Budget source unit meter and in-circuit LCR meters ?

[MathWizard]

I don't have the money or the need for a $2k SMU, so what are more repairable older models , to watch out for on ebay? And is there any new cheaper models, than the top brands ? I don't need dozens of volts or 10A currents.


I have a cheap mastech LCR meter that is fine for having really just 1 or 2 chips, and nothing else in it. But it's slow settling. Also it's not really good enough to use in-circuit, (I just de-capped a PSU to measure all the values, I should check the in-circuit now to refresh my memory on that).

Something like a BK-precision . 879 would be a nice step up, then I see something like used BK-P 889, going for twice the money and I'm wondering how well they really do in-circuit testing. And aside from AC powered, how much better are the bench models vs all the other handheld models like from Fluke/KeySight ? For the amount I'd use it, a handheld would save a lot of space tho.

[Schenkenstein]

If +-110V and +-100mA are enough for your needs, I would recommend you a Keithley 236 (or 237/238). Sometimes, you can get them for <500€ and since the schematics are available, they are easy to repair (at least those I came across  ). Their lowest resolution is 100µV/100fA for sourcing and 10µV/10fA for measuring. The only downside is that you also have to spend some $$$ on triax cables.