Advice on buying a DMM

[syntac@gmail.com]

Hi,

I have already scoured this group for suggestions on buying a digital
multimeter but it has only confused me more. Here is my situation: I
have taken some electronics classes in the past working with circuits
but that all involed working with hundred dollar equipment. I have
just recently started to get back in to working with electronics in my
spare time but I will be taking some more advanced electronic classes
in the future; factor that in to the equation however you may. I am
looking for a meter to do the typical DC voltage/current as well as
accurately read resistance as I am working with pretty basic circuits.
I originally was looking for a DMM that had the major features I was
looking for at roughly around $20. However, I would like to future
proof myself by buying a meter that has features that I might not have
a full grasp for (diode/transistor tester, capacitance, temperature
probe, etc) and would consider spending ~$100 (whatever is reasonable).
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is
good to start out with (same with a more expensive model)? Any
suggestions, ideas, info related to the subject would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Wade
syntac@gmail.com

 

[Peter A Forbes]

On 13 Jan 2006 23:59:53 -0800, "syntac@gmail.com" <syntac@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

I have already scoured this group for suggestions on buying a digital
multimeter but it has only confused me more.

<snipped>

Wade
syntac@gmail.com

Buy a Fluke, bite the bullet and pay the money. It will repay you over the
years, as long as you use it of course!

The 73 series is a good general purpose range, of the different models within
the range, the 73 III is a good starter unit, the 78 series is automotive based,
or for more sophistication go to the 83 and 87 series.

HTH

Peter
--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel@easynet.co.uk
Web: http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel

 

[Peter A Forbes]

On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 15:15:05 GMT, Rich Webb <bbew.ar@mapson.nozirev.ten> wrote:

On 13 Jan 2006 23:59:53 -0800, "syntac@gmail.com" <syntac@gmail.com
wrote:

[snip...snip...]
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is
good to start out with (same with a more expensive model)? Any
suggestions, ideas, info related to the subject would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for your time!

The Fluke 73 that Peter mentioned is a good, solid meter, although I
think that it has been discontinued and replaced by the 17x series,
so you're now pushing $200.

On the other hand, the wonders of modern electronics also brings some
cheap multimeters that are "good enough" for many uses. One possibility
is this http://www.web-tronics.com/freedmmoffer.html give-away meter
that's "free" for purchases over $50. If you're starting to set yourself
up with breadboards, tools, wire, etc you might be able to pick up some
needed supplies and get that "$20 meter" thrown in as a bonus.

Disclaimer: Not associated with web-tronics other than as a customer who
has scored about three of these meters over the last couple of years.
While these are NOT Flukes (they sell Flukes, too) and don't replace my
ancient 8050A, the meters are fine for basic functions and are also
great for keeping in the trunk, garage, kitchen drawer, office desk,
etc. for that odd contingency.

RS Components are still selling the 73 series in the UK, but the later models
are also available, so it may be the end of their stock.

The other thing I forgot to mention was the ebay 'specials' that look like a
Fluke and have a very similar sounding name. Usually selling in the sub-$20
band, they are basically very cheap and not too accurate, but for Ł20 or less
they may well fulfil the initial requirements of the OP.

Peter
--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel@easynet.co.uk
Web: http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel

 

[Rich Webb]

On 13 Jan 2006 23:59:53 -0800, "syntac@gmail.com" <syntac@gmail.com>
wrote:

[snip...snip...]

My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is
good to start out with (same with a more expensive model)? Any
suggestions, ideas, info related to the subject would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for your time!

The Fluke 73 that Peter mentioned is a good, solid meter, although I
think that it has been discontinued and replaced by the 17x series,
so you're now pushing $200.

On the other hand, the wonders of modern electronics also brings some
cheap multimeters that are "good enough" for many uses. One possibility
is this http://www.web-tronics.com/freedmmoffer.html give-away meter
that's "free" for purchases over $50. If you're starting to set yourself
up with breadboards, tools, wire, etc you might be able to pick up some
needed supplies and get that "$20 meter" thrown in as a bonus.

Disclaimer: Not associated with web-tronics other than as a customer who
has scored about three of these meters over the last couple of years.
While these are NOT Flukes (they sell Flukes, too) and don't replace my
ancient 8050A, the meters are fine for basic functions and are also
great for keeping in the trunk, garage, kitchen drawer, office desk,
etc. for that odd contingency.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

 

[Dr. Anton T. Squeegee]

In article <1137225593.122611.175630@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
syntac@gmail.com says...

