Advice on Multimeter for Home Use...

[Gary R. Schmidt]

I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just
so when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of
component or whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

--
______________________________________________________________________________
Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
whether you were up them with or not
- Barry Humphries

 

[Gary R. Schmidt]

[Possibly posted twice]

I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just
so when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of
component or whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

--
______________________________________________________________________________
Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
whether you were up them with or not
- Barry Humphries

 

[David L. Jones]

Gary R. Schmidt wrote:

I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just
so when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of
component or whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

The big question is how much do you want to spend?
Only then can we really recommend some stuff.

A cheap $30 meter will do the trick for basic measurements, but don't
be surprised if it plays up on you, drifts, or dies after 6 months.
Then again some cheapies last for years without problems.
The quality brand meters like Fluke give you "measurement confidence",
in that you know they are rugged and reliable and rarely fail or drift,
so when you measure something you have more confidence that your
reading is correct 9without double checking it first)
The cheap meters like the Jaycar Digitech don't give you this
"confidence". You only have to compare the inside build quality to see
that there is a vast difference between a $300 Fluke and a $30
Digitech.
The Jaycar ones have improved a *lot* in quality though. They used to
be obsoluely atrocious, with blow holes in the solder joints, dry
joints, crap quality components etc. The newer models are surface mount
and look like they have at least been mostly machine assembled and not
done on someones kitchen table in Taiwan.

It's always worth having two meters as well. A good quality one and a
crap beat around one, or even two cheap ones. Not only can you measure
two things at once, but you can compare the two if you have any doubt
as to if it's out of spec or not.

Some of the newer Flukes can be had quite cheaply on eBay and other
places. The 110 series are pretty good low cost units, and even the new
Fluke 80series 5 are well priced compared to what they used to be.

Unfortunately Fluke really don't have any competition any more at the
quality end. They now own the Tektronix series and the Wavetek/Meterman
series etc.
Metrex are still going and have a reasonable rep.
Brymen are reasonable quality too.
Jaycar have a new range that claims to be as good as Fluke, but it's a
Fluke price as well. I think the Fluke 80 series 5 is even cheaper than
that one.

Dave

 

[David L. Jones]

David L. Jones wrote:

Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just
so when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of
component or whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

The big question is how much do you want to spend?
Only then can we really recommend some stuff.

A cheap $30 meter will do the trick for basic measurements, but don't
be surprised if it plays up on you, drifts, or dies after 6 months.
Then again some cheapies last for years without problems.
The quality brand meters like Fluke give you "measurement confidence",
in that you know they are rugged and reliable and rarely fail or drift,
so when you measure something you have more confidence that your
reading is correct 9without double checking it first)
The cheap meters like the Jaycar Digitech don't give you this
"confidence". You only have to compare the inside build quality to see
that there is a vast difference between a $300 Fluke and a $30
Digitech.
The Jaycar ones have improved a *lot* in quality though. They used to
be obsoluely atrocious, with blow holes in the solder joints, dry
joints, crap quality components etc. The newer models are surface mount
and look like they have at least been mostly machine assembled and not
done on someones kitchen table in Taiwan.

It's always worth having two meters as well. A good quality one and a
crap beat around one, or even two cheap ones. Not only can you measure
two things at once, but you can compare the two if you have any doubt
as to if it's out of spec or not.

Some of the newer Flukes can be had quite cheaply on eBay and other
places. The 110 series are pretty good low cost units, and even the new
Fluke 80series 5 are well priced compared to what they used to be.

Unfortunately Fluke really don't have any competition any more at the
quality end. They now own the Tektronix series and the Wavetek/Meterman
series etc.
Metrex are still going and have a reasonable rep.
Brymen are reasonable quality too.
Jaycar have a new range that claims to be as good as Fluke, but it's a
Fluke price as well. I think the Fluke 80 series 5 is even cheaper than
that one.

Dave

Looking at the current Jaycar catalog I would say that the QM-1539 at
$70 would be the pick of the bunch in the sub $100 category. Although
if you need RS232 then the QM-1537 is the go.
I have not see inside either of them though, nor used them, so can't
comment much apart from saying that they look like a more modern design
with large dislay and large rubber buttons. They "look" better quality.
The QM-1536, 1530, 1445, and 1320 are all the older style design that
had horrible quality problems, so I would avoid them.
I have seen inside the QM-1538 and it was just OK quality wise, but
nothing to write home about. Much better than the older design.

