"Sweet spot" split on multimeters? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: GVEE
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 12, 2019, 10:21:35 pm
content: I've been looking to grab a couple multimeters as part of upgrading my work bench / lab space. While I've certainly seen the topic thrown around a fair bit on the forums, it looks like a lot of the concentrated information relevant to what I'm after is a bit out of date, and I'm wondering what the best options are for my situation currently.My budget is about $200-300. Preferably closer to $200, but if there's a really worthwhile reason to jump into that middle territory, I'll do it.I've got an old Fluke 76 that has done "Well enough", but it was primarily a "tool box meter" by an electrician that handed it down to me quite some time ago. It hasn't been calibrated in a long while, and I don't trust it with any precision.I'd like to pick up a couple meters. The real question is if there's a couple low-end ones that are worthwhile, or if my budget hits a sweet spot for middle-ish ones -- or maybe a very solid one, and a cheapo. I'm primarily concerned with electronics, so I won't be doing any HV stuff, but reading small values accurately is important.The old $50 and $100 shoot-out vids seem like what I'd be after, but they're woefully dated at this point. Even the spreadsheet thread seems to be a bit behind the times. I've looked over some recent reviews as I've found them, and the ANENG 8008 seems like it'd be okay, but the range jump kinda kills me on it. I suppose one as a secondary to a higher-end meter might be viable, if there's a particularly solid option in the budgetary range I've specified.Suggestions?

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2019, 11:12:52 pm
content: Given whose forum this is, there's alwayshttps://www.eevblog.com/product/121gw/The price, including shipping, is in your range once you convert AUD to USD.

author: GregDunn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2019, 11:29:46 pm
content: Not sure why you feel the Fluke is out of calibration? I have a 73 which tracks my bench meters very closely, and who knows what it went through before I bought it used. Same with my 115 and 179 meters, all picked up at pawn shops and still working great. If it checks against an in-cal meter, it's probably still within its specifications.Now, if you absolutely need a feature not available on yours, that's a different matter! The EEVBlog Brymen 235 is also a good choice in that price range.

author: GVEE
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 12, 2019, 11:51:04 pm
content: Quote from: Nusa on February 12, 2019, 11:12:52 pmYou know, I hadn't even thought about the conversion rate and had written it off due to price. That might actually be pretty solid -- and I could pick up some cheap-o to go with it while staying at the high end of my budget.Quote from: GregDunn on February 12, 2019, 11:29:46 pmYeah, part of the problem is that I don't have anything else to test against yet. It's the age-old problem of testing your test equipment, I guess -- and I just haven't got enough yet to cross-check everything. But hey, after this thread, maybe that'll be one less problem I've got.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 13, 2019, 12:41:10 am
content: Quote from: GregDunn on February 12, 2019, 11:29:46 pmAs always, it depends on your needs. The BM235 is a very nice meter, but it's kind of a premium price for the 6000 count meter if you want to look at it that way.Something like the UT61E gets you extra resolution for less price if you need resolution, but you trade off quality, safety, and some features like the voltage detection, whilst gaining some other features.It's like

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 13, 2019, 12:42:16 am
content: Quote from: GVEE on February 12, 2019, 11:51:04 pmTwo half decent meters is almost always more valuable than one really good meter.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2019, 12:58:11 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on February 13, 2019, 12:41:10 amCompared to the Fluke 17X series they're quite cheap meters.

author: J-R
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2019, 12:23:09 am
content: BM235 - great for fans of the EEVblog. It's slightly wobbly for pure bench use. It's fast.121GW - it's a lot of your budget for one meter, maybe if you really need the features. A little more stable than the BM235. Can be painfully slow.Those two do sit on my electronics bench all the time.Some of my other current favorite budget meters for hobby use:- Amprobe AM-47 - this tiny guy deserves awards - toss the included case, buy the VC3A - $20 for meter $10 for case- UNI-T UT210D - clamp, does it all fairly well, E model might be better for current accuracy - under $50I bought a few things fromhttp://www.voltagestandard.com/recently. I also found some 1% caps. I ran through all my test equipment, power supplies, function generators, frequency counters, scopes, etc. and found out pretty quickly what can be trusted, temperature variances, etc. Having multiple devices was far more useful (and interesting!) than just having one and blindly trusting it.