East Tester ET4510 LCR meter

[GnomeZA]

Hi Folks

Anyone have one of these East Tester ET4510?
I'm curious if this is just the ET44 series with different software.
Or if anyone has internal shots?

I ordered one from this seller for $265 $310 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005657296422.html
EDIT2: Do not buy from this seller!

EDIT: Btw. I did search and could hardly find any information about this meter online.  There were about 3 mentions on eevblog forum about this meter but nothing more.  And one pretty terrible Youtube video

[Martin72]

Hi,
I had already set my sights on the ET4510 because it have variable test frequencies in 1Hz steps - good for graphical representations etc. .
Otherwise, I still have a 4410 here, if you get the 4510, take some nice pictures of the inside and then we can compare.

Edit:

I ordered one from this seller for $265 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005657296422.html

Not avaible for my country - the avaible ones will cost more than 600€...

[GnomeZA]

I had already set my sights on the ET4510 because it have variable test frequencies in 1Hz steps - good for graphical representations etc.

Glad to hear I'm not going insane eyeing it.  I was trying to figure out if the device is very new or something is wrong 

ake some nice pictures of the inside and then we can compare.

Assuming it is not a scam (due to price) I intend to take pictures of everything.

Not avaible for my country - the avaible ones will cost more than 600€...

Yeah it is much cheaper then every other seller, especially if I include shipping.

Seller hasn't been around *that* long, but the store doesn't have too many alarming reviews and the person is responding to messages (I asked for Fedex shipping but instead UPS is all that is available, which charges a lot more for clearance to my destination)

[Martin72]

I can't wait to see if you'll be holding it in your hands soon.

[LordXaos]

Just by random chance encountered this thread, I have one. It's not entirely new (out for like 4-5 years I guess, was a lot cheaper back then), and technically it is mostly the same as the ET4410, apart from the software, as far as I can tell (at least the analog board has printed ET44 on it, so that part seems to be the same).

The user interface does have its quirks, but for normal day-to-day usage it works quite well, it's fast to boot (less than 4s), completely silent, outputs pretty neat sinewaves at the set frequency (verified, as far as reasonable, with the scope), and is quite stable in its measurements (also can be seen in quite a lot of electronics youtube videos sitting somewhere in the background...) - so if I just need to do some quick measurement I often end up using it instead of one of the better DMMs, just because it's so quick to be online.

For nice graphing there are a few minor issues, but you could PM me, I've written some Python script that works around most of those, as the device can be remote controlled (mostly for "hunting down" resonant frequencies, but should be easy enough to adapt).

I would suggest getting replacement cables, though, the ones coming with it are not too bad, but since I replaced them it works even better (better reproducibility of results in particular).

There is a JTAG port inside, and I would expect putting the 4510 firmware onto a 4410 might actually convert it (unless they did something to the analog board), but for lack of a specimen to test it on I couldn't verify. The front-panel board seems to communicate with the analog board using some 9600 baud UART (IIRC), I didn't go any deeper than that for lack of time, didn't take any pictures of the inside either.

[GnomeZA]

So unfortunately the seller asked me to extend a bunch of times then came up with the story that "it cannot be shipped because UPS says it is magnetic".  Obviously a lie.  But here we are.  Guess back to the drawing board on which LCR to buy.

Definitely don't buy from this "ALULUA Store" tho, the guy is scummy AF.  He is likely to send you a brick and pull the old, "send it back" scam.

[GnomeZA]

There is a JTAG port inside, and I would expect putting the 4510 firmware onto a 4410 might actually convert it (unless they did something to the analog board), but for lack of a specimen to test it on I couldn't verify. The front-panel board seems to communicate with the analog board using some 9600 baud UART (IIRC), I didn't go any deeper than that for lack of time, didn't take any pictures of the inside either.

I wonder if the firmware can be extracted or is floating around somewhere.

[pope]

So unfortunately the seller asked me to extend a bunch of times then came up with the story that "it cannot be shipped because UPS says it is magnetic".  Obviously a lie.  But here we are.  Guess back to the drawing board on which LCR to buy.

Definitely don't buy from this "ALULUA Store" tho, the guy is scummy AF.  He is likely to send you a brick and pull the old, "send it back" scam.

Sorry to read about your experience.

FWIW, I have one on its way. At least that's what I want to believe...

I placed the order exactly a week ago and the current shipping state is "arrived at departure transport hub".

I bought it from seller "East Tester Factory Store" thinking that it's the "official" ET seller. How little did I know...

Having said that, they seem to have 100% positive feedback (if it's true), so fingers crossed...

[mawyatt]

Caution!!!!

