Digital MultiMeter?

nelsondog · 18th April 2010, 05:48 PM

Need advice for buying nice quality digital multimeter... $100 or less, used ok, no to complicated.
Any certain brands or models I should look for? Please be specific.
Thank you in advance!
Brian

AndrewT · 18th April 2010, 05:52 PM

buy a cheap 200.0mVac to 200.0Vac and 200.0mVdc to 200.0Vdc scales.
Learn to use it. When you discover what extra facilities you need then consider buying an instrument specifically for that duty.
The expensive hand held all purpose DMM are in my opinion not good value for money.

Mooly · 18th April 2010, 05:57 PM

I'd be wary of buying used.
There are many pretty decent offerings around new.
It's useful to have a high DC current range, perhaps 10 amps.

You have to decide if you want features such as auto ranging... which is nice but by no means essential.
I quite like Soar as a brand, have a really old LED one, still good and has a really good hfe tester on it.

Andrew Eckhardt · 18th April 2010, 06:05 PM

Don't buy a used meter unless you're looking for that specific meter, it's supposed to be practically new, and you can send it back if it weirds out.

Mooly · 18th April 2010, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Eckhardt

if it weirds out.

Lol... you mean if you blow it up

event horizon · 18th April 2010, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mooly

I'd be wary of buying used.

Unless it's fully tested & preferably calibrated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Eckhardt

Don't buy a used meter unless you're looking for that specific meter

Indeed, & by the time you are looking for that meter you'll know what you are doing & it shouldn't "weird out"

What a great way of putting it

Andrew Eckhardt · 18th April 2010, 06:51 PM

Well the reason I say that is I've had cheapies with power consumption issues and I still have a Fluke 77 with a switch that sometimes doesn't make right. It can sometimes take way too long to figure out what is wrong with a meter, causing all sorts of grief from something you'd like to simply trust. I can only afford used scopes but I can't imagine there are very many deals in good DMMs. Why would you sell one?

event horizon · 18th April 2010, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Eckhardt

Why would you sell one?

Good point, well suppose one of your relatives passed away & a shed load of functioning test equipment was left to you. You know nothing about it so you sell it on ebay

This is where you can get a bargain

4season · 18th April 2010, 07:12 PM

Lots of video reviews and teardowns of test equipment by an EE. Check out the ones where he looks at top-end Fluke meters and others where he looks at no-name cheapies and points out who's doing a good job and who's taking shortcuts. Good stuff which was not so obvious to my layman's eye!

http://www.eevblog.com/

But in brief, if Fluke still makes a sub-$100 meter as they used to, it probably should be on your short list. If you want to measure voltages of audio signals or work with power inverters, expect to pay more for a "True RMS" model, though for most of the stuff you're likely to encounter, this isn't necessary.

4season · 18th April 2010, 07:16 PM

Ahh, here's his Multimeter Buyer's Guide:

EEVblog #75 – Digital Multimeter Buying Guide @ Electronics Engineering Video Blog Podcast

18th April 2010, 05:48 PM	#1
nelsondog diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Cranbrook BC	Digital MultiMeter? Need advice for buying nice quality digital multimeter... $100 or less, used ok, no to complicated. Any certain brands or models I should look for? Please be specific. Thank you in advance! Brian

18th April 2010, 05:57 PM	#3
Mooly diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007	I'd be wary of buying used. There are many pretty decent offerings around new. It's useful to have a high DC current range, perhaps 10 amps. You have to decide if you want features such as auto ranging... which is nice but by no means essential. I quite like Soar as a brand, have a really old LED one, still good and has a really good hfe tester on it. __________________ ------------------------------------------------------- *A simulation free zone.* *Design it, build it, test it.*

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18th April 2010, 05:52 PM	#2
AndrewT diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Scottish Borders	buy a cheap 200.0mVac to 200.0Vac and 200.0mVdc to 200.0Vdc scales. Learn to use it. When you discover what extra facilities you need then consider buying an instrument specifically for that duty. The expensive hand held all purpose DMM are in my opinion not good value for money.

18th April 2010, 06:05 PM	#4
Andrew Eckhardt diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: PA	Don't buy a used meter unless you're looking for that specific meter, it's supposed to be practically new, and you can send it back if it weirds out.

18th April 2010, 06:51 PM	#7
Andrew Eckhardt diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: PA	Well the reason I say that is I've had cheapies with power consumption issues and I still have a Fluke 77 with a switch that sometimes doesn't make right. It can sometimes take way too long to figure out what is wrong with a meter, causing all sorts of grief from something you'd like to simply trust. I can only afford used scopes but I can't imagine there are very many deals in good DMMs. Why would you sell one?

18th April 2010, 07:12 PM	#9
4season diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Colorado, USA	Lots of video reviews and teardowns of test equipment by an EE. Check out the ones where he looks at top-end Fluke meters and others where he looks at no-name cheapies and points out who's doing a good job and who's taking shortcuts. Good stuff which was not so obvious to my layman's eye! http://www.eevblog.com/ But in brief, if Fluke still makes a sub-$100 meter as they used to, it probably should be on your short list. If you want to measure voltages of audio signals or work with power inverters, expect to pay more for a "True RMS" model, though for most of the stuff you're likely to encounter, this isn't necessary.

18th April 2010, 07:16 PM	#10
4season diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Colorado, USA	Ahh, here's his Multimeter Buyer's Guide: EEVblog #75 – Digital Multimeter Buying Guide @ Electronics Engineering Video Blog Podcast