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Reviews For: Almost All Digital Electronics L/C Meter IIB

Category: Tools & Test Equipment for the amateur radio work bench

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Review Summary For : Almost All Digital Electronics L/C Meter IIB
Reviews: 46MSRP: 99.95
Description:
Standalone inductance/capacitance measurement device
with LCD display. Sold in kit form.
Product is not in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00464.8
AB2DP Rating: 2008-10-20
A very good testing L/C Meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Super fast shiping, and great communication too. The meter is working very well and is great for our needs to build electronic equipment as hams..I will do business with him again. I wish to see this product with a back light display.
VK3KBC Rating: 2008-09-15
A 'Must Have' for Home Brewers Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

Hi All,

I'd been using a Sencore LC53 in the past for measuring inductors and capacitors but I needed to measure inductors smaller than 1uH, which the Sencore won't do.

I ordered an AADE Meter on Monday the 8th and I received an email from Neil not long after saying that it would be sent out the next day. It arrived here in VK in less than a week from the U.S. That's quick!

The kit is very well designed with good quality board & components and a professional looking case.

I glanced over the instructions but didn't really read the text. I was able to put the kit together in just over half an hour by simply copying the parts placement in the step by step color pictures.

As an experienced homebrewer, I found the assembly a breeze.

Beginners should have no problems with the kit either if they follow the very detailed instructions as there are plenty of color pictures to supplement the text. In my kit, all components were identical to those shown in the pictures.

The meter worked first time as soon as I connected the battery and it does everything as designed.

It's very accurate and very quick.

It's much quicker than my Sencore LCR Meter and it's constantly updating the display so you can check variable capacitors and inductors over their operating ranges as well.

I'm very impressed with the whole package.

If anyone's contemplating getting a L/C Meter, I would strongly recommend you consider this unit. If you have any doubts about being able to construct it, pay the few dollars extra and get a pre-assembled unit.

Regards,

Ben VK3KBC.


VE3GLA Rating: 2008-09-13
Great Value! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I built the kit in a liesurely 90 minutes. Some others have commented about the kit instructions. The instructions that came with my kit were very detailed and had lots of clear color pictures, so construction was very easy. It worked first time. It's great to be able to confirm the value of junk box capacitors and handwound toroids.

73, Bob VE3GLA
AD5X Rating: 2008-07-13
Great Instrument Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered this on Friday afternoon, July 4th. Got a response from AADE about an hour later saying it would ship the next day (Saturday). Received it in the mail on Monday July 7th and had it together about an hour later. I made one mod to the unit - I drilled a small hole in the side of the case to make adjustment of the display contrast easy with the case put together. Anyway, this is a great L/C meter. I like the auto-zero capability, and it appears very accurate (checked against my old GR1656 inpedance bridge). I've wanted something easier to use than my GR1656, and this really does the job.

Phil - AD5X
PA0RCL Rating: 2008-06-25
Great kit, excellent meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Half of the pleasure of the radio hobby is to build your own stuff. So why not your own test equipment. Here is an excellent kit that does exactly what it is supposed to do, measure L's and C's accurately. It took me about an hour and a half to put it together and it worked right away. I agree with earlier reviewers that the instructions are not always very clear, but if you take the time to study them carefully you can't go wrong. The accuracy of the meter is amazing, especially in the case of low value C's and L's.
N4LTA Rating: 2008-05-12
Inexpensive and excellent performance Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a very nice piece of test equipment at a very low cost. One of the only available low cost devices to measure unknown inductance and very accurate from my experience. Excellent for matching parts in phasing circuits. I bought mine assembled.

I find it amusing that some felt it did not match the ranges they wanted - dang - read the specs??

A very nice, accurate inexpensive piece of test equipment - a refreshing change from a world of Chinese junk at similar pricing.
W8YT Rating: 2008-05-01
Excellent meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's great to have one of these when you are putting a kit together, etc, to identify caps with no markings or that all look alike. Also to sort all of your inductors that were unknown inductance. Self-calibrating and easy to use - this is one of the most useful meters on your bench. Definitely worth the money.
N4QY Rating: 2007-12-29
Well Pleased Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After doing some small SMT kits, I had no problem identifying all parts correctly. However, a lighted magnifying glass will help immensely.

I had expected that the PC board would have labels indicating where the parts went. It did not, but with the detailed pictures, parts location was not a problem.

Do read the instructions all the way thru before you start.

I had to study the pictures to determine how to place the 16 pin male square post plug. The guard on mine was different than the one in the instructions. The picture for installing the voltage regulator shows the correct orientation for the connector. The instructions say "Install the connector with the guard toward the bottom of the PCB", but does not define what the guard is. If the instructions defined the guard and said "install the connector with the guard toward the 16 pin IC socket", it would have been much clearer.

The 16 pin female square post socket pins did not take solder easily - not sure why - but ohming them out showed good connections.

It worked when I turned it on, and had fun measuring a bunch of known value inductors and capacitors.

I would rate the instructions as a "4". They are certainly adequate for an experienced builder, but could be clearer, which would help a first time builder.

I would rate the meter itself as a "5". I am quite happy with the finished product.

It is a very nice addition to my work shop, and will come in handy as I build a homebrew station.

I am an experienced builder having built many kits as well as some homebrewing, and a 50 year ham.
K9GXC Rating: 2007-03-20
All time most useful instrument in my shop Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I think I own three of these. Maybe I gave one away to a friend. This is the only inexpensive measuring device I know of that is useful for measuring a few pf and a few 10s of nHy. It's no loss to me that it doesn't measure microfarads or henries. I bought the units assembled because the price difference was small. However, the availabiltiy as a kit is a boon to those on a low budget. The first one I bought was the L/C Meter II. The case was a little primitive. I like the new version better. It's a lot more professional. This is a really clever design and its self calibrating feature makes it as accurate as units costing many times more. Like all measuring instruments you need to know something about how it works so you can interpret the results. This is especially true for inductors with ferrite cores where the results depend on frequency. This works at a few hundred kHz which is a reasonable compromise to my mind. I can recommend this unit highly, especially if you need to measure small capacitances and inductances.

73 de Jim K9GXC since 1956
VA7DH Rating: 2006-12-14
Useful work bench tool for RF work Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received my AADE L/C Meter IIB in very quick time and was pleased that it arrived so quickly. I have wanted a tool like this for a very long time and was not dissapointed. Some people have mentioned the quality of printing for the instructions. I can see that there is a bit of a problem there. A better alternative may be to go to the AADE WEB site and download a copy of the instructions from it and print them off on your own printer.

This is their web site: http://www.aade.com/lcmeter.htm

The very tiny capacitors were a bit of a chore for me to sort out but once I re-read through all of the instructions and reviewed the parts layout diagrams it all became clear. One thing though, the PC board is very nice quality as is also the case and other material. Good stuff.

I could have built my own L/C meter from scratch but it would not have matched the quality of this one. One of the prime factors that swayed me was that the meter had self calibrating capabilities built into it's software. That self calibration actually does quite a reasonable job.

If a person is looking for a high precision meter for a lab bench then this may not be for them. This meter was only about $100 in US funds, not several hundred dollars but plenty good enough for my bench.

I'm really going to enjoy using it. Tinkering with RF components will be a lot more fun now that I can wind my own coils, build my own capacitors, and actually know what the values are. Thanks AADE! and 73