Upon close examination noticed a potential issue on the images of the ET4510. The Hcur, Hpot, Lpot, Lcur are reversed from the L on the left H on the right of the Hioki IM3536 and Tonghui TH2830 LCR meters we have which follow the traditional LCR meter front panel BNC setups of HP, Aligent, Keysight, R&S, GW Instek, B&K, and others. This could lead to confusion with various fixtures, and potential disaster with specific setup fixtures like DC bias and such.

This alone conveys enough about these LCR meters for us to avoid, just opens the door for Murphy

If they can't even get the 4 BNC Input terminals in proper order as all the major TE OEMs have for many decades, why would anyone believe anything they display

Best

[GnomeZA]

So unfortunately the seller asked me to extend a bunch of times then came up with the story that "it cannot be shipped because UPS says it is magnetic".  Obviously a lie.  But here we are.  Guess back to the drawing board on which LCR to buy.

Definitely don't buy from this "ALULUA Store" tho, the guy is scummy AF.  He is likely to send you a brick and pull the old, "send it back" scam.

Sorry to read about your experience.

FWIW, I have one on its way. At least that's what I want to believe...

I placed the order exactly a week ago and the current shipping state is "arrived at departure transport hub".

I bought it from seller "East Tester Factory Store" thinking that it's the "official" ET seller. How little did I know...

Having said that, they seem to have 100% positive feedback (if it's true), so fingers crossed...

Thanks for the kind words.
I suspect you'll be fine, this is the first time this has actually happened to me on AliExpress.
I wanted to buy from that store also but their shipping to my location matched the cost of the meter.

I've been exploring alternatives, trying to figure out which LCR meter to buy.
The options are so limited 

[pope]

So unfortunately the seller asked me to extend a bunch of times then came up with the story that "it cannot be shipped because UPS says it is magnetic".  Obviously a lie.  But here we are.  Guess back to the drawing board on which LCR to buy.

Definitely don't buy from this "ALULUA Store" tho, the guy is scummy AF.  He is likely to send you a brick and pull the old, "send it back" scam.

Sorry to read about your experience.

FWIW, I have one on its way. At least that's what I want to believe...

I placed the order exactly a week ago and the current shipping state is "arrived at departure transport hub".

I bought it from seller "East Tester Factory Store" thinking that it's the "official" ET seller. How little did I know...

Having said that, they seem to have 100% positive feedback (if it's true), so fingers crossed...

Thanks for the kind words.
I suspect you'll be fine, this is the first time this has actually happened to me on AliExpress.
I wanted to buy from that store also but their shipping to my location matched the cost of the meter.

I've been exploring alternatives, trying to figure out which LCR meter to buy.
The options are so limited 

Interesting. I got free shipping and the total I paid was a bit less than 300 euro. That's excluding the custom taxes, once it hopefully arrives.

Not too many options in this price range indeed. At least not in EU. Nobody seem to stock those ET, Victor, you_name_it LCRs

[GnomeZA]

So unfortunately the seller asked me to extend a bunch of times then came up with the story that "it cannot be shipped because UPS says it is magnetic".  Obviously a lie.  But here we are.  Guess back to the drawing board on which LCR to buy.

Definitely don't buy from this "ALULUA Store" tho, the guy is scummy AF.  He is likely to send you a brick and pull the old, "send it back" scam.

Sorry to read about your experience.

FWIW, I have one on its way. At least that's what I want to believe...

I placed the order exactly a week ago and the current shipping state is "arrived at departure transport hub".

I bought it from seller "East Tester Factory Store" thinking that it's the "official" ET seller. How little did I know...

Having said that, they seem to have 100% positive feedback (if it's true), so fingers crossed...

Thanks for the kind words.
I suspect you'll be fine, this is the first time this has actually happened to me on AliExpress.
I wanted to buy from that store also but their shipping to my location matched the cost of the meter.

I've been exploring alternatives, trying to figure out which LCR meter to buy.
The options are so limited 

Interesting. I got free shipping and the total I paid was a bit less than 300 euro. That's excluding the custom taxes, once it hopefully arrives.

Not too many options in this price range indeed. At least not in EU. Nobody seem to stock those ET, Victor, you_name_it LCRs

Btw. if possible and you are up for it, please post some pictures of the meter, internally I mean.
I literally cannot find anything online.

[Martin72]

I've been exploring alternatives, trying to figure out which LCR meter to buy.
The options are so limited 

If you don't necessarily need the stepless test frequencies, you can also use the cheaper ET4410.
This model is "safe" to get, I already have the second one here, the first time I bought it at banggood, the second time on ebay.
For the money, there are no alternatives to the ET44/4510.
The next one, which would be much more valuable and "correct", would be a model from Tonghui/Sourcetronic.

