YA LCR thread - how important are some basic features?

[Pfriemler]

A look into my petty cash allows me to fulfill the desire for a usable LCR meter. So far I use a GM328A component tester. I am torn between DER EE 5000, Hantek 1833C, actually even a UT-612 would do, but it would also do for a UT-622C.*

I haven't found the optimal device yet, I don't need specific advice either.
Rather an idea of how important advertised features actually are in practice:
1. why DCR when I have a good multimeter? And isn't a good Rs resolution also enough? (UT-622C has no DCR).
2. how important in practical repair operation are the additional frequencies (400Hz ... 50, 75 kHz) that a Hantek 1833C offers?
3. are different measuring voltages (1833C 0.3/0.6, UT-622 0.1..1Vrms) possibly especially helpful for in-circuit measurements or is a suitable range selection not already sufficient for this?

I will never do (I know: never say never) high quality audio work nor design of circuitry of switching power devices or something like that.

*From the price point of view, only the UT-612 stands out rather below (~140 Euro). A DER EE 5000 kit comes out @190 Euros after shipping and customs from Japan (maybe cheaper via banggood), a pure 1833C will arrive in a few days for 183 Euros (cheap tweezer is here, a Kelvin clip cable is home made for additional ~20), the UT-622C (including Kelvins) is about 250 Euros. Wonder if the UT-622C is worth the additional fee.


offtopic:
P.S.: what are the best (technician) words for a) a thing which only gives you an idea of the measured value (German "Schätzeisen") or b) a thing which delivers all needs in a combined way (like an animal which gives you eggs, wool, milk and (lately) flesh (German: "eierlegende Wollmilchsau")

[mawyatt]

Our DER 5000 certainly performs well, holds up nicely compared to lab grade Hioki IM3536 and Tonghui TH2830 bench LCR meters. If you search you'll find all sorts of information and fixtures for the 5000, including a DIY mod of the TL-21 that allows lab grade LCR fixtures to interface, including utilizing a lab plunger type fixture for SMD (not tweezers). Even the standard TL-21 alligator clips work surprisingly well

Best,

[madires]

1) Yep, a DMM does a DC based resistance measurement anyway. The DCR feature seems to me more like a convenience function, i.e. you don't have to swap meters and probe leads.
2) They don't provide any real benefit. In most cases 100Hz (filter cap), 10kHz (audio) and 100kHz (switching PSUs) are sufficient.
3) For in-circuit checks you want a test voltage lower then Vf of a pn junction. For stuff with Germanium BJTs it needs to be extra low.
a) guessimeter
b) all-in-one, or Swiss army knife

[Pfriemler]

I think all of the meter will fit my basic needs, esp. the 5000. But it is not that cheap that it was.

... 3) For in-circuit checks you want a test voltage lower then Vf of a pn junction. For stuff with Germanium BJTs it needs to be extra low.

That is my intention. A low (open end) test voltage makes it easy, but the effective voltage at the DUT depends on the test current from the LCR, thus the voltage could be low enough not to peak a pn junction - of course with a lack of precision, but this will do for a first check.


edit:
There are some more things that bother me, really: A Hantek is out of battery within 3 months if not used or charged (1.8 mA if off). A DER 5000 battery will last a year or more here in my use case, surely. Another bad thing is a poor or completely absent input protection. Hantek seems to have some, the DER EE not. UT-622? A few months ago I killed my cap meter with a 1000µF on 12V (could fix it, since it's input protection was blown).

Guessimeter sounds great. All-in-one & Swiss army knife sounds too harmless to me :-)