Test/review of DMM Aneng AN8009

DMM Aneng AN8009







This is the latest incarnation (Late 2017) of the this small fairly cheap meter.







It did not include a box, but was delivered in an envelope that contained the holster.







Everything was inside the holster.







It included the DMM, two pair of probes, a thermosensor and a manual.









The standard probes has removable tip covers.







The other set of probes fells rather low quality, but has some nice functions. They consist of two wires with threads at both ends and a couple of different tips that can be mounted in each end. It is slow to use, but very flexible.

















Here are all the different tips.









The thermosensor is a real probe, not just the small bead at the end of wires. The plastic has a crack.

I am not convinced that this is better than the bead, that is smaller and easy to stick on just about to any surface with some sticky tape (Buying one as supplement is cheap).







The body of the DMM feels solid, the plastic is rather smooth, i.e. the DMM can easily slide on a surface. The tilting bale is rather flimsy and do not give enough support for pressing buttons and turning the range switch.





























Display







The above picture shows all the segments on the display.

Not all the segments are used on this meter.







Typical display during usage, it will show the number and what measurement is selected.







Non contact voltage will show from one to four bars depending on the electric field strength.





Functions







Buttons:

  • Range (Blue): Will disable auto range and change range, hold down to activate background light.

  • Sel/Hold (Yellow): Select the ranges printed with yellow, hold down to freeze the display reading.


Rotary switch:
  • Off: Meter is turned off

  • V % Hz: Show voltage, using the yellow button will cycle between VDC, VAC, freq. and duty cycle.

  • mV: Show millivolt, using the yellow button will cycle between VDC, VAC, Celsius and Fahrenheit

  • 100Mohm: Resistance, continuity, diode and capacitance, work up to 99.99Mohm

  • Hz: Frequency and duty cycle, this is used for lower voltages and works at fairly high frequencies.

  • A mA: Current AC and DC (The meter is missing some mA ranges).

  • uA: Low current AC and DC.

  • NCV: Non contact voltage.



Input


  • A mA: A very low burden voltage mA range and a 10A that cannot really handle 10A.

  • CON: The common terminal for all ranges.

  • xxx: All other ranges, including uA. It is always problematic when a current range shares connector with a voltage range, if the switch is in the wrong position the (hard to replace) fuse will blow (at least). This will only affect current, voltage will still work.


Standard probes will work, but can not be fully inserted.


Measurements
  • Volt and frequency

    • 1 VAC is 5% down at 2.1kHz (RMS will not work at the frequency).

    • At 1Vrms input frequency range is from 1Hz to 6.6MHz

    • Input impedance is 10Mohm to 11Mohm on DC and AC

    • mV range is high input impedance for DC

    • Frequency input needs about 250mV to work at 1kHz.

    • Frequency counter and duty cycle works without zero crossing in Hz range.

    • Duty cycle works from 2% to above 99% at 100kHz with 2Vpp (1Vpp do not work), precision is within 0.8 (About 0.8 too low).

  • Current

    • 9.9A range is badly calibrated at high current.

    • 9.9A range will change some percent at 5-10A current due to heating.

    • 9.9A range will give an audible alarm when current is above 9.9A (uA will not).

    • Current ranges are limited to 36VDC and 25VAC.

  • Ohm, continuity, diode and capacity

    • Ohm needs about 2.6s to measure 100ohm

    • Ohm voltage is 1V open and 0.38mA shorted

    • Continuity is very fast (About 4ms).

    • Continuity beeps when resistance is below 50ohm.

    • Continuity is 1V open and 0.38mA shorted

    • Diode voltage is 3.2V with display of up to 3.000V with 0.14mA, maximum current is 1.6mA shorted

    • 70000uF takes about 9 seconds to measure.

  • Miscellaneous

    • A beeper will sound shortly before the meter turns itself off

    • Current consumption of meter is 1.6mA to 2mA (8.7mA with backlight)

    • Meter works down to 2.2V where it turns off, battery symbol show at 2.4V.

    • Readings are stable with changing battery voltage.

    • Backlight only works down to about 2.6V where it is fairly dim.

    • Viewing angle is good.

    • Display updates around 3 times/sec

    • Backlight will automatic turn off in about 120 seconds.

    • Will automatic turn power off in about 15 minutes.

    • The meter usual need a couple of display update to reach the final value.

    • Weight is 136g without accessories, but with batteries.

    • Size is 130.4 x 65 x 32.3mm

  • Probes

    • Probe resistance 55mOhm for one.

    • Probe wire is fairly soft and 65cm long.

    • The probes with replaceable tips has 55mOhm with 4mm plug.

    • The probes with replaceable tips has 87cm long fairly soft wires.