<snippety>

My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is

<snippety-two>

A good multimeter is one of the most basic, versatile, and
important investments that ANY techie will ever make.

That being the case, get a GOOD one. Hard to go wrong with the
Fluke 70, 80, or 180 series.

Yes, a good one (and by 'good,' I'm talking robust enough to stand
up to years of use in terms of reliability and stability) is going to
cost you some $$. I bought a Fluke 187 at a ham radio swap meet last
year for $135, and I have absolutely no regrets about it.

Prior to that, I owned a Fluke 77 that I bought back when they
first came out in the mid-80's. That little beastie lasted me over 20
years, and was still working just fine when I sold it shortly after
buying my 187 in 2004.

Don't sell yourself short. I wasn't kidding when I said a good
multimeter is an investment. Treat it as such.


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

 

[DaveM]

<syntac@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137225593.122611.175630@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Hi,

I have already scoured this group for suggestions on buying a digital
multimeter but it has only confused me more. Here is my situation: I
have taken some electronics classes in the past working with circuits
but that all involed working with hundred dollar equipment. I have
just recently started to get back in to working with electronics in my
spare time but I will be taking some more advanced electronic classes
in the future; factor that in to the equation however you may. I am
looking for a meter to do the typical DC voltage/current as well as
accurately read resistance as I am working with pretty basic circuits.
I originally was looking for a DMM that had the major features I was
looking for at roughly around $20. However, I would like to future
proof myself by buying a meter that has features that I might not have
a full grasp for (diode/transistor tester, capacitance, temperature
probe, etc) and would consider spending ~$100 (whatever is reasonable).
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is
good to start out with (same with a more expensive model)? Any
suggestions, ideas, info related to the subject would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Wade
syntac@gmail.com

Although you're likely to get a wide range of recommendations from "just get
a cheapie that has the basic features" to "get a Fluke that will last for a
hundred years", my recommendation is somewhat in the middle. In light of
the fact that this will be a learning instrument that will help you get back
into the world of electronics, I suggest that you get a DVM that will give
you most of the features that you're likely to need for the foreseeable
future. AC/DC voltage and current, resistance and diode checks are the bare
necessities. There are many very reasonably priced meters that offer lots
of other features, such as transistor Hfe, capacitance, frequency and
temperature measurements. I don't know of any of the low-priced meters that
offer inductance measurement... that is usually reserved for LCR type
meters.
Take a look at http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p5.htm and read about the
model M-1750. It gives you the basics plus capacitance and frequency.
The meter at
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=645571
offers the basics plus transistor and diode test, capacitance and
temperature. The meter at
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=645626
has capacitance, frequency and temperature in addition to the basics.
This was intended to give you an idea of the different models and features
available to you if you do some searching. You might not find a single
meter that will do everything for you, but judicious choices will give you
the best bang for your buck in the beginning. As you become more proficient
in electronics, you may want to invest in an instrument with more features
(and probably will be more expensive). In the 60's and 70's, I saw many
novice musicians who were just learning to play the guitar, get caught up in
the excitement, and go out and buy expensive instruments costing thousands
of dollars. In the end, many of them found that even a $2000 guitar
couldn't make a bad guitarist sound good. I suggest that you start out with
reasonably priced meter(s) and advance to more professional models as your
expertise and desire to learn progresses.

One last word of advice... no matter which brand or model you select,
respect the meter and the circuits that you're testing, and the meter will
likely give you many years of dependable service.

Cheers!!!!
--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in
the address)

Never take a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time!!

 

[headphones]

"syntac@gmail.com" <syntac@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1137225593.122611.175630@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Hi,

I have already scoured this group for suggestions on buying a
digital multimeter but it has only confused me more. Here is my
situation: I have taken some electronics classes in the past
working with circuits but that all involed working with hundred
dollar equipment. I have just recently started to get back in
to working with electronics in my spare time but I will be
taking some more advanced electronic classes in the future;
factor that in to the equation however you may. I am looking
for a meter to do the typical DC voltage/current as well as
accurately read resistance as I am working with pretty basic
circuits. I originally was looking for a DMM that had the major
features I was looking for at roughly around $20. However, I
would like to future proof myself by buying a meter that has
features that I might not have a full grasp for (diode/transistor
tester, capacitance, temperature probe, etc)and would consider
spending ~$100 (whatever is reasonable).
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy
given my background as well as future in electronics?
Should I go ahead and apply that $20 to a more expensive meter
that has the extra features or wait until it is necessary? If I
go with a cheap meter, which one is good to start out with (same
with a more expensive model)? Any suggestions, ideas, info
related to the subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for
your time!

