Products > Test Equipment

Seriously, what is the value of a $30 thing that is unreliable?

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watchmaker:
I get that many of these things are great for initial ID of components.  I have a couple (the TC3 is my go to) and even use a $25 two channel USB scope for the display on my Thaikit Curve Tracer.

But what is the point of trying to select components with a measurement system that yields unreliable results.  :-// Not even talking about calibration, just consistency and documented approaches to the calculations?

When is "good enough" a path to failure and frustration?

Because of this forum, I have learned the importance of verifying every component. I am just an amateur doing things to amuse myself, so time is not an issue.

Capacitors in particular are more complex than they first appear (at least to me) in their behavior both in and out of circuit.  It would seem to me that using these $30 things for their selection can lead to much frustration.  Long gone are the days when the choice was ceramic or big electrolytics.

OTOH, I get the challenge of working to improve these devices.  That provides many with a great deal of fun as evidenced by 300 plus page threads.  :-+

coromonadalix:
mmm i would say    follow the huge threads and see remarks and feedback's and fw evolution's

for sure an 20-30$ gimmick has some usefulness, and i would say precise 80-90% of the time,  unless you have some difficult parts like scr's and some mosfets, they help to basically diagnose stuffs

and sure  in some cases  if you try to test on pcb's,   you'll be greatly limitted

same for users who tests caps with an dmm, it's time constant based not a real cap tests with esr dsr z q  etc ...

you would need lcr meters with serial or parallel functions dc / bias etc...

always a compromise between real equipment and gizmos and learning their limits

my 2 cents

watchmaker:

--- Quote from: coromonadalix on August 28, 2024, 12:44:22 pm ---mmm i would say    follow the huge threads and see remarks and feedback's and fw evolution's

for sure an 20-30$ gimmick has some usefulness, and i would say precise 80-90% of the time,  unless you have some difficult parts like scr's and some mosfets, they help to basically diagnose stuffs

and sure  in some cases  if you try to test on pcb's,   you'll be greatly limitted

same for users who tests caps with an dmm, it's time constant based not a real cap tests with esr dsr z q  etc ...

you would need lcr meters with serial or parallel functions dc / bias etc...

always a compromise between real equipment and gizmos and learning their limits

my 2 cents

--- End quote ---

 :-+

Kean:

--- Quote from: coromonadalix on August 28, 2024, 12:44:22 pm ---always a compromise between real equipment and gizmos and learning their limits

--- End quote ---

This also applies between two different models/brands of "real equipment" - there are always compromises!

It is important to understand the limits of any test equipment, even if you don't fully understand how it works.

BeBuLamar:
What $30 thing? I don't understand.

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