[GnomeZA]

I've been exploring alternatives, trying to figure out which LCR meter to buy.
The options are so limited 

If you don't necessarily need the stepless test frequencies, you can also use the cheaper ET4410.
This model is "safe" to get, I already have the second one here, the first time I bought it at banggood, the second time on ebay.
For the money, there are no alternatives to the ET44/4510.
The next one, which would be much more valuable and "correct", would be a model from Tonghui/Sourcetronic.

Yeah I had a look at that but then I feel like the DE-5000 is a significantly better deal (than ET44).
What are your thoughts on the Matrix MCR-5200?

I've also had a look on eBay and Hioki 3522/Hioki 3532 is also options, but quite a bit more money, still I suspect a much better meter.
I've got a seller that is offering the Hioki 3532 for $700 (made an offer type thing) which seems to be the best deal I'll be able to get (turns on and works, "unable to test completely")

[pope]

I've been exploring alternatives, trying to figure out which LCR meter to buy.
The options are so limited 

If you don't necessarily need the stepless test frequencies, you can also use the cheaper ET4410.
This model is "safe" to get, I already have the second one here, the first time I bought it at banggood, the second time on ebay.
For the money, there are no alternatives to the ET44/4510.
The next one, which would be much more valuable and "correct", would be a model from Tonghui/Sourcetronic.

Yeah I had a look at that but then I feel like the DE-5000 is a significantly better deal (than ET44).
What are your thoughts on the Matrix MCR-5200?

I've also had a look on eBay and Hioki 3522/Hioki 3532 is also options, but quite a bit more money, still I suspect a much better meter.
I've got a seller that is offering the Hioki 3532 for $700 (made an offer type thing) which seems to be the best deal I'll be able to get (turns on and works, "unable to test completely")

The matrix-5200 quality-wise looks like a much better meter than the TE. I ws eyeing on it for a few months and I could get it from EU. However, it's much more expensive and it has less functionality than the TE (i.e no continuous frequency, voltage, no auto-select, etc..)

But it definitely does look of much better quality.

[GnomeZA]

The matrix-5200 quality-wise looks like a much better meter than the TE. I ws eyeing on it for a few months and I could get it from EU. However, it's much more expensive and it has less functionality than the TE (i.e no continuous frequency, voltage, no auto-select, etc..)

But it definitely does look of much better quality.

Yeah good call out, I realized that when I dug a bit more into specs.

I can get the ET3502 for the same price as Matrix LCR-5200, so I think, as you say, better deal because it is continuous frequency.

The ET3502 seems to me to be in the same category as the Matrix LCR-5200.

[Martin72]

I've also had a look on eBay and Hioki 3522/Hioki 3532 is also options, but quite a bit more money, still I suspect a much better meter.
I've got a seller that is offering the Hioki 3532 for $700 (made an offer type thing) which seems to be the best deal I'll be able to get (turns on and works, "unable to test completely")

The hioki is on another planet, in comparison to the mentioned meters here before.
That´s why I´m still trying to restaurate my 3532-50(display problems, touchpanel defective).

[pope]

The matrix-5200 quality-wise looks like a much better meter than the TE. I ws eyeing on it for a few months and I could get it from EU. However, it's much more expensive and it has less functionality than the TE (i.e no continuous frequency, voltage, no auto-select, etc..)

But it definitely does look of much better quality.

Yeah good call out, I realized that when I dug a bit more into specs.

I can get the ET3502 for the same price as Matrix LCR-5200, so I think, as you say, better deal because it is continuous frequency.

The ET3502 seems to me to be in the same category as the Matrix LCR-5200.

Well, quite frankly I have no idea whether it's better deal. It all comes down to real specs. It does look better deal but bear in mind that we're dealing with some not-so-known Chinese brands here so take everything with a grain of salt...

[GnomeZA]

The hioki is on another planet, in comparison to the mentioned meters here before.
That´s why I´m still trying to restaurate my 3532-50(display problems, touchpanel defective).

Oof, I had a look, definitely wouldn't want to try buy a broken one, it is just too high of a risk.
My repair skills are not anywhere near yours (hobbyist vs professional doing this every day alone tells me I'll probably struggle a lot more)

Funny enough some sellers are offering this same meter with a broken display for not much less than the working products.
Planet eBay is a strange place.

Well, quite frankly I have no idea whether it's better deal. It all comes down to real specs. It does look better deal but bare in mind that we're dealing with some not-so-known Chinese brands here so take everything with a grain of salt...

Agreed, but it looks like the ET35xx series was their first range, which they sell to businesses.
The ET34/35xx is their "hobby" version (my opinion).
I'd be surprised if the quality weren't better on the ET35xx series.