Wade
syntac@gmail.com

Aks yourself what does lifetime warantee mean. Then ask what does
the manufacturer mena by life time guarantee/warantee. Nothing
lasts for ever and no company ever backs up lifetime guarantee. You
can think about this, history does not stop and there are always
better ways to design and build things. That's why next year there
will always be a better DMM that will excite the people, ex.
Tekronix introduced a DMM w/ the blue holster, w/ 1 yr. warantee.
Fluke never backs up their life time warantee. Greenlee has a green
holster DMM for around $125.00, works great. Simpson has a range of
DMM's. So what.

I've owned Fluke; 77, 87 and now the 85. The fluke 87 broke, I
contacted fluke and they said it's out of warantee. I asked what
about your life time warantee & I'm the original owner. Fluke says
it's not covered by the warantee. So I'm screwed. I took it apart
and tossed in the dumpster & kept the holster. The only reason I
got the 85 is because it can be sent to a calibration lab and get a
sticker put on it, at the company's expense. Your starting out &
you don't really need a very expensive DMM. You need 'your brains'
to understand the circuit your building, testing, or repair
equipment you've never seen before, know how it works just by
looking at the board. Go to Harbor Freight and buy the DMM that's
$50.00. It can test transistors, the fluke 85 can't. You can
build a temp to volt converter, infact fluke used to sell a plugin
for that. You take a J or K thermocouple out of a small yellow box
with a dual banana plug. So it's a temp to volt converter, at this
stage in your game, it's much better to understand how the Temp to
volt converter works, build one and use a cheaper DMM to work. It
won't be as precise as the fluke, but I bet you it'll be +/- 1 deg.
And when you get better at designing circuits, you can't make it
+/- 0.5 % accuracy? You will have to test transistors, so get a
DMM that can test transistors. Buy a DMM for $50.00, buy a dozen
breadboards that are 7" long by 3" wide? Build a big breadboard
panel and start building circuits. The only thing you get from
owning an expensive DMM is braging rights that you got money to buy
expensive tools. But do you know how to use that tool? Sure, you
can test a transistor w/ a fluke, triplet, greenlee, simpson by
probing all 3 leads, but how about plugging the transistor into
some holes and know it's npn, pnp and read the hfe. What is more
useful to you at your level? I have two small $12.00 DMMs that I
toss in the car and boat tool box. They are in zip lock bags & they
are perfect for everyday use. I still have a simpson 260 with
needle movement for analog circuits. I had a $30.00 radio shack
that worked for 8 years before it fell over board. Can you image
how you'd feel if you damaged that $300.00 DMM and the manufacturer
won't cover that damage?

 

[BFoelsch]

<syntac@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137225593.122611.175630@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Hi,

I have already scoured this group for suggestions on buying a digital
multimeter but it has only confused me more. Here is my situation: I
have taken some electronics classes in the past working with circuits
but that all involed working with hundred dollar equipment. I have
just recently started to get back in to working with electronics in my
spare time but I will be taking some more advanced electronic classes
in the future; factor that in to the equation however you may. I am
looking for a meter to do the typical DC voltage/current as well as
accurately read resistance as I am working with pretty basic circuits.
I originally was looking for a DMM that had the major features I was
looking for at roughly around $20. However, I would like to future
proof myself by buying a meter that has features that I might not have
a full grasp for (diode/transistor tester, capacitance, temperature
probe, etc) and would consider spending ~$100 (whatever is reasonable).
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is
good to start out with (same with a more expensive model)? Any
suggestions, ideas, info related to the subject would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Wade
syntac@gmail.com

Well, $20 won't get you much, but there is a guy on eBay selling NOS
Tektronix 252 DMMs for $25. They are obsolete and unsupported, but the
feature set is decent for a beginner. I ordered a couple from him and they
were fine, the calibration was dead on.

