this looks totally useful... and CHEAP!!

[LightSoundGeometry]

I have one, they are an ESR meter ..you need the other one for 12 bucks for bipolar junctions and fets; and what you are seeing here is a poor mans lab minus my diy audio probe lolol:



I recommend this if youre measuring a lot of active semiconductors and need accuracy:
http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/peak-atlas-semiconductor-component-analyzer/

[cnspedalbuilder]

Has anyone tried this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/12864-Mega328-ESR-Transistor-Resistor-Diode-Capacitor-Mosfet-Tester-w-Test-hook-/321963237498?hash=item4af681207a:g:sBMAAOSwa-dWhWzn

[GibsonGM]

Looks basically like the one LSG posted above there, CNS...I have essentially the same one, also...no 'test hooks', and no battery case, tho    Same blue connector with lever and the PCB  looks the same as mine.

I am going to say that for $16, it is well worth the price.  I like mine for quickly sorting caps, finding unknown inductance values, or finding pinouts of transistors incl. FETs and MOSFETs.   

[petemoore]

  I think coils would be even more fun with one of these:
http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-12864-lcd-transistor-tester-capacitance-esr-meter-diode-triode-mos-pnp-npn-lcr.html
   
   Working power: DV 9V (9v battery powering stacked . If prolonged power , please use two 8.4v lithium battery pack consisting of .)
Standby current: 0.02uA
Operating current: 25mA
Resistor Range: 0.1Ω-50MΩ
Capacitor Range: 25pF-100000uF
Inductance Range:: 0.01mH - 20H

[leito79]

Thanks electrip for your answer! I´ve noticed that now Tayda offers a caseless one with the big display and ZIF socket for 12 bucks, I´ll ask their CS if those can measure Ge leakage and if they use the ATMega328...

Let us know what you find out. It looks too handy to not have, and I buy from tayda as regularly as the moon phases

Apparently it doesn´t measure leakage, this was Tayda´s CS response:

"I am sorry for late reply. This ticket was assigned to wrong department mistakenly.
You will need to create a circuit to be able to test ICEO and ICEs values using this multimeter.
Thank you for choosing us.
Best Regards,
Hugo
http://www.taydaelectronics.com"

[alparent]

All this talk about leakage!

Anybody with a real ESR meter compared this thing?

Any good to test amp caps?

[LightSoundGeometry]

after having mine for a few weeks, I want my money back ..junk ..hard to get legs in and measure ..I use my DMM more than anything now ..I need a good fluke one especially since I am stepping up voltages ..and going to be sticking my hand inside tube amps , want to make sure the electros are totally drained and not up to a junk dmm !

the long and short of it is, best to just buy a really good DMM and use that imho

[EBRAddict]

I've owned both styles, the one in the original post and the other with the 2x20 LCD display. Neither were very accurate for transistor gain, or leakage values, nor diode forward voltage, nor Idss or cutoff voltage for JFETs. Resistance and capacitance measured well but not as good as a quality DMM. In the end I just bought a Peak analyzer.

They were good for giving the pinouts of transistors.

[alparent]

So the old saying still stands true. When it looks to good to be true......it usually isn't.

[electrosonic]

I've owned both styles, the one in the original post and the other with the 2x20 LCD display. Neither were very accurate for transistor gain, or leakage values, nor diode forward voltage, nor Idss or cutoff voltage for JFETs. Resistance and capacitance measured well but not as good as a quality DMM. In the end I just bought a Peak analyzer.

They were good for giving the pinouts of transistors.

Mine seems pretty accurate - it compares to my Peak anyways. Diode forward voltage and transistor gain is dependent on the current through the device. The units do not use the same test currents which could account for differences in the readings.

Andrew.

[Rob_Lo]

Does anybody have this variation?

Does this show leakage?

[chuckd666]

Yeah ICEO is the relevant field.

[Perrow]

If anyone wonders, search for gm328a on the ebays or the alis. There seems to be a newer one as well, with a rotary thingy to select function, for a few dollars extra.

[Ben N]

Anybody get the rotary switch model? Does it actually add any functionality? I can't figure it out from the description.

[diy-tubes]

GM328A seems to be very cheap and it measures ICE0
Have anyone tested it? How accurate it's measurements (compired to DCA55, and perhaps ther devices)?

[pinkjimiphoton]

my original one died, so i bought another. i've found it to be very useful and quite indispensible.

i get the same readings with this thing as i do with my fluke, and my cheapo harbor frieght meters.

i guess ymmv

[Gus]

I have one there is a calibration procedure.

Something useful for builder might be to post what meter was used to measure the beta etc when values are posted in threads
In some of my posts the betas from the different meters Radio Shack DMM, HF centec, atmega based ones like in this thread are shown in the screenshots

[pinkjimiphoton]

but isn't a ballpark fine most of the time? i mean, if ya have a 10 or even 20% part tolerance many measurements i don't think are super critical, but then.... i'm an idiot, so......   

[Marcos - Munky]

Before I saw this thread, I've bought one of these from aliexpress, from the link above.

https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?orderId=82513302552004&productId=32788437678

It takes a longer time to arrive, but it's half of the price and it comes with an acrylic case and free shipping . There's other options at aliexpress, but for me this one have the best price, because of the case and the shipping. Usually it takes about 1-2 weeks to things get shipped from China to Brazil, and 2-12 weeks for the customs check the packages from China but if you're not in a hurry or your customs works faster than ours, it's an option to consider.

[armdnrdy]

The acrylic cases for a few different models are sold separately on Ebay.
I purchased a small black case...and was going to get around to modifying it to fit the tester...but for $4.00....the work is already done.
I do want to add a DC plug because...I'm not a battery guy!