Which LCR meter: Applent AT2817A or ZXP ZX2816A

[nctnico]

I've breen browsing around Ebay a bit for a benchtop LCR meter. Among many choices I found these two:

The Applent AT2817A:


or the ZXP ZX2816A:


It seems other people on this forum have the Applent AT2817A and are pleased with it so it would be a safe bet. However the slightly more expensive ZX2816A has a continuously variable frequency up to 200KHz (instead of 100KHz) and DC bias ability. The ZX2816A seems to be available under many brands/model numbers (TH2816A, JK2816A, etc) in slightly different casings but unfortunately a PDF user manual is missing.

I think my question is: is anyone familiar with an LCR meter like the ZX2816A? And was it a good buy?

[thefamilyman]

Oddly I have the exact same dilemma as you. I am also tossing up between the two same models, which one to buy?
I have an Applent DC load and I love it; it works great and when I find some bugs they fix it within 2-3 days.
There is very little information about the other machine but it looks good and specs sound good too.

[Vgkid]

as Gazelle mentioned, search for the Tonghui models, they seem to be a big company.

[nctnico]

I already spotted the Tonghui models. The ZX2816A looks exactly like one of the higher end models of Tonghui only the price is much better. It could be some kind of OEM surplus... I'm not pulling the trigger just yet because it is an expensive piece of of equipment. I could put it to good use on two upcoming projects though.

[plesa]

Menu looks simillar to Agilent E498x series. Looking forward to teardown

[nctnico]

The Ebay seller pointed me to the website of the manufacturer. The ZX2816A is in the 'older model' section.
http://www.zxptest.com/eng/product/27

[flash2b]

I do not have the ZX2816A, but I have the ZX8511D. ZXP has renamed the 28xx series to 85xx series, so the ZX2816A is now ZX8516A.

My model is almost on the bottom of the range, the ZX8511C is the lowest model. It supports 0.2% accuracy, max measure frequence is 10KHz (100Hz, 120Hz, 1KHz and 10KHz supported) through 4-wire mode.




The unit is well made and feels solid. The UI is slightly different as the model you show from the ebay picture, which is basically a copy/paste of the HP4284A.

I also outputs the screen to USB, very nicely.


@ntnico:
Spotted the discussion on: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/lcr-meter-accuracy/ , decided to post in this older topic, since it is more about ZXP vs. Applent. Both Tonghui and ZhiXin Precision Co., Ltd are based in ChangZhou. I was told that people who used to work at Tonghui started ZXP as a competitor. It is very common to use the same model number eg. '8511' through different brands in China. This does not mean the internals are the same.

[nctnico]

The ZX2816A is still on my Ebay watch list but meanwhile I stumbled upon a network analyser which can do pretty much the same.