Also, only get Autorange, manual ranging sucks.
Make sure any meter has a manual range override though, and a relative
function, plus auto power off.
Full uA to 10A current range is essential, and capacitance is handy.
Forget transistor testing and frequency measurement, they are not
essential features for general use.

Dave

 

[Peter Parker]

Many of the cheaper meters generally come with a warning against using them
for mains measurements. All the better quality ones are suitable for
domestic 240v use, while the Flukes are OK for industrial-type purposes as
well (Cat III/IV etc).

This is a consideration if you want to do more than check continuity on
mains appliances and do measurements on them while they're operating.

Peter

 

[Ken Taylor]

"Peter Parker" <parkerp@NOSPAMalphalink.com.au> wrote in message
news:4372a060_3@news.chariot.net.au...

Many of the cheaper meters generally come with a warning against using
them
for mains measurements. All the better quality ones are suitable for
domestic 240v use, while the Flukes are OK for industrial-type purposes as
well (Cat III/IV etc).

This is a consideration if you want to do more than check continuity on
mains appliances and do measurements on them while they're operating.

Peter


The first Fluke I saw (forget which model) had an instruction in it to test

it when you bought it - turn to resistance range, plug into mains power
point - meter should survive. It did!

Ken

 

[Trevor Wilson]

"Gary R. Schmidt" <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote in message
news:3tbk8dFp0aefU1@individual.net...

I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just so
when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of component or
whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

**It almost doesn't matter. I have 6 or 7 digital meters. I still have the
first one I ever purchased. It was a SOAR branded auto ranging meter. Except
for a broken battery cover, it works very well and is (for day to day
measurements) is entirely adequate. The only meter I managed to bugger up,
is a Micronta bench meter, which I used to measure a 2kV (specifically
warned against in the manual, BTW) power supply. I have a range of meters,
which cost me between $8.00 (I keep this one in the car glovebox) and
$500.00 (I keep this one on the bench) and I honestly can't think why you
would want to spend more than $100.00 on one, unless you have specific needs
(my Fluke is pretty much physically indestructible, but, at a huge cost).
Even $50.00 will get you an excellent and versatile instrument.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

 

[David L. Jones]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Gary R. Schmidt" <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote in message
news:3tbk8dFp0aefU1@individual.net...
I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just so
when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of component or
whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

**It almost doesn't matter. I have 6 or 7 digital meters. I still have the
first one I ever purchased. It was a SOAR branded auto ranging meter. Except
for a broken battery cover, it works very well and is (for day to day
measurements) is entirely adequate.

My first digital was a hand-me-down SOAR autoranger as well. I still
have it and it still works fine too.
I thought that meter was the ducks guts until I saw the early Fluke ads
which showed the Fluke 70 next to a beat up Soar, the same model as
mine, with the slogan "How to beat the high cost of cheap meters" :-(

The only meter I managed to bugger up,
is a Micronta bench meter, which I used to measure a 2kV (specifically
warned against in the manual, BTW) power supply. I have a range of meters,
which cost me between $8.00 (I keep this one in the car glovebox) and
$500.00 (I keep this one on the bench) and I honestly can't think why you
would want to spend more than $100.00 on one, unless you have specific needs
(my Fluke is pretty much physically indestructible, but, at a huge cost).
Even $50.00 will get you an excellent and versatile instrument.

Indeed. The $50-$100 range has some decent meters.
I would not touch the <$50 ones except as glovebox cheapie.
Cost isn't the major issue though, You've just gotta find one with the
features you really need.

Was in DSE the other day and walked by this meter:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4372d637061c4aa82740c0a87f9c06f5/Product/View/Q1459
For $20 it felt very rugged and heavy with it's overmoulded case.
Certainly a lot better than the other cheapie "glove box" meters out
there.

Dave

 

[The Real Andy]

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 14:28:33 +1300, "Ken Taylor" <ken@home.nz> wrote:

"Peter Parker" <parkerp@NOSPAMalphalink.com.au> wrote in message
news:4372a060_3@news.chariot.net.au...
Many of the cheaper meters generally come with a warning against using
them
for mains measurements. All the better quality ones are suitable for
domestic 240v use, while the Flukes are OK for industrial-type purposes as
well (Cat III/IV etc).

This is a consideration if you want to do more than check continuity on
mains appliances and do measurements on them while they're operating.

Peter


The first Fluke I saw (forget which model) had an instruction in it to test
it when you bought it - turn to resistance range, plug into mains power
point - meter should survive. It did!

