Show your Multimeter!

[Andrea :)]

IMHO your multimeter is a rebadged CEM DT-9917.

Yep probably   they even have the same price

[VK5RC]

Serious problem here. A very tolerant wife and good storage facilities. All work and within tolerances.
Top Row         HP3430A (Nixie), HP 3465A (LED)
Middle Row     Agilent 34401A  Agilent 34461A
Bottom Row   Dick Smith Q1559, Agilent U1732B, Agilent Clamp, Fluke 87-V, Sanwa 460ED, Agilent U1253B, Sanwa ZX-505
My favourites   Dick Smith (my first, I know its as dodgy as can be)      Agilent U1253B (love that OLED)

[sotos]

Serious problem here. A very tolerant wife and good storage facilities. All work and within tolerances.
Top Row         HP3430A (Nixie), HP 3465A (LED)
Middle Row     Agilent 34401A  Agilent 34461A
Bottom Row   Dick Smith Q1559, Agilent U1732B, Agilent Clamp, Fluke 87-V, Sanwa 460ED, Agilent U1253B, Sanwa ZX-505
My favourites   Dick Smith (my first, I know its as dodgy as can be)      Agilent U1253B (love that OLED)

Hello friend can you please try something for me?

To the Agilent 34461A

In diode mode, when checking a diode.
1. Does it continuous beep when diodes are short circuit?
2. Short beep when diode is good.

I have plans to buy this meter and I use a lot diode tests.

[RobEE]

Here's my collection. Two Fluke 27/FMs and a Sparkfun cheapy I picked up before the Fluke/Sparkfun debacle that Dave covered in one of his videos. I recently bought the two Fluke meters, but despite their age, they still show the same reading for the few measurements I have used to compare them; although, that is not much of a surprise.

[David Hess]

I have another DM502 which is not shown in my rather poor photo.  I have since gotten a better camera.

My most interesting multimeters are a pair of Tektronix 7D13s which use the readout of a 7000 series oscilloscope mainframe as a display.  I have more modern multimeters but they are less photogenic.

[CT Special Forces]

Uh, my 2nd post...
want to repair a few 'tings here and there and this popped up on a local auction site
hope it will help, must be about the same generation as my first Gameboy hehe

[unicornio]

Finally gathered them to "family" portrait. Shown in age order, oldest in the left:



Regards,
Janne

hi, there!

Janne, i have an old DMM like yours, but mine is branded Lutron, it have 30 years working and yet within specs...

about DMM's, here are my collection, all working well:
a 87III and 8050A so good flukes, the Lutron, copy of 8060 and a very good too, 4 digits Data Technology model 30

[d3javu]

These two are the only multimeters i have at the moment.

[rickselectricalprojects]

I am really greatful because i am only 14 and i have Great meters(:
Digitech qm1323: my first meter and has all the features i will every need
Uni-t ut61e: great price for the meter, plays up in the milivolt range
Fluke 179: was given to me and it is a great meter and accurate
Fluke 322: great quality clamp meter with all the basic functions of a clamp meter
Digitech qm1566: great clamp meter for $150 ac/dc current up to 1kA, bar graph, true rms and a heap of features. Great value for money.
Sorry that theres no picture, its my first post and it said the file was to big.

[ResR]

My new multimeter - Mastech MY64. It has everything including capacitance tester and external bimetallic thermometer supplied with. It took me 2 years of full time work to save enough to buy it.  Nice ceramic fuses inside, one of it is actually a larger type one.

[dannyf]

I have quite a few 830s, if that counts,

It is not important what meters you have, but what you do with your meters.

[mathsquid]

This is my newest meter.  I wanted something that could measure larger DC current than my extech ex230.

[Excavatoree]

This is my newest meter.  I wanted something that could measure larger DC current than my extech ex230.

Looks like a quality meter.  Does anyone know who makes it?   Might be a "lowest bidder" job, but it has the look of a meter made by a decent company.

[mathsquid]

Looks like a quality meter.  Does anyone know who makes it?   Might be a "lowest bidder" job, but it has the look of a meter made by a decent company.

