Dave,

Yeah the bench can get into a mess. Eventually it reaches critical mass and I am forced to clean up before I can achieve anything else because I've run out of room! It is about due for this now actually, but I've been feeling crook for a few days and haven't ventured into the lab.

The LC oscillator for L measurement is something I've toyed with here. There is some discussion of a more generic L and C meter in EMRFD and online. I'm tempted to build one with a microcontroller to do the maths and calibration for me. I've seen a few European designs that look quite interesting.

Most seem OK for larger inductors, probably fine for HF, but few go right down to 10s of nH with much accuracy. I've been playing with a jig for holding very small inductors with well controlled strays for VHF work, but it isn't ready for prime time yet. For ball-park measurements I just dip them with the tone dipper.

Regards,

Alan

For your L meter. Make the L part of an LC oscillator and measure the frequency of the result. L can be determined by reading a conversion chart. This also works with Xtals.

My bench looks almost as full as yours. My parts get shoveled into a pile for resorting.

Dave T