Uni-T UT 61E vs 139C vs other?! [electronics mostly]

[belzrebuth]

Hi all,
I'm about to buy one of these Dmm and wonder which would be better for mostly bench stuff,low voltage electronics.
My budget is around the 50-70€ range.
I could  stretch a little,up to 100€ if anyone has something truly better in mind.

"Better" for me means more accurate and stable/durable.
I don't care for many features if the unit does what it does well.
One thing I'd really appreciate is relatively accurate capacitance measurements along with fast response time and snappy continuity test.
I'm in Greece,btw and I'm probably going to buy thru eBay.


I also looked at some Brymen stuff but since they're almost double the price of the Uni-Ts I'm not sure yet.

[YU2]

Better buy de5000 for meausirng caps, since they can have correct capacitance but high esr od dissipation factor and thus be broken.

For metter maybe this new bm255 dave has but I don't know how much is the shipping cost?

[PedroDaGr8]

Hi all,
I'm about to buy one of these Dmm and wonder which would be better for mostly bench stuff,low voltage electronics.
My budget is around the 50-70€ range.
I could  stretch a little,up to 100€ if anyone has something truly better in mind.

"Better" for me means more accurate and stable/durable.
I don't care for many features if the unit does what it does well.
One thing I'd really appreciate is relatively accurate capacitance measurements along with fast response time and snappy continuity test.
I'm in Greece,btw and I'm probably going to buy thru eBay.


I also looked at some Brymen stuff but since they're almost double the price of the Uni-Ts I'm not sure yet.

Multimeters are NOT capacitance meters. They just aren't designed to measure capacitance well. They give you a pulse-dc capacitance value, but this value pretty much hides any and all flaws in th cacpacitor until the cap has been dead a REALLY long time.

[tino_so]

Have you seen some ESR/Component tester based on the ATMega328? There is a nice thread about those here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/$20-lcr-esr-transistor-checker-project/

You can pick up a nice one as a DIY kit for less than US$20 from eBay, perhpas with a nice case and Kelvin Leads for not much more. They are a decent option if the accuracy they provided is good enough for your requirements.

Cheers,
Tino

[tino_so]

I forgot to mention that I have a UNI-T 61E, very nice, compact and sturdy DMM, I guess it depends if the accuracy is enough for you or not, but all in all, with data logging options and all, I find it a good buy. For more accurate measurements I have other much older bench meters, that I bought second hand on eBay, but good deals are hard come by sometimes on eBay, especially once you have to factor in International shipping and handling fees.

I think the Brymen one in everyone's mind these days, is the EEVBlog one, which is pretty good. I like the continuity test will give you a visual feedback (screen backlight blinks) as well as the beep. Keysight handhelds also have that feature, and the DC Voltage accuracy I think is a bit better. Check Keysight entry level handheld DMMs, U1231A or U1232A. For a bit more you can get a more rugged one, if you are also planning to take it to some industrial environment. If data logging is a feature you find useful, then the Keysight ones would be a better choice over that specific Brymen model.

Oh, plus I find this cheat sheet really useful:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/multimeter-spreadsheet/

Good luck,
Tino

[mos6502]

I would definitely go for the UT139C. it has better features for general use and also much better construction. The continuity beeper of the UT139C is one of the best.

It does measure capacitance, but, as with all other multimeters, the measurement is completely useless if you want to determine the health of a capacitor. You need an LCR meter for that, as YU2 suggested, the DE5000 is a great meter, especially for the price.

[Fungus]

Hi all,
I'm about to buy one of these Dmm and wonder which would be better for mostly bench stuff,low voltage electronics.
My budget is around the 50-70€ range.
I could  stretch a little,up to 100€ if anyone has something truly better in mind.

100€? Dave's new meter is in your price range.

Seems like a simple choice to me...

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog2-brymeneevblog-bm235-multimeter-unboxing/

[Lightages]

I agree. The BM235 that Dave is selling is probably the best multimeter in your price range. Between the UT139C and the UT61E I would pick the UT139C as it is much better built and has a fast continuity tester. The only real benefit I see for most people with the UT61E is the PC connection and software that is included.And yes, I have had all three (the BM257S actually) and I am talking from experience.

[mos6502]

One thing to note, the Brymen meters oddly lack duty cycle measurement for some reason.

[belzrebuth]

Totally forgot about this thread

Just for the record ,I ended up with the Brymen 257s from Frankie's eBay shop and I'm very pleased with it.

I love its sturdy feel and it's pretty accurate and responsive for what I've used it so far.

The only thing that bothers me a bit with the 257 is that it's rather on the slow side when measuring capacitance but I wouldn't rely on a multimeter for these things anyway.

I definitely recommend it for general use.


I'm also considering one of these cheap chinese component testers for measuring ESR among other things.

I hope it will get the job done until I can afford to spend 120€ or so for a dedicated LCR meter.(de5000 probably)

[AndyBollo]

Comparativa de ambos Multímetros para una fácil toma de decisión. 

[cdev]

The UT61E is the best DMM for folks like me that never do mains voltage stuff...just electronics..