Actual moisture content is based on weight, but approximating moisture content using conductivity/resistivity has many other variables that affect the measured conductivity, such as grain structure and wood density, so unless you allow for these, your result is not very accurate. Despite that, a cheap meter should tell you all you need, but a cheap meter may be more likely to malfunction too.Isn't it just based off of spec. gravity so Hickory is not that much higher than black locust or some of the oaks.
TE