Need recommendations for a DMM!

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Howdy y’all,
After getting yelled at by my boss for borrowing the shop DMM one too many times, I’m on the market to acquire my own…but there’s a bit of a twist.

I’m going to be an electrical engineering student starting in the fall, so my meter has to be able to support my expected work load from that as well. The cheapo shop meter from Radioshack has been fine for making sure I don’t blow up cells and small repair jobs here and there, but I’m looking for a bit of an upgrade.

A few of the things I’m looking for:

  • In the wonderful spirit of the forum, I’m looking to keep costs down
  • Reliable and trustworthy
  • Able to handle the rigors of university-level electrical engineering
  • replacement parts (batteries/fuses/etc) hopefully common enough to be able to be brick-and-mortar sourced in a pinch

I’ve poked around the forum, and read up on a couple of them…but still looking for good first hand data before I bite the bullet on one.

Thanks in advance for reading yall :slight_smile:

2

pick FLUKE :slight_smile:

or chose MASTECH
http://dx.com/p/mastech-ms8226-3-lcd-handheld-digital-multimeter-green-1-x-9v-6f22-148024

3

I have just ordered a Fluke 17B off of eBay. AFAIK they were only released in the Asian market but all the functions are in English. They are relatively cheap as well ~$110USD

Haven’t received it yet, but have read some good reviews.

4

what, a FLUKE, nooooo, he said “keep cost down”,
son, forget about Fluke, Agilent 34460A is the right way to go :stuck_out_tongue:

5

oopss my bad 0:)

6

that looks like I’d need to promise my first born to afford :~

7

Fluke 17B is less than 100 at DX.

8

Got a link to the datasheet?

9

No, but I have something even better, teardown :smiley:

10

I would think an EE would need/want a True RMS meter.

I have previously posted here (meter still available Edit 6-22-2013 no longer available at this seller):

The online manual for this meter is here:
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/ideal/pdf/61342_manual.pdf

11

after finally researching and understanding what RMS is, yeah, I think it would be a better option to stick with it. Even if I don’t need it, I have the option to use it later on.

Unfortunately, due to recent events with my truck, I have to hold off on all extraneous spending for the time being, at least until I have a functioning vehicle once again :frowning:

Thanks everybody for the recommendations, and for showing me EEVblog…when I do have the spare money to invest in a proper DMM once again, this thread will be my first stop!!

12

Mastech DMM , any opinions are they any good?

13

It lacks a backlight, but this was the most well reviewed $50ish DMM I could find.

Here is a video review of a bunch of $50 DMM’s. The Extech comes out on top:

14

Thanks oRAirwolf, my 1985 Fluke is getting rather tired , only hassle Amazon won’t ship electrical items to our country due to parcel theft, hence the Mastech question as dx.com stocks them.

Will watch the YouTube vid thanks!

15

Not worth of watching that video, when it comes to equipement, Dave (EEVblog) is not objective, only thing worth for him is Agilent and Fluke, everything else is crap for him, if it cost less than 500 bucks it’s crap

16

I bought a Vichy VC97 multimeter and I’m very happy with it, but if you’re going to be an electrical engineering student you probably want something industry standard or you’ll have a shitty time in college. Good news though, DX sells genuine Fluke multimeters that are only destined for the chinese market, but as far as I can see the markings on the meters are in english.

Then again, does saving ~20 bucks warrant giving up quick warranty requests?