EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: MarkPalmer on September 12, 2014, 02:20:48 pm
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There have been videos and what-not in regards to this LCR meter, but I haven’t seen many long-term evaluations on it.
I have been using this LCR meter regularly for six months and am still very intrigued by its capabilities. I have encountered no problems with this 4 wire ohms LCR, and no inaccuracies or inconsistencies with its measurements. The TFT display is excellent. It’s something one takes for granted but it really does help when looking at measurements in quick order. The build quality is excellent, it’s not something you would expect from China because it wasn’t made to a real cheap price point. The price in the neighborhood of $180.00 USD is not what I consider cheap but it’s more than fair for what you get. The components in the Applent are all name-brand and the boards and product assembly are top notch as far as the eye can see. This Chinese company is NOT in to the $3.00 throw-away multimeter market. Everything they make is centered on laboratory use or high end production testing.
I'll keep going at it, but so far nothing to gripe about with Applent, except maybe their name sounds kind of hoaky :)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/1797381_732354520117784_121229223_n.jpg?oh=1891a12b503d214e5de7660807945320&oe=548845B7&__gda__=1419830358_6e2d0f05313748407518c1f47f170d4f)
-Mark-
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What a timely post since I just ordered an AT825 on the recommendation of a coworker. The review of the Applent posted on YouTube notes the use of threaded brass inserts to attach the case covers. That in itself is noteworthy of Applents attention and commitment to details and quality, and therefore may be a positive sign towards the rest of the meter's quality/performance.
Currently I'm using a Uni-T UT612 LCR but I'm not completely satisfied with it perhaps due to possible commun. buss lag when selecting between ESR, Cs, Cp. Some readings seem to be slightly inconsistent and despite that the Kelvin test clips that are available at an extra cost of around $13 are not true 4-wire config. Basically, they are nothing more than gold-plated clips with both non-shielded wires attached to a single jaw of the clip! Yet they are advertised as Kelvin. The user's manual is littered with Chinglish and only some far off, advanced alien might have the slim hope of deciphering it. I'd have better success at deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs blindfolded! The monochrome LCD display has a funky viewing angle that's been a concern by other UT612 owners. Initially that wasn't an issue for me, but after using it more and moving it about, I find myself having to position it more specifically or move my head about to get a viewable contrasting display and not something washed out looking, as if the battery was dying. I don't think the Uni-T is any better than the Mastech line.... maybe just priced slightly more competitively.
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I would put Applent in the same class as Rigol. They demonstrate that electronic equipment can be designed and made quite well in China, only you are going to pay a little more for it. It's still below the prices of the established industry leaders, but with many of those you pay a lot more just to have their name printed on the front.
-Mark-
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Is there a bench top version? I would like one on which I can apply a DC bias to the DUT.
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Hi nctnico,
They have a very extensive range of desktop LCR meters.
Check Applent’s web site www.applent.com (http://www.applent.com)
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Is there a bench top version? I would like one on which I can apply a DC bias to the DUT.
Here's what an AT2817A looks like.
The Applent name and logo sound and look strangely familiar... (Well, before the name and logo was changed to Keysight!)
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Looks interesting. Who is selling these?
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Isn't Keysight making some bench DMMs for Agilent? Or rather I heard Agilent supposedly acquired Keysight... fact or falacy?
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The electronic test equipment segment of Agilent recently changed their name to Keysight Technologies. The life sciences division kept the Agilent name. So now HP=Agilent=Keysight, as Bill and Dave roll over in their graves. :P
Looking at the Agilent/Keysight DMM on top of the Applent LCR in the earlier post, they almost look like their factories in the orient are just down the street from one another :-DD
My pet peeve.... why does all new test equipment made today have to have the rubberized Little Tykes/Playskool look to it? Do people drop bench meters on the floor all the time or bump in to the corners on it enough to get scratches or bruises? There are things in the toy department at Wal-Mart that look more professional than this stuff does today.
-Mark-
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My pet peeve.... why does all new test equipment made today have to have the rubberized Little Tykes/Playskool look to it? Do people drop bench meters on the floor all the time or bump in to the corners on it enough to get scratches or bruises?
Being (semi)portable instruments I guess they are more prone to damage so have the rubberised bumpers as added protection. They can be removed quickly and easily though. I took it off my DMM initially but preferred the look with it on. If I were rack mounting then they would obviously be left off.
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The electronic test equipment segment of Agilent recently changed their name to Keysight Technologies. The life sciences division kept the Agilent name. So now HP=Agilent=Keysight, as Bill and Dave roll over in their graves. :P
-Mark-
I hear ya. The same could be said for John Moses Browning, American extraordinary firearms designer. He's got to be rolling over in his grave from Browning's modern-day management turning over production of an American icon to the Asians. Fortunately the firearms are produced in Japan which is still noteworthy of their quality control and production abilities. But not as noteworthy as when Browning partnered with the Belgian manufacturer FN Herstal. That stuff helped shape world history and was to firearms just the same as what HP was to test equipment.
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My pet peeve.... why does all new test equipment made today have to have the rubberized Little Tykes/Playskool look to it? Do people drop bench meters on the floor all the time or bump in to the corners on it enough to get scratches or bruises? There are things in the toy department at Wal-Mart that look more professional than this stuff does today.
I like the soft rubber bumpers and cases but not the soft rubber controls.
My largest complaint about modern instruments is either not being able to stack them or not being able to use the controls without pushing them around.
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My pet peeve.... why does all new test equipment made today have to have the rubberized Little Tykes/Playskool look to it? Do people drop bench meters on the floor all the time or bump in to the corners on it enough to get scratches or bruises? There are things in the toy department at Wal-Mart that look more professional than this stuff does today.
I like the soft rubber bumpers and cases but not the soft rubber controls.
My largest complaint about modern instruments is either not being able to stack them or not being able to use the controls without pushing them around.
It was a disappointment to me when HP/Agilent did away with the old double molded plastic buttons that the legends never wore off of with a precise feel to them in favor of soggy feeling rubber buttons. I guess there was no way around it as I can see where those plastic buttons cost a fortune to produce. I think with certain things on newer equipment we just have to suffer. The Applent AT gives the option of the touch screen or the buttons, the rubber buttons really aren't too bad still feeling better than really chintzy thin hard plastic buttons and keep the display from being blurred by fingerprints.
-Mark-
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Get it while it's hot! :-+
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=181531639787&alt=web (http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=181531639787&alt=web)