Honest question: The value of mid-range multimeters? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Mp3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 08:41:43 pm
content: I realize this may come across to some or many as a troll post so I wish to preface this post by saying it is completely and entirely honest.I long used an Innova piece of junk multimeter. Good enough for, say, automotive work or seeing if an outlet has any power going to it or not, but far too inaccurate to try and measure, say, a signal path on a PCB.I then went to a Fluke 101 which is actually what got me to switch to analog multimeters since the auto-ranging and continuity modes on it was so slow it was almost useless for my needs. I ended up getting a budget digital multimeter with manual ranges only.These days I have a nice bench meter and oscilloscope - and those two get tons of use. but for handheld meters I have rarely seen a need for anything nicer than my cheap-o analog or manual ranging multimeter.Last year I spent over $200 on a nice Hioki handheld multimeter - after I purchased my bench meter - and used it exactly one time since I got it.I'm not measuring mains voltage hardly ever, just doing PCB or low voltage/current DC power supply repair, or working with microcontrollers.So, my question is - is there a need for nicer handheld multimeters if it is not falling into one of these scenarios:1) Professional / industrial use, where the multimeter is picked for the job and given to the employee.2) Need to measure mains voltage beyond household level.3) If some very fine measurement such as micro-volts or micro-amps is needed.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 08:47:55 pm
content: What happens if you want to measure two or three things at the same time? Does your bench meter support that, or would you need more than one meter?What about troubleshooting assembled devices rather than projects. With projects you can have the work on your bench next to the meter, but in some cases isn't it easer to take the meter to the device?

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 09:04:49 pm
content: I have a couple of older bench meters that I rarely use and then I have at least a half dozen handheld DMMs and a couple of Simpson 260s.My top of the line Fluke 189 is a great meter and I have both of Dave's meters but I actually use the Aneng An8008 - an inexpensive meter that seems to do whatever I need.I am starting to really like the ZT-X - it has a very large and very bright display. Dave did a review, he's not impressed. I like large and bright...So, it will vary all over the map. Some people revel in high end meters, some of us just want to get an 'about' answer.If you want to play with transistor circuits it is handy to have 3 meters. One for IBASE, one for ICOLLECTORand another for VCE. Educational circuits, with tolerances and HFEwill vary all over the place. There is no reason for these meters to be expensive.Measuring mains with a DMM is like shooting ants with a machine gun. It may be fun but it isn't the best tool for the job. You can't do much about utility voltages so I use a simple solenoid style meter.https://www.amazon.com/Knopp-K-60-Cat-Number-14460/dp/B003A7T5KGThis is what I used for 40+ years in the trade. I will also concede that I used the Simpson 260 for setting transformer taps. I suppose a DMM would be better but, at the time, the Simpson was what I had.BTW, there was a time (like a 100 years or so) that Simpson didn't have a CAT rating and, somehow, we all survived. I'm not even sure there was a fuse in the current circuit.

author: Grandchuck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 09:26:19 pm
content: Plus 1 for the bright display. My Uni-T UT181A is my favorite hand held for that reason.

author: Mp3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 09:34:30 pm
content: Thanks for the insights. Makes a lot of sense on all accounts.In my personal case, my apartment is very very small, so all my work must take place by the bench meter and soldering iron!

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 09:47:11 pm
content: I have the following points for a handheld DMM:- Small footprint and two of them are usually as big as a bench DMM- good for small benches in the hobby room- Price: A good quality handheld DMM usually is cheaper than a bench DMM, and in most cases equally fit for the job (as most modern bench DMMs are more precise than the job really would need)- Portability: Even if it is used only a few times a year to probe things in the house or to give friends some help, it is easier to carry around than a bench DMM- Higher CAT Rating, so you don't have to think about that when probing somethingTo working on mains: Yes, for most cases to check if there is voltage (or far more important, to check if it really is safe to touch) some two-pole voltage testers are the way to go- in germany, if an electrician wants to determine if a line really is dead and safe to touch after flipping the breaker, a multimeter is not allowed to determine the line being voltage-free.You have to use a two-pole voltage tester (german brand: Duspol) to do that.Reason behind that: With the correct tester, you always have a high impedance with no chance to accidentally mess up by having your probes stuck in the low-impedance input of your DMM. And usually you can go Low-Z with the push of two buttons to put load on the circuit to eliminate stray voltages due to capacitive effects.(And shoot a RCD with that as a short field test)Yes, there are additions to multimeters that can do that, but as they have to comply to CAT III or IV, they are very expensive (Fluke has one in their portfolio).

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2021, 08:14:12 am
content: If you have a bench meter in front of you then it's understandable that you use that.If you didn't, what would you use?Quote from: Mp3 on February 22, 2021, 08:41:43 pmKey point: "for my needs"That's just lack of research on your part. Fluke deliberately cripple their low-end meters so that they can sell you more expensive ones.Just because you haven't owned one yet, doesn't mean there are no hanhelds that can compete with your bench meter. Even cheap ones (much cheaper than Hioki/Fluke).

author: wizard69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2021, 09:59:11 pm
content: Quote from: Mp3 on February 22, 2021, 08:41:43 pmSo are you asking in the context of a home lab? If you are, you have to consider what you are doing.QuoteEven here it depends upon what one is doing in this professional environment. For example some jobs will require a well implemented RMS converter while a mainstream user might get by with the cheapest meter to be had. However cheap is often dangerous and this applies to work outside the industrial world.QuoteYou assume that fine measurements are unusual.I look at it this way mid range meters, say in the $50 to $150 range, are great devices and can serve most users. Users that need better will know it. Further everybody should have one ""GOOD"" multimeter, or access to one, to support their other meters.Of course all of this depends upon what you are doing with the meter but people seem to forget that industry ran for a very long time on Simpson 260's and a variety of VTVM. Sometimes resolution is needed out to 3 places but more often than not the value past the decimal point isn't a big concern.So to put it another way if somebody needs better than midrange they generally know that. Further they can tell you why.