another

[GEuser]

Q

[Lightages]

Sorry to give you the bad news, but the fact that it has a transistor tester socket is a dead giveaway that it is not a meter you would want. When a useless feature like that is added it is a sure thing the meter is not designed or built very well. It looks like a MiniPa to me but I can't be sure. In China, they even copy the copies.

[retiredcaps]

Took a bit, but I believe it is

http://www.holdpeak.com/en/introduce.html

http://www.holdpeak.com/en/displayproduct001.html?proID=248700

[wiss]

It might not be the one you'd want for high power circuits, but the hFE feature can be _very_ handy on the bench!

[sleemanj]

not a meter you would want.

Sigh, here we go again.  There is a certain "meter elitism" that goes around, not just here, but in EE in general, it's ugly, and it needs to stop. 

It will be perfectly acceptable for 95% of hobbiests, transistor test socket or not. 

It will be accurate enough.  It will be precise enough.  It will be reliable enough.  And it will be safe enough.

[Wytnucls]

Very average meter, with a few redeeming features, selling for 100$ in Australia. Real value should be around 50$, at most.
Has the CE marking, but doesn't comply with Euro regulations because of the 250V fuses.

Pretty white version: 

[Fungus]

Sigh, here we go again.  There is a certain "meter elitism" that goes around, not just here, but in EE in general, it's ugly, and it needs to stop. 

It will be perfectly acceptable for 95% of hobbiests, transistor test socket or not. 

When it comes to measuring values I've seen $4 multimeters that are as accurate as Flukes.

Would I connect one to the local substation to take a reading? No, but for hobby use, working with USB power and batteries, why not...?

Seems better (to me) to buy a few $4 multimeters while you're saving up for a Fluke than a single $50 multimeter thinking it will last the rest of your life.

Quite often you need to use two multimeters simultaneously (or even more). What do the elitists do then?

Having said that ... there's a massive variance between $4 multimeters, even between meters that look identical on the outside. Some are clones of a clone of a clone of a $4 multimeter. It's quite incredible the lengths they go to to save 0.001 cents.  I should do a teardown.

[wiss]

...
Quite often you need to use two multimeters simultaneously (or even more). What do the elitists do then?

2 x 8050 + 1 x 8060 + Keithley 177 + Keithley 192 + Prema 6001 + Solartron 7075 + Tillquist 4?? 

The one I had with hFE broke down and it was to cheap for me to bother fixing...

[macboy]

not a meter you would want.

Sigh, here we go again.  There is a certain "meter elitism" that goes around, not just here, but in EE in general, it's ugly, and it needs to stop. 

It will be perfectly acceptable for 95% of hobbiests, transistor test socket or not. 

It will be accurate enough.  It will be precise enough.  It will be reliable enough.  And it will be safe enough.

I agree. This comment about the transistor tester socket flies around every so often. And I know why: Fluke has never put one on theirs. There. That's the reason. It's Fluke fan-boys fanning flames.
I have used the hFE test on my (cheapest) meters, and it has proven to be very useful.

[Fungus]

The most one thing I wanted is the 800ma on the ma range ,

Burden voltage would be huge. You'd probably drop at least 2V in the meter.

For currents like that just use the 10A range, most meters have 2 decimal places for that. Does it really matter if it's 800mA or 805mA?

(It might matter, it's just not very likely that it matters...)

I'm tired of blowing fuses as 250/500ma just isn't enough for me ...

That's why you always start on the 10A range and move downwards.

I did a little multimeter workshop last week and told people to bring their own meters from home. Not ONE of them had a working fuse on the mA range, including the guy who brought a Fluke.   

[Excavatoree]

Seems better (to me) to buy a few $4 multimeters while you're saving up for a Fluke than a single $50 multimeter thinking it will last the rest of your life.

Quite often you need to use two multimeters simultaneously (or even more). What do the elitists do then?

I buy used Flukes for 4-20 dollars each.   I've purchased cheap 4$ meters, they practically fall apart.  Elitist = not wanting to waste money on crap?

[Fungus]

I buy used Flukes for 4-20 dollars each.

I wish I could do that...

[Fungus]

I know what you mean and thanks but I did not explain everything as I'm lazy and it takes time

You should get a Fluke. $12 per fuse will soon get you on the straight and narrow 

[Wytnucls]

The Fluke (Tektronix) 185 doesn't have a mA fuse. The meter switches ranges automatically between 500mA and 10A with a best resolution of 10nA.

[Lightages]

not a meter you would want.

Sigh, here we go again.  There is a certain "meter elitism" that goes around, not just here, but in EE in general, it's ugly, and it needs to stop. 

It will be perfectly acceptable for 95% of hobbiests, transistor test socket or not. 

