Smart Tweezers Blog

A Sneak Peek into New Model of Smart Tweezers LCR-meter with Half the Weight, at Half the Price

// April 2nd, 2013 // LCR-Reader, News

Designed specifically for Surface Mount Technology (SMT), Smart Tweezers are a pioneer in handheld LCR-meters. With a compact design that integrates a set of tweezers, a small display, and an LCR-meter, Smart Tweezers simplifies evaluating and identifying components. The unit’s 2 oz. slender design is easily held and operated with one hand, leaving the other free for taking notes or using other tools, and has been proven as winning combination of tools, currently being used by many major high-tech companies and customers worldwide.

 

Although Smart Tweezers popularity has grown exponentially over the years, the high price tag can range from $300 to $700 depending on the region and seller. The size of the screen, and overcrowding has also become a problem for some customers on the ST5 model. Even with accessibility and worldwide acclaim, the price leaves the device out of reach for hobbyists and casual users. Siborg had attempted making an alternative model of the device with a lower price, without a 1 Volt test signal option, but the price cut appeared to be only 20% and did not change the market picture overall.

A prototype for the new model has emerged (Fig 1.) that features half the weight and half the size of previous Smart Tweezers, but also a much lower manufacturing cost.. Development on this new model began nearly a year ago, based on new microchips and a new idea of simplifying the circuit without losing the accuracy that has become synonymous with Smart Tweezers.

 

Siborg’s new LCR-Reader is about half the size of current Smart Tweezers and is able to charge the Li-Ion battery via USB. Although similar in design and features, like the gold-plated tweezer tips, the new LCR-Reader features a 1% basic accuracy (the same as the previous ST2 model), a one-button navigation which turns the device power on or off, as well as mode selection; ‘A’ automatic, ‘L’ Inductance, ‘C’ Capacitance, ‘R’ Resistance and ‘ESR’ Equivalent Series Resistance. The new device still offers fully automatic measurements, with the test frequency adjusted according to the component type, test signal amplitude is 0.5 Volts.

 

Figure 2 shows an example of the device measuring inductance, where AM shows the measurement in ‘Automatic Mode’, ‘Rs’ indicates the parasitic series resistor of the inductance, 10 kHz as the test frequency, L proves that the component is an inductance, and 104.8 uH is the inductance value in micro-Henries, and a battery indication of the charge.

 

The new LCR-Reader is projected to be available in the summer, estimating sales to be four time more compared to the previous sales of the ST5 model.

The Smart Tweezers’ Blog features all the latest news about Smart Tweezers and the coming LCR-Reader.