A Tale of Two Meters

January 27th, 2006

I am an amateur radio operator and subscribe to several mailing lists that discuss building and testing amateur radio equipment, including the Elecraft mailing list and Flying Pigs QRP Club mailing list. I love these lists because they’re chock full of practical information from amateurs who are actively building stuff.

One item that is frequently discussed on these lists is the AADE L/C Meter IIB Kit. Many hams like it because it’s inexpensive ($100), easy to build, and apparently, accurate and useful.

The other day, I got a press release for a similar instrument–the Agilent E4980A Precision LCR Meter. Being an Agilent product, I would guess that it’s also accurate and useful. At $13,000, the Agilent E4980A certainly costs a lot more, though.

Of course, there are other differences. For example, AADE specifies an accuracy of “1% typical,” while the “basic accuracy” of the E4980A is 0.05%. The AADE meter uses a fixed test signal, while the Agilent meter can make measurements with a test frequency betweeen 20 Hz and 2 MHz. The AADE meter measures inductance from .001 mHy (1 nHy) to 100 mHy and capacitance from .010 pF to 1 mFd. The Agilent instrument measures these parameters over a much wider range in addition to resistance, complex impedance, Q, and other related parameters.

The Agilent is, of course, a much more capable instrument, but is it worth $12,900 more than the AADE meter? For most professional applications, it certainly is. What you’re getting for that $13k is more than just better specs. You’re getting peace of mind. You can be pretty sure of the measurements that you make with the Agilent E4890A, and you need that certainty if you’re designing a safety-critical automotive sytem.

For some applications, however, and certainly for most amateur radio applications, the AADE meter more than meets the need.

Entry Filed under: Test Equipment