You could use “the cheap, junky test leads”, get a reading perhaps 1A on your 14 meters, this number would be accurate.
Yes you are absolutely right! Point well taken, and the point is exactly what I was trying to show. That these meters measure accurately the amount of current that is passing through them. Of course we would not want to influence that amount downwards by using the stock test leads. Good catch on your part, proves you were paying attention! 
Yes, the major difference is that the red meters have a slide switch to turn them on and off and the DT830 has the on-off built into the selector switch. If you look closely at the voltage test pic, you will see your DT830. Bottom row, second from the right 
Here are pics of the insides of my DT830 and a recent HF meter. The DT830 I thought was about 6 years old. That could be, there is a date of 2005 on the circuit board. The HF meter is the most recent one I picked up (free) on Sept 25, 2013.
Notice that the shunt resistor on the DT830 is twice as long as the one in the HF. and also that the shunt resistor in the HF is soldered directly to the same pads that the banana jacks are soldered to. 2 major improvements in reducing the internal resistance.
BTW, if you search around on the circuit boards, you will find “830B” printed on each of them. They are both generic type 830B meters. A lot of cheap meters will include the numbers 830 in their model number.
My 830D is quite old too. I will check inside for date etc. I am sure there is a trim pot. I see yours has no trim pot on the PCB compared to the red one.
There is no date on mine(I checked under the beeper). There is a date 20060909.
I see your meter has the shorter shunt resistor, but it is not close to the banana jacks. The fuse is soldered in place, not easily replaceable. I do see the 830B imprinted on the circuit board however, so this meter belongs in the club. That is weird about my 830D, no trim pot.
Also, notice the notch in the shunt resistor on yours, it was calibrated!
Thanks for the entertainging and informative post dchomak!
I’m missing the point to this thread, why would you invest in fourteen cheap meter instead of consolidating the same cash into something quality?
Because… It’s the American way!
(this is intended to be a joke)
How many flashlights do you own? 
Why, then you only have one item instead of 14!
If anyone ask me to trade me for all my cheap lights, modding components and stuff I spend the last 2 years for one Deft-X, I would still say H NO. Despite my stuff is half its value. It’s just the fun of the impulse buying, tinkering, breaking, repairing… you know the stuff.
There's an old Chinese proverb: "Man with two clocks never know what time it is."
In 1986 I bought a Fluke-77 for $125. It's still the only DMM I own, and gets quite a bit of use.
I can understand owning two as for some measurement two are needed. Would you rather 10 crap cars or one decent car? if you answered one decent car you get what I’m saying.
No offense to the OP, I just don’t get it.
Only about 6 all quality lights. I’m not one for cheap stuff.
to each their own, as long as people can quantify their position does it really matter what that position is in subjective realms like these?
Maybe because it’s fun to own 14 cheap meters?
一人难称百人心/众口难调 It is hard to please everyone.
Here is my Uni-T UT33B for comparison sake. I paid little for it but they do cost more usually. It has safer sockets (sleeved banana plugs can fit) and fuse holder, but longer shunt resistor.
Ahhh, but…when the one really nice car breaks down, how do you get to work?
And of course it’s all subjective as to what one wants and perceives as their own personal needs. Some people have no children and absolutely do not want any! Some people have 12 kids.
I used to go Gaga over nice new cars. Then I bought 2 new cars and soon realized that once the New car smell wore off, they drove just like the low mileage used cars that were half the price.
Then I graduated to the thought of “They are all just a means of transportation” and dropped the ego trip and bought a mini van. I can haul lot’s of stuff in it and it still pulls 22 mpg. And insurance is real cheap.
Seat for every butt, butt for every seat. I get that, all I am saying is don’t be a slave to any possession.
When you are young you go bonkers at seeing a nice car, when you get older you appreciate the looks of a nice house and ample property.
Priorities and time and space.
At least one spare car/truck to me is a must. I have to have a “plan B” to get to work as does my wife who is a nurse.
4 wheel drive comes in handy when the Nor’easters come in to PA.
A hand full of killer high end flashlights, or a bucket full of Budget Flashlights, It’s all good!
That’s all folks,
Have a great weekend! ,
Keith
Since we are looking at circuit boards, I opened up my 35 year old DMM, the Sabtronics 2000. It has been sitting in a corner of the basement for 30 years. It has been that long since I have turned it on.
Here it is with a wall wart connected to it through a hole in the back of the unit. There is a rattle inside when I shake it, that’s not good.
When I opened it up I saw what the rattle was from, a box of fuses in an area that used to be the battery compartment, it originally ran on 4 “C” cells. Apparently I had converted it to a plug in power brick. The readouts on this unit are the old red LED’s and compared to the newer LCD displays are power hogs.
I checked the voltages, they were OK, so I turned it on and it still works!
One simple test. Perfect reading. Still having fun, after all these years!
Now a look at it’s innards. Count ’em, 9 trim pots……eck!
Back in it’s day, this meter was as close to state of the art that the average person like myself could get a hold of. Compare this to even the cheap, lowly HF meter and it looks like a dinosaur, with MUCH less functionality. Bet it isn’t as accurate either.
Why?, because I have already been there, done that! EICO to Sabronics to…………Harbor Freight :bigsmile:
As crude as the technology of this meter was, compared even to the HF meter that I get now for free or very little money, it was good enough.
Sometimes “good enough” is, well, GOOD ENOUGH
That is an edited, revised version of the original proverb.
in full it goes like this:
“A man with a clock thinks he knows what time it is, but what if his clock is not accurate?. A man with 14 clocks can calculate with a pretty high degree of accuracy, approximately what time it is.!”
The group “Chicago Transit Authority” summed that up best with their song “25 or 6 to 4” when they asked “Does anybody really know what time it is?”
Ah, but Technology moves on…my Casio G-Shock is Solar powered and automatically set’s itself to the Atomic Clock in Denver. No batteries, no winding, even accounts for DST. I DO know what time it is, and I DO care!
Good song too by the way.
Edit: Oh, and I think the true Chinese proverb was something like this….Man with 2 clocks does not really know what time it is. Man with 14 clocks talks to Cuckoo bird.