LCR-T4 Mega328 Graphical Transistor Tester Kit SCR ESR Transistor Diode Resistance and Capacitance Meters with Battery Buckle and Acrylic Case

For color blind old farts with bad eyesight like myself, this thing makes reading values of resistors and capacitors a breeze. One of my most useful tools on my bench.

There have been a huge number of testers using the versatile ATMega328 microcontroller over the years. I have a couple of older ones, but I decided to try a couple of the newer ones partly because they have better displays. This model LCR-T4 is also sold by many companies. The PCB with this one is a v4.3_2022/5/18 (whatever that means). It is different than what is shown in the listing. Most of these testers work with either a 9VDC battery or a 7-12VDC power supply. I assumed this one would work with a 12VDC PS as it does a have 7805 voltage regulator. I added a standard barrel chassis plug to the case and got rid of the 9VDC connector. While the unit does boot up and initially appears to work with a 12VDC PS, it will not complete the calibration procedure. And when I test known components, the readouts are wrong. So, after using a 9VDC battery, it appeared to work fine. One thing to keep in mind is this unit is completely automatic and there are no menus or access to any settings. So, each time you turn this thing on, you first need to hook up the part to be tested.Due to the great proliferation of LCR-T4 units, many of which have different designs, it is nearly impossible to find a schematic for any particular model. Many units have a 8MHz crystal. This one did not. Likewise, finding instructions or manuals is very challenging. A web search will reveal the simple calibration procedure. There are some You Tube videos describing calibration and operation as well.

as above

This was an easy and quick little project. There is absolutely no soldering work to put this kit together. The majority of the work is spent peeling off the protective paper from the case in order to assemble. There are NO instructions included, but it wasn't that hard to figure out. As another reviewer indicated, the battery is loose inside the case after assembly, so I used a bit of foam to keep it from moving around. I tested the operation of the unit prior to assembly and it worked as described. The accuracy of the unit is fairly close, but probably the best use is for general component identification. A resistor tested at 4703 ohms and 4679 on my multimeter, so that was within about 1/2%. Nice and inexpensive little kit.

I really like the Mega328 Component Testers in general.They are reasonably accurate, the display is large, and the green backlight is very bright. Even the graphics displayed are extremely readable, unlike some of the fancier colored-screen testers, which have smaller displays and are harder to read.Oh, and the price is incredible for all it does.I believe this particular kit is better than the others available on Amazon not only because of the lower price, but also because the unassembled pieces come in a separate plastic storage box with a hinged, latchable lid, so once you assemble the tester, the entire assembled tester and its instructions can be stored in the supplied storage box. This is perfect for protecting it from dust, dirt, and chemicals when it is not in use.

This one came with the case that others charge you extra for. Went right together and works well. Identifies components and the readings are close to what's marked on them, and close to a multimeter value, so it is accurate. Identifies transistor type and gain, which is a huge plus. Overall not bad! Works great for what i need it for.

The housing was not assembled, comes like a kit.

This small tester arrived assembles aside from the acrylic case that takes only a couple minutes to put together. I would have rather purchased the version that holds the 9V battery. The one I have, the 9V can float around, not a big deal but would rather have it secured in place. Still great buy.