We used to do that at tech with the old AVO's. I got one of those
funky fluke jobs, getting a bit old now, but I keep cracking the LCD.
The beckman (speeling) used to be able to stand quite a drop without a
cracked LCD, the fluke cant handle a drop from a wheelie bin.

 

[The Real Andy]

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 18:11:06 +1000, The Real Andy
<will_get_back_to_you_on_This@> wrote:

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 14:28:33 +1300, "Ken Taylor" <ken@home.nz> wrote:

"Peter Parker" <parkerp@NOSPAMalphalink.com.au> wrote in message
news:4372a060_3@news.chariot.net.au...
Many of the cheaper meters generally come with a warning against using
them
for mains measurements. All the better quality ones are suitable for
domestic 240v use, while the Flukes are OK for industrial-type purposes as
well (Cat III/IV etc).

This is a consideration if you want to do more than check continuity on
mains appliances and do measurements on them while they're operating.

Peter


The first Fluke I saw (forget which model) had an instruction in it to test
it when you bought it - turn to resistance range, plug into mains power
point - meter should survive. It did!


We used to do that at tech with the old AVO's. I got one of those
funky fluke jobs, getting a bit old now, but I keep cracking the LCD.
The beckman (speeling) used to be able to stand quite a drop without a
cracked LCD, the fluke cant handle a drop from a wheelie bin.

I forgot to say, that the best multimeter i ever owned was a Yokogawa
which is about 6 years old. I also own 2 yokogawa cro's, briliiant fro
digital use.

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On 9 Nov 2005 21:11:19 -0800, "David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

Trevor Wilson wrote:
"Gary R. Schmidt" <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote in message
news:3tbk8dFp0aefU1@individual.net...
I used to have a nice big chunky DMM I bought back in the early 1990s,
memory says "Metex", bought from Jaycar, but it seems to have gone
walkabout.

Now, ignoring the "real" multimeters like Fluke, what should I get just so
when I need to do something like check a circuit or cable of component or
whatever.

I've looked at the Jaycar/Altronics/DSE catalogues, but have no idea.

For that matter I vaguely recall some posts talking about shops in
Melbourne other than the chains, but my google-fu is not working. South
east is where I am located.

Suggestions? On both the DMM and shops.

And ones to avoid, too.

**It almost doesn't matter. I have 6 or 7 digital meters. I still have the
first one I ever purchased. It was a SOAR branded auto ranging meter. Except
for a broken battery cover, it works very well and is (for day to day
measurements) is entirely adequate.

My first digital was a hand-me-down SOAR autoranger as well. I still
have it and it still works fine too.
I thought that meter was the ducks guts until I saw the early Fluke ads
which showed the Fluke 70 next to a beat up Soar, the same model as
mine, with the slogan "How to beat the high cost of cheap meters" :-(

The only meter I managed to bugger up,
is a Micronta bench meter, which I used to measure a 2kV (specifically
warned against in the manual, BTW) power supply. I have a range of meters,
which cost me between $8.00 (I keep this one in the car glovebox) and
$500.00 (I keep this one on the bench) and I honestly can't think why you
would want to spend more than $100.00 on one, unless you have specific needs
(my Fluke is pretty much physically indestructible, but, at a huge cost).
Even $50.00 will get you an excellent and versatile instrument.

Indeed. The $50-$100 range has some decent meters.
I would not touch the <$50 ones except as glovebox cheapie.
Cost isn't the major issue though, You've just gotta find one with the
features you really need.

Was in DSE the other day and walked by this meter:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4372d637061c4aa82740c0a87f9c06f5/Product/View/Q1459
For $20 it felt very rugged and heavy with it's overmoulded case.
Certainly a lot better than the other cheapie "glove box" meters out
there.

Dave

I'd buy a cheap meter and calibrate it (or at least verify its
calibration) using Maxim's MAX6350 5.000V precision reference IC. Not
long ago I tested the accuracy of various DMMs at my local DSE store
using such a circuit.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt/msg/5df9aa298d454fed?dmode=source&hl=en

-- Franc Zabkar

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Gary R. Schmidt]

[SNIP]

Thanks all, and particularly Dave.

I bought a QM-1539 at Jaycar, and, as the new Altronics store is just
near my nearest Jaycar, and they were giving away a freebie DMM with any
purchase, I also took the advice of having another one in hand.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

--
______________________________________________________________________________
Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
whether you were up them with or not
- Barry Humphries