Looking for a Decent DMM

[quickbrownfox]

Can anyone recommend a good multimeter somewhere around the $30.00 price point? I've never used one before, but I think I should pick one up before embarking on my gainclone project.

[error401]

Originally posted by quickbrownfox
Can anyone recommend a good multimeter somewhere around the $30.00 price point? I've never used one before, but I think I should pick one up before embarking on my gainclone project.

At this price point, you should be looking at features and build quality alone. The specifications aren't really going to matter, because they're not going to be very good. The good thing is that for most DIY audio things, absolute accuracy isn't very important, so a cheap meter is still very useful.

I've heard fairly good things about this set of Extech meters from Stanley Supply. I have a junk meter I picked up on eBay for $25 including shipping that really isn't all that bad - but I don't think I'd risk a Chinese knockoff as my only meter. The Extech, while not a high end instrument, is made by a recognizable company and is probably of decent quality. At the $30 price point though you lose features you'd probably get in a cheapie meter like capacitance measure and autoranging. I'd probably choose this over a no-name meter that's likely of poor construction, despite the loss of functionality.

If you're willing to stretch your budget a bit, this Meterman is probably a better more reputable instrument than your options at $30.

[AndrewT]

Look for 3.5digits, 200.0mV on both DC and AC ranges.
20Mohm down to 200.0ohm resistance ranges.
Try for <=0.2% accuracy in the middle ranges.
Capacitance ranges are nice to have.
Don't spend a lot of money on a handheld.
A second very cheap for $10, covering the same ranges, are available and great for dual monitoring.

You can buy far superior second hand desktop DMMs for <£100 (~$200) and if you're lucky, half that.

[Minion]

The DMM I use I got new off of e-bay for $20 and it measures Resistance , Transistors , Diodes ,Circuit continuity , AC and DC Voltages ,Current, Capacitance , Temperature and frequency and a few other things that i don"t even know what they are.....

The only thing it doesn"t really measure is Inductance.....

if you look on e-bay there are some very basic DMM"s for under $10 that measure Volts,Resistance, Amps, capacitance and continuity.....

Cheers

[quickbrownfox]

Does anyone know whether the Velleman meters are any good? Parts Express has one that they claim is marked down from $40 to $18, though I couldn't actually find anyone selling it for as much as $40.