Cheapest usable LCR meter with tweezers

[shadowpho]

I am looking for a cheap LCR meter (<$150) and was wondering what everyone else uses.  I ordered ~3000 caps/inductors from jlcpcb for tuning my antennas at 915MHz (all 0402) and realized that it'd be good to see how far off they are during the tuning process.

I really wish there was a XJW01 circuitry in a DT71 format with a proper button.

Is LCR elite 1 going to be heads and shoulders better then LCR-58?  Is there a way to get good contacts for XJW01?  How good is all this compared to a De5000?

[bob91343]

Mostly I have old school devices for measurements.  For tweezers I made my own from a 'Kelvin' clip.  That is a clip where the two jaws are insulated from one another.  To make a more secure clip I blobbed a bit of solder on the jaws.

[ve7xen]

For an antenna matching network you may find a NanoVNA more versatile than an LCR meter. There are a bunch of different varieties, all in the $50-150 price range.

I have the DER DE-5000 LCR meter. It's about $100 with the tweezers add-on. Reasonably happy with it but not sure it would be easy to measure loose 0402s.

[shadowpho]

For an antenna matching network you may find a NanoVNA more versatile than an LCR meter. There are a bunch of different varieties, all in the $50-150 price range.

I have the DER DE-5000 LCR meter. It's about $100 with the tweezers add-on. Reasonably happy with it but not sure it would be easy to measure loose 0402s.

I already have a VNA (xaxaVna, working beatifuly). But I'll need something to measure the cap before I put them into PCB...as they are not easy to measure with a VNA.

How good is the tweezers you use? Are they small, pointy and sharp ?

[ve7xen]

I already have a VNA (xaxaVna, working beatifuly). But I'll need something to measure the cap before I put them into PCB...as they are not easy to measure with a VNA.

How good is the tweezers you use? Are they small, pointy and sharp ?

Not great, the tweezer tips are my least favourite part of the tool. They are decently good quality, the cable is nice, but the tweezer isn't sharp, doesn't come to a fine point and it's made of fairly thick material. The spring force is also IMO too much. I can fairly reliably measure 0805 parts with it, but I wouldn't want to go any smaller, and even so it could be better.

There's not much else decent at this price range though. Perhaps you could get just the meter and find a better tweezer attachment for not much more than the DER one. For example Tonghui TH26029C which goes with TH2822C (which is above your budget) can be had pretty cheap and looks like it might fit mechanically and be a bit nicer, but I haven't seen this in person.

Here is the DER tweezer tip with 0805 part for reference:

[Kean]

Very few cheap measuring tweezers are good, especially when dealing with components smaller than 0603.

Apart from the high end ones like Ideal Tek, you might want to check out the LEDtwee V1 (not V0).  http://zeroshop.co.nz/product/ledtwee-tweezers-for-led-v1/
They are intended for testing SMD LEDs, but could be repurposed/modified because they're fabricated from PCB material and sharpened brass tips.  You can make up a cable harness to connect to the XJW01.  I have a few pairs of LEDtwee from his Kickstarter campaigns, and they're consistently better as test tweezers than my old Mastek or HP-990C "smart" tweezers, simply because the PCB material will only flex in the one direction so once aligned the tips stay pretty well aligned.

The newer Mastek model than mine are supposedly better, but I'm looking forward to the ones that user Shannon has been posting about here.  And if you can wait then that might be your best option.  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/design-a-new-precision-lcr-tweezers/

The smart measuring tweezers will generally only use a test frequency of up to 1kHz, maybe 10kHz on the better ones.  If you want to know what the RF properties of the capacitors and inductors are, then you really should set up a test fixture using your xaVNA.  I have one like this.  https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A2MD87/Tonghui-TH26008A-SMD-Component-Test-Fixture/  and even that becomes fiddly with tiny SMD parts.  It is intended for max 10MHz or so on a bench LCR meter, so you'll really want a small test PCB with SMA connectors that you solder the component to for measuring at higher frequencies.

[SilverSolder]

The Mastech MS8911 is quite usable and accurate at a pretty modest price point.  I used mine today to assemble a PCB, checking the components as I went.

