field”) it’s allowed me to do hundreds upon hundreds of repairs remotely, when a client calls me out to a factory or lab or whatever… It’s allowed me to immediately get their equipment running and the board repaired. Saving me several days of taking it back to my lab, putting it in the queue, fixing it, and then taking it back out to reinstall. In the circuit ESR is priceless for someone who is well-versed in using it. But it’s definitely the exception not the rule. And should be used with caution.
How did you pick your test frequency for in circuit esr? I've got a U1733C that supports different test frequencies I just don't utilise them. Any pointers for me?
my LCR meter can use 100 120 1K 10k 100k frequencies. the standard used on datasheets is usually 120 Hz I believe. If you are worried about ESR in a circuit, then the frequency closest to the use case would be the one I choose. ESR is usually only a problem on electrolytic capacitors and those are usually used at low frequencies
I can't find the manual, but it seems to lack the option to cancel out the capacity and inductivity of the leads. That's probably why it isn't too good at measuring in the µH and sub nF ranges. A 'zero' button might fix that. Too bad, because I need to measure >=10pF capacitors and >=µH inductors. .
The stray capacitance of your test leads could be as high as 5pf or more
There is a margin of error on the printed values as well. They are not perfect. Don’t be so hard on the little blue guy. Great video. Thank you.
“200”? If all else fails - Read the instructions. Great video thank you.
200 on display == 200 scale (200nF)
I appreciate your effort in making the video, but as others have said it would have been of more interest if you would have compared the readings alongside your UniT meter. I watched for 15 minutes thinking any minute you were going to pull out your other meter for an A-B comparison, and disappointed it never happened.
But most DMMs will do caps too, probably better. I have one DMM that does Inductors - the Amprobe 37 (and 38). But my B+K LCR meter is much more accurate (and controllable).
I got a Proster BM4070 LCR for $35 on amazon. Its +- 2% +5 digits supposedly on all its functions.
interesting, as one uses their test equipment more than the 1st time the features make sense 🤔 thanks a lot nice video 🙂
how about inductance of the leads?
Where did you find it at this price? I can`t find it below 35€.
The best RLC meter that I had was a RLC bridge with tubes, an magic-eye as null indicator and a huge dial on the front panel. It was useful mainly for radio components (nF, pF uH, nH) but was completely accurate. I had a friend at the university and once few years we checked it and it was very good compared with laboratory calibrated instruments. But, it was also big and heavy.
Whilst you were measuring that 10 ohms at the end, the reading was bouncing all over the place as you moved your hand near the meter??
Perhaps if you compared the reading to your meter and see how close they are
HoldPeak... No doubt banking on Hewlitt-Packard's initials for some sales.
Oh come on you can get a full component tester for 20 dollars
The little 200 appears to be indicating the range you've selected. Superfluous.
You calculated the meter accuracy by assuming the measured capacitors have zero tolerance?
I'm aware how math works. The meter specs are really a joke. I think the datasheet has typos. In any case assuming a +/-0.3% capacitor is 0% doesn't change the results.
Can I measure the LCR of the NFC tag using LCR meter?
no
3:09
"Feels like a self tapping screw into plastic"
Would be nice if you'd said you were really wrong there...
I was really wrong there
4:52 I think 200 is the range
I've been using this model for many years (15+ years) with no issues other than the silly stand on the rear which is all but useless. Never heard it called an LCR meter before, I guess that some colloquial term used in the US.
curious, what to you call them? they measure inductors L capacitors C and resistors R
@@IMSAIGuy just knew them as multimeters, never differentiated between types.
gota be good its a hp
25 digit accuracy on capacitance and inductance! Why bother with a 4 digit display? You loose one of it anyway through that. Oh wait, people don't care about that.
I have the same knife
Rubber Ducky please
2,000 meg ohm ???? ...serioously!
th-cam.com/video/9EAhJhlvijU/w-d-xo.html
You get what you pay for, and this meter IS a dog turd. You can get a good quality LCR meter off ebay for less than £100, don't waste your money on this meter.
which LCR meter do you recommend