Cheapest multimeter ever!

[richardbrouwer1]

Hi guys! Found this on eBay, can't believe they produce it for this price and ship it for free!  http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=161248077469

[mrflibble]

What? $5? That's highway robbery! They usually go for less than that.

One random example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-LCD-Digital-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Ohm-Multimeter-DT830-/400579128145?pt=US_Battery_Testers&hash=item5d44606b51

[nanofrog]

Seen companies here in the US, namely Harbor Freight, give them away for free (i.e. perk for spending X amount of money in their store).

[Neilm]

Interesting - I couldn't make out the rating so I did a quick search. The user guide I found says it was designed for 600V CAT I. I note that there are warnings in the User guide I found not to connect to mains. A quick glance through the manual, it might actually comply with IEC61010. <gasp>

[Jarrod Roberson]

transistor tester is a dead give away! glorified battery tester at best!

[mrflibble]

I have one of those. Still a pretty old one with a dip chippie instead of the die with goop. And it's actually sortof decent for generic low voltage use and simple stuff. I wouldn't dream of using it on mains power though... Quick check of resistor values and DC power rails, yes. Precision, no. CAT rating, best ignore what's written on the box.

[128er]

And here is the teardown of this famous DMM. First class build quality, with serial number and all what you can imagine. The flux capacitor of course is optional

Note the leads. Finest 0,25 mm² (or less ) to handle 10A for current measurement.

Datecode "4596", yeah - vintage. But still a decent meter 

[richardbrouwer1]

These are just the worst, had a sneek peek in a 10$ one and I was scared. Absolutly tiny and thin input rails. Guess they use them as a fuse It had the most cruddy screen but it did work!(for a while)

[128er]

So crappy the meter from my pictures is. The screen is not as bad, as the meter itself. It has a wide viewangle. Direct Sunlight isnt a problem  also.

But, hmm, i used this thing many years, till i got my agilent DMM. And once you have a good one, you will never use something like this. So - dont turn it on, toss it away

[GabYoung92]

what about $4.95 retail?...

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QM1502

[wraper]

So crappy the meter from my pictures is. The screen is not as bad, as the meter itself. It has a wide viewangle. Direct Sunlight isnt a problem  also.

But, hmm, i used this thing many years, till i got my agilent DMM. And once you have a good one, you will never use something like this. So - dont turn it on, toss it away

Your multimeter is old good variant of 830. New ones have two times smaller PCB which just barely covers switch and LCD zebra strip. Like on this picture (I have seen worse). They even make PCB out of two parts to skimp costs.

[ablacon64]

I have one! Under a different brand called Minipa, Model ET-1001, it cost me 19 Reais (about 7 US dollars) 12 years ago (and it still uses the same probes!).

[retiredcaps]

They even make PCB out of two parts to skimp costs.

It looks like the input jacks pcb is cut out from the main pcb (just under the pot) and then held together by 3 blobs of solder.

[BravoV]

This 830 variant like these only cost about US$ 3 at street price here, and that even came with the 9V battery. 

[Refrigerator]

Talking about cheap meters, there is one called UT-136b, some say it's the best bang for buck meter out there.

[Dajgoro]

What about this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Electric-AC-DC-OHM-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Multimeter-Multi-Tester-MF-110A-/261375882881?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cdb377681

I ordered it for a friend, but it never arrived...

[128er]

I ordered it for a friend, but it never arrived...

Hm, is that good or bad? 

I totaly forgot this one from my crapcollection. 50x95x25 mm. Even with functiongenerator (squarewave), whoohoo
Runs from a 12V, A23 battery.

PCB quality? There are far worse things on the market...

[retiredcaps]

I totaly forgot this one from my crapcollection.

Rebranded Uni-T

http://www.uni-trend.com/UT20B.html

[Suffer1981de]

I've got the same multimeter as the TO. Stylish yellow.

Mine has even a shielding! The Fuse says F0,2A. And the sticker on the back says "Proven Safety" in german. Got it out of an High School here in Germany. Actually got 2 of them ;-)

[ablacon64]

I can't resist, gotta show you this beauty! BTW I don't want to sell the probes, don't bother to ask! 

[wraper]

Here is my Mastech M830B. Won it on electronics contest when I was 13. Date code on the pcb says june 97, Got it somewhere on spring 98. Didn't get rid of it because of a nostalgic feelings. Forgot to take picture of the back cover, it even has shielding over almost the whole PCB. Just noticed that it even has a guard trace around the integrator parts, wow.

[electronics man]

I can't believe the amazing quality of that thing they put a fuse in it 

[G0HZU]

The cheapest 'new' meter I bought was this factory reject meter. It cost me £1. It was one in a huge box of identical meters at an electronics trade fair many years ago. They had all failed QA and someone must have got hold of them (made in Korea?) and put them up for sale.

This one had a dicky display and I took it apart and cleaned it and it's worked ever since... Because it was a 'QA reject' and is also a cheapo brand I only use it on low voltage stuff and it's actually quite nice to use.

[Stonent]

Talking about cheap meters, there is one called UT-136b, some say it's the best bang for buck meter out there.

[Siehbi]

I have one of these cheapy multimeter... the wires going to the leads detached themselves internally from the probes.     Had to electrical tape the wire back to the probe. Mine is the DT830B, No CE marking no CAT rating nothing.

Screen has detached slightly from the PCB which has left me with 1 and a half digits..

Would not trust these cheap DMM's.  Getting an extech ex430 now.


Nicholas