It will be accurate enough.  It will be precise enough.  It will be reliable enough.  And it will be safe enough.

I don't think that pointing out a commonly known fact about meters is elitism. It may be an OK meter but no one here has any experience with it to say, and the first thing I see is it has a transistor socket and I am very suspicious of its quality. The fact that it has that tester means it probably couldn't meet any CAT rating standards. I can see from the images it does not have a CAT rating at all and is only protected on the inputs to 250VDC. It is definitely a meter only for electronics and should be kept away from the wall socket and anything high energy. It is not safe enough for all round use and any owner should be informed instead of just letting them think they have something safe. Information is power.

So if I were to recommend a meter less expensive as an alternative to this one, I am being elitist?

[Wytnucls]

The booklet says that it is rated as CAT II 1000V as per IEC(6)1010, but should really be downgraded to CAT II 250V, at best.
Overload protection on the capacitance and resistance selections is only good up to 250V.
The hFE constant test current is listed as 10uA.
The Gossen 30M which has an opening in the enclosure for an isolated mains connection has a safety rating of CAT II 600V.
The HoldPeak meter has a lamp in the selector switch, which may bring another safety issue to the fore.

[MrsR]

not a meter you would want.

Sigh, here we go again.  There is a certain "meter elitism" that goes around, not just here, but in EE in general, it's ugly, and it needs to stop. 

It will be perfectly acceptable for 95% of hobbiests, transistor test socket or not. 

It will be accurate enough.  It will be precise enough.  It will be reliable enough.  And it will be safe enough.

Have to agree with you there. If you are testing Hv AC circuits I would use a top quality one but for general electronics if it's accurate then great I bought a Vici 24$AU Ebay cheapy for a third backup and it's a good buy for what I needed it for and my Son can use it without giving me the shudders.

ALL THE BEST
Rachael

[Lightages]

I am sorry but I disagree. A cheap meter for your son is asking for trouble. If he is careless enough that you worry about the meter, then he is careless enough you should worry more about him. A good quality meter will protect him better, and itself better.

[Lightages]

The booklet says that it is rated as CAT II 1000V as per IEC(6)1010, but should really be downgraded to CAT II 250V, at best.
Overload protection on the capacitance and resistance selections is only good up to 250V.
The hFE constant test current is listed as 10uA.
The Gossen 30M which has an opening in the enclosure for an isolated mains connection has a safety rating of CAT II 600V.
The HoldPeak meter has a lamp in the selector switch, which may bring another safety issue to the fore.

I never said that ALL meters with some kind of opening are junk. I said that they are suspect until proven otherwise. The Gossen has all the credentials and third party test results to prove its safety.

The meter in question breaks all the rules and lies if it says it is actually CATII/1000V.

I will not apologize to anyone who says this meter is worth its price or that it is safe for anything other than bench electronic use. There is a much better value for a lower price, and much safer, than the meter in question. (Not arguing with anything Wytnucls has said, he is just providing facts)

[deth502]

as one with a butt load of cheap meters, i would not at all call myself an "elitist", that said, weather the meter in question will serve the user well or not, i really think you could do much, much MUCH better for that price. id call that a $20-25 meter at best. $100 is robbery.

[wraper]

In the defense I would say $40-50 as it has a true rms after all.

[Wytnucls]

I never said that ALL meters with some kind of opening are junk. I said that they are suspect until proven otherwise. The Gossen has all the credentials and third party test results to prove its safety.

The meter in question breaks all the rules and lies if it says it is actually CATII/1000V.

I will not apologize to anyone who says this meter is worth its price or that it is safe for anything other than bench electronic use. There is a much better value for a lower price, and much safer, than the meter in question. (Not arguing with anything Wytnucls has said, he is just providing facts)

What I was trying to say is that based on the Gossen rating, any meter with an opening in the case could not have a genuine safety rating higher than CAT II 600V.

[Lightages]

Aha, OK, sorry misread the context. 

[Wytnucls]

I was not going to pull it to bits as I have been posting too much as of late , nearly spamming the website imo , but I also notice at the same time there does not seem to be a picture of the pcb anywhere so far looking about .

A picture of the PCB would be informative, as little is know about this company. Seems that everywhere you look in China, a new DMM manufacturing firm appears out of the woodwork. While spending time in China, I came to realize that there is a lot of cooperation between manufacturers. If one firm gets a large order it can't fulfill straightaway, the work gets farmed out somewhere else.

The meter should be safe enough if you stick to a CAT II 250V rating environment, especially with the A/mA jack blocking system.
Don't expect very accurate measurements though. It has the worst specs I have ever seen on a true RMS 6000 count meter.

[retiredcaps]

It looks like I have to take a picture just for interests sake of the PCB yes?

Yes, a picture of the PCB would be appreciated since we know very little about HoldPeak.