 

[Walter Harley]

<syntac@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137225593.122611.175630@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics?

Don't assume one is enough... for instance, tonight I had three multimeters
in use at once on my lab bench, taking measurements on several different
parts of a circuit simultaneously as I varied some parameters. I think I
probably own 6 or 7 multimeters in total, ranging from "free" ones that came
with purchases to the Fluke 87 that is my mainstay. They all get used,
often a couple at a time.

The point being, a high-quality meter will serve you well for a long time,
but don't let that stop you from getting a meter you can afford right now,
you'll end up using both of them.

Even the very cheap meters are surprisingly good. They're not as accurate
and not as reliable, but for 95% of what you're likely to do they'll be just
fine. And as "headphone" pointed out, the cheap ones sometimes have
features such as transistor testing that the expensive ones lack.

 

[Jamie]

syntac@gmail.com wrote:

Hi,

I have already scoured this group for suggestions on buying a digital
multimeter but it has only confused me more. Here is my situation: I
have taken some electronics classes in the past working with circuits
but that all involed working with hundred dollar equipment. I have
just recently started to get back in to working with electronics in my
spare time but I will be taking some more advanced electronic classes
in the future; factor that in to the equation however you may. I am
looking for a meter to do the typical DC voltage/current as well as
accurately read resistance as I am working with pretty basic circuits.
I originally was looking for a DMM that had the major features I was
looking for at roughly around $20. However, I would like to future
proof myself by buying a meter that has features that I might not have
a full grasp for (diode/transistor tester, capacitance, temperature
probe, etc) and would consider spending ~$100 (whatever is reasonable).
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary? If I go with a cheap meter, which one is
good to start out with (same with a more expensive model)? Any
suggestions, ideas, info related to the subject would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Wade
syntac@gmail.com

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p4.htm

look at the LCM-1950
its not a fluke but for what your doing and
the price, it has just about every thing in
one meter and its only $65.00
with a basic LCR, Freq count, tranny tester.
high scale range on Ohms etc..




--
Real Programmers Do things like this.
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5

 

[Fred McKenzie]

In article <1137225593.122611.175630@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"syntac@gmail.com" <syntac@gmail.com> wrote:

I am
looking for a meter to do the typical DC voltage/current as well as
accurately read resistance as I am working with pretty basic circuits.
I originally was looking for a DMM that had the major features I was
looking for at roughly around $20. However, I would like to future
proof myself by buying a meter that has features that I might not have
a full grasp for (diode/transistor tester, capacitance, temperature
probe, etc) and would consider spending ~$100 (whatever is reasonable).
My question for everyone is, what type of meter should I buy given my
background as well as future in electronics? Should I go ahead and
apply that $20 to a more expensive meter that has the extra features or
wait until it is necessary?

Wade-

Having a good DMM (or VOM) can make quite a difference. When I was a
teenager building my own Ham Radio equipment, I saved my money and bought
a Triplett model 310 handheld analog multimeter. I believe that was the
single most important item I could have had for experimental work in
electronics. I suddenly had a new window into the way things worked. My
boxes of scavenged resistors and capacitors were shrunk to a handful of
each after checking with the Ohm meter range of the new VOM.

In about 1980 I bought a new Fluke Model 8020A handheld DMM. The only
problem I've had was a black LCD display soon after the warranty expired.

About five years ago I bought a used Fluke 8012A bench DMM for $35 at a
Hamfest. A couple years later I found a Fluke 8050A bench DMM for $45 at
a surplus store. (This one had a bad set of NiCd batteries, and possibly
one bad resistor for the highest voltage range.) A few weeks ago I found
a Fluke 8024B handheld DMM for $5.00 at a pawn shop. (This one was a
grimey, filthy mess that I disassembled and bathed!)

Except for one voltage range of the 8050A, all the Flukes have held up
well, and all agree with each other well within their tolerances. Manuals
for all can be found on eBay, as well as at some Hamfests. For probes, I
buy Radio Shack 278-7138 Banana Plug to Test Probe Leads.

My point is that you can get a better instrument by looking for a used one
made by a reliable company. Yes, it might be best to go ahead and spend
the price of the "ideal" DMM new, but that can wait until you have an
income. Others have also made some good suggestions, but buying used is
worth considering.

Fred