I haven't had it long, but it seems like decent quality.  I haven't opened it up, but it feels solid and has a fair bit of heft.  I don't know if Klein Tools makes it themselves or if someone else does.  It's stamped "Made in Korea" on the back.

[oldway]

My favourite: Fluke 87V of course !

[retiredcaps]

Looks like a quality meter.  Does anyone know who makes it?   Might be a "lowest bidder" job, but it has the look of a meter made by a decent company.

I haven't had it long, but it seems like decent quality.  I haven't opened it up, but it feels solid and has a fair bit of heft.  I don't know if Klein Tools makes it themselves or if someone else does.  It's stamped "Made in Korea" on the back.

Some of Klein's handheld multimeters are made by Fine Instruments

http://www.finest.co.kr/pi.html#hd

Being made in Korea suggests it is also made by Fine Instruments, but I can't see anything in their website that looks like the CL2000 right now.

BTW, the UEI DL379 is identical to the CL2000 (see picture).

PS. The Klein MM6000 multimeter is Made in USA according to

http://www.kleintools.com/catalog/multimeters/electricians-hvac-trms-multimeter

with the disclaimer of "MADE IN USA of US and imported parts".

[Hydrawerk]

Here is my Metex M-3650D teardown and repair. There were two probably bad capacitors.
Now it works again. https://plus.google.com/photos/106264218831814439783/albums/6141393355370192641

[timofonic]

Here's mine. It sucks, it was cheap ten years ago (I didn't use it until some months ago, I backed to studies) and is failing a lot. But I have no money.

But I like the bible-like case!

[firehopper]

heres my 2 meters old radioshack pc interface one and the fluke 289 I got a few weeks ago

[timofonic]

heres my 2 meters old radioshack pc interface one and the fluke 289 I got a few weeks ago

Why cool expensive DMMs lack transistor measuring and caps socket? One for LED would be nice too!

[nanofrog]

heres my 2 meters old radioshack pc interface one and the fluke 289 I got a few weeks ago

Why cool expensive DMMs lack transistor measuring and caps socket? One for LED would be nice too!

Those little transistor checkers are a gimmick (good way to get dust & moisture into a meter IMHO though). And the "cool expensive DMM's" such as a Fluke 287/9, usually do have a diode function (but use the banana jacks to connect up a diode via whatever test leads you have that are suitable). 

[timofonic]

heres my 2 meters old radioshack pc interface one and the fluke 289 I got a few weeks ago

Why cool expensive DMMs lack transistor measuring and caps socket? One for LED would be nice too!

Those little transistor checkers are a gimmick (good way to get dust & moisture into a meter IMHO though). And the "cool expensive DMM's" such as a Fluke 287/9, usually do have a diode function (but use the banana jacks to connect up a diode via whatever test leads you have that are suitable). 

How to check transistors then?

Or maybe building a led checker would be nice....

[nanofrog]

How to check transistors then?

How to Check a Transistor and/or Simple Diode and Transistor Test might be of some help (other tutorials out there on this as well). 

[timofonic]

How to check transistors then?

How to Check a Transistor and/or Simple Diode and Transistor Test might be of some help (other tutorials out there on this as well). 

Aren't there a way to do a more automated and advanced testing? I need to calculate the Beta and such other stuff. Are there some kind of specialized circuit?

Why transistor checking in DMM are a gimmick? I fail to understand it.

[Lightages]

Transistor testing functions in a multimeter are considered a gimmick because of a number of reasons.

1. The socket needed for the transistor test brings internal voltages close to the surface of the meter casing. This is very bad practice when it comes to making a multimeter safe for high voltages and CAT ratings. You now have exposed metal contacts that could be at the potential of the whatever the test leads are connected to, especially if there is some failure inside the meter.

2. Transistor test functions on multimeters are almost always very poorly implemented and the readings are really only good for maybe a relative measurement between transistors. You don't have the full curve of the transistor's function so it will be a guess as to what the real value of the transistor is.

3. Because of the above, and because it is a cheap gimmick to add to the multimeter, it would be much better return on a design to spend the time and funds adding better safety, durability, quality, or accuracy. It is a cheap "look at all my functions" gimmick rather than something useful.

It is much better to spend the money on a dedicated transistor tester than waste money on a multimeter just because it has the transistor feature.