The AM Forum

I just lost the bid on a M-Cube LCRZ meter on Ebay. Unfortunately these are no longer in production, and used ones are as scarce as hen's teeth. Is there anything like it on the market in the "hobby" price range?

Bobby Dipole ND9B

Bobby,

I am not familiar with the LCR meter you noted.

Here is a link to a very nice LC meter that is popular with the ham community.  I have one and like it very much.

 http://aade.com/lcmeter.htm

Chuck

I bought an old Sencore LCR meter and have been pleased with it. It cost $250 a year ago at Murphy's Junk in CA. It was designed for checking TV parts like yokes, chokes, and smallish caps, but does well for me. The "ringer" test also shows some merit or Q-like indication for coils on a reltive scale. More range would be nice.

I'd go for the AADE one but the 150mH max range is not enough for what I do.

http://www.anatekcorp.com/test%20equipment.htm

I use the Peak series of meters. Very handy.  The folks at Anatek are hams.

I would get the absolute newest model available.  For relatively short money, you get an *accurate* and easy to use instrument.  I have a B & K and another - forget the make (maybe Fluke - just can't remember).  These newer models are super-accurate, small, and really easy to use.

The reason for 2 of them is because I lost the B & K for about 2 years (in my car - shows you how messy my car is!), so I bought a replacement thinking I must have left the B & K at a hamfest or at someone's house.  The B & K showed up a couple of months ago when I was excavating in the back section of the car for something, and it surfaced.
 

My main LCR instrument is a HP 4261A.  It works extremely well.  I have a more portable hand held type that I bought from MCM Electronics.  Its made by Tenna and the part number is 72-960.  I have not had any issues with it.

Joe, W3GMS

Or get one of those old military type bridges. The kind with the concentric knobs, and strange operating instructions. They never fail and are great if you can figure out how to use them. the directions are usually in the cabinet lid.

I've got enough bridges, 

(http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/testgear/HP/4260A/HP42602.jpg)

(http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/testgear/GR/1650%20R%20L%20C%20Q%20BRIDGE/GR16505.jpg)

(http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/testgear/Misc/ElencoCapMtr1.jpg)

(http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/testgear/Boonton/250%20Rx%20Mtr/RX2501.jpg)

(http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/testgear/Boonton/260A/2602.jpg)

Don't need no more stinking bridges.

I used one of these at Bell Labs for years and finally found one at flea market for $10. Works like a charm. They also made a similar one for measuring capacitance. Unfortunately, at the same table, the guy in front of me grabbed it.

Rohde & Schwarz LARU Inductance Meter, Bridge
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Rohde-Schwarz-LARU-inductance-meter-bridge-/00/s/ODY4WDExNDI=/z/qp0AAMXQjwVRA84s/$T2eC16NHJHQE9nzE)jdZBR!84rjj0w~~60_12.JPG)

R&S is one of the best T.E. Makers on the planet, but I could never understand the order of their model nomenclature.

I purchased 2 cheapies off of EBay last year.  Combined I don't think I spent more than $60 but got one by a vendor called Vichy which can do up to 20H for inductance and one by Velleman.  I tested their accuracy and both were good for about 5% or so.  Good enough for what I wanted to do instead of trying to measure some unknown in the manner that I used to.  Just wanted something I can ballpark and do it quickly.  I have several unmarked inductors and needed to  know what they were and the meters worked out good.