A look at the capacity measurement waveform.






Tear down



Four screws and the back could be removed.




The circuit board is shaped to fit the enclosure.



3 more screws and two clips, then I could remove the circuit board from the front.



And two more screws and two more clips to remove the display.
As usual the connection to the display is with a zebrastipe and there are two wires for the backlight.



There is not much on this side, only the switches and the connector pads for the display.



Everything is on this side. Near the 10A fuse (F1) is the uA shunt (R23 & R24: 99ohm+1ohm), this shunt is protected by a diode (D5) and a 200mA fuse (F2).
The voltage input is handled by two resistors (R29 & R20: 5Mohm+5Mohm) and there is a small PTC (PTC1) for protecting the ohms/capacity current output. The two transistors (Q3 & Q4) is protection after the PTC.
The part marked Q5 is a ICL8069 1.2V reference and Q1 is used to turn the background light on and Q2 the buzzer.
There is a EEPROM (IC1: 24C02A) to handle calibration and define function in the multimeter, the big blob is the main multimeter IC.
There is a trace at the top of the circuit board between the two LCD mounting holes, that is the NCV antenna.












Conclusion

The meter is easily within the specified tolerances (Except 10A) and it has lot of functions and ranges, but the CAT rating is fake.

This is a small DMM in size, but has most of the expected functions in a universal DMM. It has a hole in the current range, it can measure currents in that range, but with fairly low precision, instead it has very low burden voltage in the mA range and low precision at high current. Temperature and NCV is a good addition to this version of the meter.

I do not like the small fuse size, they cannot break high voltage or high current and they can be hard to source locally (They can be found on Ebay). The current range on the voltage input is also a bad idea.

The 9999 count secures the best possible resolution for 4 digits.

I will call it good DMM for hobby use, but keep it away from anything with mains voltage and lots of amps.





Notes

This meter may exist with many different names on it and small variations in functions.

How do I review a DMM
More DMM reviews

I got this dmm 2 days ago and was hoping to see review from you.

Thank you for your work.

Thanks for the test!

Although the price is great for the overall quality I dislike the shallow probe connectors on the small Anengs. I’d also like a bit higher bandwidth (at least 20kHz for audio applications).

When I received it, I put it first in the review queue.

To get higher AC bandwidth you need a considerable more expensive meter. You would probably also like dB readout.

Thank you for that :slight_smile:

I am now sure it will be perfect dmm for my needs.
I needed something to keep in my tool box for quick fixes.

I think the ZT102 incarnation is currently unbeatable.
Only 6000 count, blue/green back, 1 pair of probes
But for USD 9? :disappointed:
Cardboard box Pouch
There is already number of reviews on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ZT102

btw any cheap source of the fuses?

All the AN800x or ZT10x meters are basically the same meter, there is small variations in the range switch and the configuration in the EEPROM. I do not know if the firmware in the DMM chip is the same.
This means it is important to select meter depending on what ranges you want.
I do also have a review of the AN8002 in queue, but I will probably publish a few other meters first.

Try ebay, but it must be a fast fuse for best protection.

Good review :+1:
.
I would like to ask you something, I have an AN8008 and when using eneloop cells it’s backlight is very dim but using 1.5V Zinc Carbon cells the backlight glows at full brightness. Can you confirm whether this problem exists on your AN8009 model?

Backlight is the same on these meters and as I write in this review it is very dim at 2.6V

I wouldn’t call it problem, it’s how LEDs work.
You can use fresh alkaline or zinc, or rechargeable LIFEPO4 for full brightness.

Well Aneng should have known that’s how LED’s work. :stuck_out_tongue:
.
I have a cheapo IR Temperature gun and it’s back-light works fine with NiMH cells because it probably includes a boost converter.

When making a very cheap meter, there is not money for a boost converter. Another solution would be higher battery voltage, i.e. 3 batteries or a 9V battery, but then the meter would have been larger.

Another solution would have been to use a red backlight. :smiling_imp:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-lot-MT3608-2A-Max-DC-DC-Step-Up-Power-Module-Booster-Power-Module/32650402967.html

Backlight problem DIY solution, though using LiFePO4 cells is much easier and no modification is required.

Cheers

There are even smaller modules than that.
.
Like this Tiny Buck converter

.
.
and then this Tiny charge pump

True, Soshine 10440 IFR cells come with 2 free battery spacer dummy cells.
Then there those Kentli cells with regulation and also there exists AAA with a built in micro-usb charger.

For a deeper discussion of any kind of DMM with mods and changing stuff in the firmware lock at the eevBlog Forum.
e.g.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/latest-aneng-9999-dmm-invented![](-an8009-now)/