Mastech MS8265 reviewed! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2013, 06:49:54 pm
content: O0 %-BHi folks,this is Abhishek from india.I am an electronics hobbyist and currently persuing my B.Tech in Electronics and instrumentation domain from india only.I have recently purchased the "MASTECH MS8265" digital multimeter which costed me $65 (INR approx 3250) here in india that i purchased from a local retailer in New Delhi.I thought i could just review it and may be able to recommend it to the beginners and young players.Well coming onto its specs, it is a four and a half digit multimeter boosting upto 20000 counts which i suppose is to be a good grace of accuracy for a beginner(well it sounds pretty industrial=20000 counts).It has a DC accuracy of 0.1%+5 digits upto 1000 volts and an accuracy of 0.8%+15 for AC upto 750 volts.Indeed it is not a true RMS meter in the sort of a descent price range but its good for young players.At least it is calibrated average responding for rms of sine wave as other good non true-RMS meters do.It has an accuracy of 0.5%+10 digits for DC current upto 200mA and 2%+20 digits for 10A.It has an accuracy of 1.2%+20 digits for AC current upto 200mA and 2.5%+50 digits for 10A.For resistance it has an accuracy of 0.5%+5 digits upto 20M ohm and 5%+20 digits upto 200M ohm.For capacitance measurement,it has a very poor accuracy of 4%+20 digits and the range of measurement is also not good.It is just from 20nF to 200uF.The frequency measurement accuracy is 1.5%+15 digits from 0 to 20KHz,which i think is a very low range for such a price of multimeter,Atleast you can get from 0.1 to 30MHz in this pricerange.This bloody beast is also not autranging too indeed having 20000 counts.It do has sound and light warning if you accidently insert the probes into wrong sockets for a partiular mode of measurement which i think is good atleast when you are doing the business at high voltages and currents,you can blew up the meter right in your hand if you put the probes wrong.The meter has a very sexy white backlight and a supersexy darkgreen holster.The meter is super sturdy and robust,and quite announcing at its look and feel.It look like a super rugged industrial multimeter.It also boost other features like transistor hFE measurement from 0-1000 and diode test,etc.It has quite fast responding continuity test mode and has data hold mode.The display is super sexy too with enlarged digits and has very good contrast.It is powered from single 9V 6F22 battery and weights about 380gms.It is CAT rated at CATIII 600V and CAT II 1000V.At last i would summarize the goods and bads about the meter in the points below:Goods:1.Nice accuracy and 20000 counts at this price point.2.Super rugged design.3.Good for beginners as it has no extra frills at this price point.4.Not the best but fair response time (3 times/sec).5.Easy to use and long battery life.Bads:1.No MAX/MIN measurement.2.No relative mode (superbly requisite feature,atleast at this price point).3.No duty cycle measurement.4.No temperature measurement(i don't know but i expected it at this price).5.Very poor rotary mode selection dial.Well coming to the verdict of this meter,i would not recommend it to beginners as indeed it has fair amount of accuracy at this level but does not have indispensable features like max/min measurement,relative mode,etc.Atleast for the one who has saved his pocket money to buy a good multimeter in the range of 50$-100$,it is not worth at all and even it do not have the temperature measurement.

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2013, 07:39:00 pm
content: Nice first review. I am glad you are honest about something you paid for yourself. Many people buy things and then give a good review because they don't want to admit they didn't make the perfect choice.Can we see inside?

author: opty
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2013, 07:45:45 pm
content: Hi,Thank you for your review. I was thinking about that DMM but in fact lack of rel mode is a minus for someone who wants to look at trends, (and no micro amp scale).Then MS8268 at 0.7% has much worse base precision.What about screen refresh rate, is it any decent?Thanks,Opt

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 04, 2013, 07:23:50 am
content: The screen refresh rate is good(about 4/sec) and infact the lcd contrast is fairly descent from all the angles.No rel and max/min button is obviously a minus at this price tag.