I write a blog covering automotive test (www.autotestnews.com), so I'm on the mailing lists for a bunch of test instrument companies. With all this talk about the $100 AADE LC Meter, I thought you'd get a kick out of this. It's only $13,000!

btw, Agilent is the company that was formed to take over all the Hewlett Packard test equipment lines when HP decided it just wanted to be a computer maker.

73!

Dan KB6NU
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CW Geek: Fists #9342, FP #1171
Affiliated Club Coordinator, MI Section
Read my ham radio blog at www.kb6nu.com



TRADE NEWS: Agilent Technologies Introduces High-Performance Low- Frequency Precision LCR Meter Unit Delivers Best Accuracy, Speed and Versatility in Frequency Range

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 10, 2006 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced a high-performance precision LCR (inductance, capacitance, resistance) meter for component R&D and manufacturing engineers. The Agilent E4980A offers the industry's highest accuracy and repeatability from 20 Hz to 2 MHz, fast measurement speed, and outstanding performance at both low and high impedance. As a follow- up to Agilent's market-leading 4284A, the compact E4980A includes a modern PC interface and is five times faster, resulting in enhanced productivity and a lower cost of test.

Component, semiconductor and equipment manufacturers are driven today by the mobile, PC, consumer electronics and automotive component markets. To accurately evaluate high-quality capacitors, inductors, transformers, semiconductors, and electromechanical devices for those markets, manufacturers require an LCR meter that offers both fast and highly accurate measurements. The E4980A offers high accuracy (0.05% basic accuracy) and features outstanding performance at both low and high impedance. This translates into improved test efficiency and measurement reliability.

The unit's high speed (5.6 ms at 1 MHz) improves test throughput and increases production yields, allowing manufacturers to make lower- cost devices. And the meter's support for LAN, USB, and GPIB, as well as powerful test signal support (20 Vrms signal, 40 V DC bais), makes it easier to manage multiple instrument setups and improves data collection time.

"The three words that best describe the E4980A are accuracy, speed and versatility," said Makoto Honda, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Japan field operations. "It's a compact and versatile LCR that enables component, semiconductor and equipment manufacturers to test smaller, lower-cost and higher-performance devices while improving test efficiency and lowering the overall cost of test."

Additional features built into the E4980A include support for 40 A DC bias current source for conducting highly accurate and efficient DC current-biased inductance measurements, a DC resistance/voltage/ current measurement readout for performing simultaneous evaluations of DC characteristics, and 10 V DC source output port for evaluating three-terminal devices.

Further Information
Additional information about the Agilent E4980A LCR meter is available at www.agilent.com/find/E4980A. Images are available at www.agilent.com/find/E4980A_image.

U.S. Pricing and Availability
Pricing for the Agilent E4980A LCR meter starts at $13,000. The product is available to order Feb. 1, 2006.

About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 21,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $5.1 billion in fiscal 2005. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.



On Jan 27, 2006, at 7:52 AM, Alexandra Carter wrote:

I just built the AADE (Almost All Digital Electronics) LC meter kit, it's a very nice little unit and biased towards ham radio, being very good at the smaller values of L and C that we encounter in antenna/RF work. It took me about an hour to build, and I'd say it's worth the $99 or so it cost - I think it was $105 or so with the shipping. The documentation is not up to Elecraft standard! But, the parts are so few it's not so bad, just read the instructions and notes through first and you'll be OK. You can get it factory built for $30 more. I hope this message isn't too SPAMish but if you need an LC meter in a hurry you may be tempted to get the B&K 878 which costs over 2x as much and you won't have that hands-on understanding. This is a very solid and easy to use unit. 73 de Alex NS6Y.
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