[mawyatt]

We utilize "Meters" to measure device and circuit parameters, like voltage, current, capacitance, resistance, inductance and so on, and why we employ various precision Bench Type Lab Grade DMMs and LCR Meters (as well as handhelds DMMs and LCR meters, for less precision GP use).

The Hioki IM3536 is our "In house reference" for LCR use, and also the Tonghui TH2830. These are high quality Bench Lab Grade LCR meters that allow comparison measurements. We have some precision (0.01%) Caddock and Vishay Resistors for reference, but no precision capacitors. However we have stable Polystyrene, Mica, and NP0/C0G types that we've kept measurement records and periodically compare with the Hioki and Tonghui meters. We feel this is necessary even with these quality well known Lab Grade LCR meters, which are also compared with 3 KS34465A, and a DMM6500 (also HP34401A, AG34401A and SDM3065X).

With these ET brand questionable LCR meters, how does one convey confidence in measurements? Precision resistors are available and inexpensive, however reference capacitors that can verify to the "claimed" ET precision levels are not readily available, and likely very expensive.

As a side note, the mentioned ET reversed BNC arrangement when using Fixture based Kelvin Clips like the TH26011 or B&K TL89K1 will reverse the polarity of the internal DC bias as "seen" at the colored and labeled Kelvin clips. So one must remember to reverse the Kelvin connections when using internal DC Bias.

Anyway, these ET LCR meters seem questionable for any serious use, altho as always YMMV.

Best,

[Martin72]

ET4410, cap measuring comparing to ST2830 (TH2830):

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/east-tester-et4410-desktop-lcr-meter/msg4941505/#msg4941505

Next post there is measuring on a "reference".

[mawyatt]

Some measurement comparisons are good, some slightly different (outside of specs?), and some not even close (100KHz).

This doesn't convey any type of instrument confidence IMO!!!

Best,

[GnomeZA]

We utilize "Meters" to measure device and circuit parameters, like voltage, current, capacitance, resistance, inductance and so on, and why we employ various precision Bench Type Lab Grade DMMs and LCR Meters (as well as handhelds DMMs and LCR meters, for less precision GP use).

The Hioki IM3536 is our "In house reference" for LCR use, and also the Tonghui TH2830. These are high quality Bench Lab Grade LCR meters that allow comparison measurements. We have some precision (0.01%) Caddock and Vishay Resistors for reference, but no precision capacitors. However we have stable Polystyrene, Mica, and NP0/C0G types that we've kept measurement records and periodically compare with the Hioki and Tonghui meters. We feel this is necessary even with these quality well known Lab Grade LCR meters, which are also compared with 3 KS34465A, and a DMM6500 (also HP34401A, AG34401A and SDM3065X).

With these ET brand questionable LCR meters, how does one convey confidence in measurements? Precision resistors are available and inexpensive, however reference capacitors that can verify to the "claimed" ET precision levels are not readily available, and likely very expensive.

As a side note, the mentioned ET reversed BNC arrangement when using Fixture based Kelvin Clips like the TH26011 or B&K TL89K1 will reverse the polarity of the internal DC bias as "seen" at the colored and labeled Kelvin clips. So one must remember to reverse the Kelvin connections when using internal DC Bias.

Anyway, these ET LCR meters seem questionable for any serious use, altho as always YMMV.

Best,

I think the problems you've spotted could well be down to quality control and may not be intentional or even still present or various scenarios.
That said, and to your point, I have my doubts how much you can trust their quality control, "calibration" and specifications.
Let's just say, I don't think this going to be like Keithley 2000 (or insert good meter here) you buy 2nd hand, and 30 years later and it is still giving good measurements that are pretty damned accurate.

But LCR market doesn't have a well developed middle of the road as far as I can tell.
I've done a lot of digging now and I'll admit it is a lot less bleak to me today than it was a week ago.
But there isn't much information around, unlike multimeters & scopes, for example.

Basically, you either pay enough money to buy a new car or you are stuck with a lot of meh options and trying to make the best of what is around and talking about them here.
Because frankly there isn't a good definitive LCR thread even on eevblog that I could find.

[Martin72]

@mawyatt:
At the end of the day, it's no different in principle(circuit) to the TH2830, for example, but why it's completely off at 100khz was the reason why I bought another one.
I wanted to find out and fix it if possible.
But time is short...

[nctnico]

Some measurement comparisons are good, some slightly different (outside of specs?), and some not even close (100KHz).

Pity the results wheren't included in this thread, but measuring tens of uF at 100kHz is asking for trouble so no wonder the results are way off. At 100kHz a 47uF capacitor represents an impedance of 33m Ohm. Good luck trying to measure the amplitude and phase across such a small impedance. When using an LCR meter, it is important to know what the limits of the device are. No matter the price tag.