base2 

I've never noticed a difference between the leading & trailing spokes, only between the drive side & non-drive side. A difference in torque between leading & trailing spokes would/should cause wheel rotation. So, it makes sense that the tension in a static state would be equal.

Getting good measurements between leading/trailing can be a bit more trying though with the cross causing interference with the measuring tool.

When I use the tension meter I make sure it doesn't touch a cross or engage across any transitional area of any butting & give it a little wiggle to settle any lashing within the tool itself. This should seem obvious but, Hey! It's the internet.

Though I spend the majority of my time focusing on the wheels roundness, the tension meters most useful function (to me) is to tell me which spoke is the one confounding the works; which spoke is doing more than it's fair share so that it can be released & the load shared by it's neighbors. But, it is also useful for approaching the upper limit of the rims designed tension range.

I think the problem with blindly tensioning to a preset value determined by a computer program is that you are looking at a spoke as if it were a discrete component & not part of a system. It is very possible to make a perfectly tensioned an offset/egg/potato chip hybrid going by spoke tension alone.