EEVBlog #46; #173 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Richard W.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2011, 06:24:49 pm
content: Hi everybody,somebody must help me, to make a decisionAt the moment, i have a Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit TECH. A very, very good meter.BUT:it turned out, that a µA range would be nice;measuring Pt100 and Pt1000 would also be nice;and a mains adapter would save many batterieschoice #1: Sell the Metrahit TECH; get the ENERGYµA, Pt100, Pt1000, wallwart; that's what i want.And i can measure power, energy, power quality, harmonics, dips, swells. WOW!Measuring the power consumption of all my devices, checking the power quality, and so on...But do i use this functions very often? I don't know...choice #2 Keep the TECH; get the X-TRA additionallyµA, Pt100, Pt1000, wallwart; that's also what i want.With the second meter, i can counter-check them. Sounds like a very good idea.I can do power measurements at DC, and apparent power measurements at AC; which is enough.choice #3 Sell the TECH, get the X-TRAthat's not an optionA new meter (the ENERGY) would be nice new "toy", but a second meter would maybe be more usefull and reliable.What do you think?bye,Richard

author: Kiriakos-GR
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2011, 06:53:45 pm
content: Quote from: Richard W. on August 20, 2011, 06:24:49 pmI think that at the end of the day even the shoppers for 100$ DMM or 1000$ DMM they are facing the same dilemma.My suggestion is just one, get the best that you can get, get the most rich version that you can afford.Get many units.Does it matters if one tailor haves two or three scissors or eight ?

author: Richard W.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 08:34:11 pm
content: does nobody else have an idea?Dave! You are the multimeter-guruwhats you opinion?

author: McMonster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 10:38:23 pm
content: There already was a mention about multimeters in#168.I'd personally stick to three multimeters, two decent with different capabilities (there's no good all-in-one multimeter) and one cheapest available for checking potentially dangerous, undetermined things without the fear of breaking one of the decent meters. Or just if you're working on a project at 3 AM and nearly falling asleep, it's easy to measure voltage with multimeter set for resistance in such conditions.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 11:28:18 pm
content: The ENERGY is brilliant meter, and so is the X-TRA, I use both on my bench.The ENERGY does have the small limitation of only having a common terminal for power measurement.It's main benefit is for people who who need specialised and routine power measurement.If you can afford the ENERGY then I don't know why you want to sell the TECH?I'd say get two meters of whatever type, it's just more versatile.Dave.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2011, 08:29:16 am
content: Quote from: McMonster on August 26, 2011, 10:38:23 pmGood idea, using the cheapest, likely most unsafe, meter in the most dangerous situations. Really. Good. Idea.http://www.darwinawards.com/

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2011, 10:18:43 am
content: Quote from: McMonster on August 26, 2011, 10:38:23 pmNo, your good multimeters should be able to handle connecting to the mains while on ohms or capacitance, and should survive with only a blown fuse on amps. Cheap meters should only be used for safe low voltage work like microcontrollers powered by small wall transformers or batteries.

author: Kiriakos-GR
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2011, 04:14:24 pm
content: The description " Cheap meters " is very generic .And there is local videos .. comparisons about at the 50$ 100$ or 500$ mark.Richard just get the energy version, and send it over for one week time review.I like to find out by my self, if Dave has justified impressions about it.

author: Richard W.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2011, 07:56:12 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblogFirst i planned to buy the XTRA as a second meter, not the ENERGY.The money for the XTRA is my budget (simply because the XTRA is sufficient for my needs).But if i sell the TECH and add the budget for the second meter, i could afford the ENERGY.That's the reason why both choices would be at the same price level.Quote from: EEVblogi think you're right. that will be the best choice.

author: Kiriakos-GR
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2011, 02:46:59 am
content: Quote from: Richard W. on August 27, 2011, 07:56:12 pmThis changes the picture dramatically.Either way I keep my vote about having two DMM with identical build quality.Dave had to make his own cable adapter so to use the "Energy" , you can build something similar and use both DMM for this measurement.