Opinions about Smart Tweezers Handheld RCL Meter

Yes, I do know the differnt curves. Not everyone builds $2 radios or cheap consumer trinkets. The ones that don't need real parts instead of the floor sweepings.

Its been almost four years, but I believe they were under a nickle each because I got them by the hundred from the stock room and I only did that on 5 cent and under parts. We used a lot of precision parts including .1% resistors. The radios were $8,000 each and custom built.

We used a lot of microwave ceramic SMD chips that had to be high precision to reduce test and alignment time.

Take a look at:

Strictly speaking ("a better investment"), you're probably right. But I think they're aimed at two different markets; take a look at the features for yourself.

The Smart Tweezers has a MUCH better display, IMO.

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The +/- 2.5% you are citing, is a spec that describes the result of soldering abuse. 5 seconds at 500F, is much longer, and hotter, than is typically necessary.

If you need better performance than the +/-2.5% figure, than you should be quicker with your soldering, or use a conductive epoxy.

The capacitors are as spec'd, when they are delivered, what you do with them after that may change them.... just like most things in life.

-Chuck

I see that one could *buy* small values of NPO caps speeced at 1%, but according to the same data sheet, they can be as bad as 2.5% - which appears to support my general statement.

Sounds like a decent tool. It has limitations, but what tool doesn't?

I would very much like to see a list of the ICs that are in it, so if you decide to open the case, please write down the part numbers and post them.

Believe whatever you want, since you can't read the specs properly.

They were off the shelf or Microdyne would not have purchased them. They were 1%, and the only bad ones I saw were physically damaged. The were used in a Sallen Key low pass video filter with 14, 1% parts to meet a 10% tolerance on the frequency spec. If the filter was slightly out of tolerance I could usually swap the two caps and move it into spec without changing the sets of restores. There was more problems with slight variations of the inter layer capacitance of the PCB affecting the filter. I tested and calibrated hundreds of these boards and I know what parts I used.