I'm not a huge fan of the "forked tongue" tweezer tips, but they don't prevent you from working with it.

https://www.elektormagazine.com/news/mastech-ms8911-smd-lcr-tweezers-every-maker-should-own

[shadowpho]

Gotcha. Thank you. I think then I probably should be looking at LCR-58, as it looks like they have the best tweezers with a medium accuracy (1-3%)... I think I just need something to check if the value is 6pF and not 9pF as those look similar 


How does LCR-58 compare to MS8911? they look so similar

[Kean]

I have no experience with the LCR-58, but they do look a bit bulky which could be tiring to use.  It does have a pretty good display though, and specs seem similar to MS8911.
Check out the comparison/review by Corgitronics (and also Parts 1 & 3 on his channel) but he doesn't really compare the tweezing operation which is pretty important.



My Mastech is the older model MS8910 and the alignment of the tips is awful.  They start off OK, but can move sideways significantly as you squeeze.

[tautech]

If you can manage without Diode mode get a set of Colibri's:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Smart-Tweezers-Colibri-LCR-ESR-Multimeter-Capacitor-Tester-Simplified-Economical/322191163501?hash=item4b0417006d:g:KvAAAOSwYSlXhnqS

[SilverSolder]

[...]
My Mastech is the older model MS8910 and the alignment of the tips is awful.  They start off OK, but can move sideways significantly as you squeeze.

If you are good at eating Asian food with chopsticks, this is no problem! 

[shadowpho]

If you can manage without Diode mode get a set of Colibri's:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Smart-Tweezers-Colibri-LCR-ESR-Multimeter-Capacitor-Tester-Simplified-Economical/322191163501?hash=item4b0417006d:g:KvAAAOSwYSlXhnqS

Thank you! I don't need Diode mode . How do these compare to others in the price region? ALthough the handle and tweezers part looks awesome

[tautech]

If you can manage without Diode mode get a set of Colibri's:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Smart-Tweezers-Colibri-LCR-ESR-Multimeter-Capacitor-Tester-Simplified-Economical/322191163501?hash=item4b0417006d:g:KvAAAOSwYSlXhnqS

Thank you! I don't need Diode mode . How do these compare to others in the price region? ALthough the handle and tweezers part looks awesome

Smart Tweezers are one of the originals and their quality is high. The Colibri is their entry level tweezer without all the features of their $400 ST5S model.
Datasheet page:
https://www.smarttweezers.com/datasheets/

They make good products and I paid more than that one above from eBay in 2007 for the now old ST3 that I still use. Spend a few $ to get good quality and they will last for many years.

[shadowpho]

Thank you for the link!

One thing that surprises me is that it only measures uH minimum. My inductors are in nH range.

[tautech]

Thank you for the link!

One thing that surprises me is that it only measures uH minimum. My inductors are in nH range.

Look up the ST5S datasheet as it has the same spec as the Colibri yet lists the range and resolution as :
10 µH 0.001 µH which equates to single nH resolution however you need add/subtract the accuracy spec 1.0% + 5

[shadowpho]

Ahhh gotcha. Thank you!

What's the point of going for ST5S if Colibri is same spec? Seems silly

[tautech]

Ahhh gotcha. Thank you!

What's the point of going for ST5S if Colibri is same spec? Seems silly

Differences between these 2 models are vast if you want a good feature set and they're outlined here:
https://www.smarttweezers.com/st5s-st5c-comparison/

Of course this is just one manufacturer and the others have a range of models with different feature sets to offer also.

[TurboTom]

You may take a look at the Applent AT826 -- not really cheap in comparison to many others, but the tweezers included are very good and the instrument is quite accurate. I've got one since round about five years and it's still performing like a champ... Never once felt sorry for spending the money.

[shadowpho]

You may take a look at the Applent AT826 -- not really cheap in comparison to many others, but the tweezers included are very good and the instrument is quite accurate. I've got one since round about five years and it's still performing like a champ... Never once felt sorry for spending the money.

Thank you! Looking like it's $300. It looks very nice for sure, I am just not sure how much I will use it. I feel like for serious work I will hook up my VNA, but I still want to check if parts are correct value before soldering . 

[SilverSolder]

The cheap Mastech will do for soldering, that's what I use it for.