| Electronics > Beginners |
| First DMM? |
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| mtdoc:
--- Quote from: rhb on July 12, 2018, 03:14:01 am ---Not sure where you live. But if you're in the US I suggest you buy a pack of gum at Harbor Freight and get a free DMM. --- End quote --- I've got several of the HF freebies around. They're fine for throwing in the glove box of your car, checking battery voltages, etc. And yes, you can use them on an electronics bench if speed and high resolution/ accuracy is not important but they have several short comings. No continuity buzzer for one. And they should be kept far away from anything high energy. Besides, the OP specifically stated: --- Quote ---First of all: I’m the “buy it right and buy it once” kind of guy. I know there are plenty of cheap meters to be had, but I want one that is safe, fairly well featured, and long lasting. --- End quote --- The HF meters are as far away from that as you can get. |
| rhb:
--- Quote from: xani on July 12, 2018, 11:24:58 am --- --- Quote from: rhb on July 12, 2018, 03:14:01 am ---Not sure where you live. But if you're in the US I suggest you buy a pack of gum at Harbor Freight and get a free DMM. With a cal they are good to better than 0.1%. And you can do the cal with some fresh batteries. All you need is the right coupon. --- End quote --- Life is too short for non-autoranging DMM ^-^. Also non-fused 10A range is something I'd avoid for someone that's just starting. If I got one for free sure I'd toss it in a toolbox as spare, but I woudn't want to pay for one --- Quote ---The test probes are fragile, but a bit of hot melt glue where the wire goes into the probe is supposed to solve that. --- End quote --- I think that's all cheapish meters, good probes cost more than them for the most part --- End quote --- The 10 A range is fused. These are the modern equivalent of a Fluke 8000A except for not being rated to 1200 V. Beginners should not be playing with high voltages, so that hardly matters. A beginner should be conscious at *all* times of what they expect the meter to read. A manual ranging meter encourages developing safe work habits. Autoranging meters tend to encourage just poking the probes in. That can get very spectacular if it's a CRT or microwave oven HV section no matter what DMM you're using. A well equipped electronics test bench is not cheap. I've got more of the HF units that I can count (or find). I've had only one fail. A 34401A certainly meets the OP's requirements, but I think all would agree it's rather overkill for a beginner. The HF DMMs are one of the few Chinese T&M devices I don't dislike. By the time you add up a DMM, DSO, AWG and PSU it's not cheap. You can fix a lot of things with just a DMM, but you *really* need to know what you're doing to be able to do that. I just thought I should point out that a DMM is like your first shot of heroin. After that you want more. The TEA thread is testimony to that problem. So buying more than you need at any stage is questionable. And it's pretty hard to beat free. |
| innkeeper:
--- Quote from: mtdoc on July 12, 2018, 03:54:31 pm ---The HF meters are as far away from that as you can get. --- End quote --- not that I am recommending this meter .. just showing that some harbor fright stuff is less crappier then other harbor fright items. https://www.harborfreight.com/electricians-hvac-contractor-trms-multimeter-64019.html |
| james_s:
The free HF meters are great for keeping in the car in case you need to do a little roadside troubleshooting, at least if you drive old/high mileage cars like I do. I wouldn't get one as a first or only meter though, they are not what I would consider safe for use on mains voltage. While it's hard to go wrong with a Fluke, there are lots of other options. Just make sure you get something that is safely designed, especially as a beginner it's easy to do something like try to measure 120V with the meter set up to measure current. |
| ttelectronic:
Been quite happy with the BM235 |
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