Help choosing a 1st multimeter

[OutThere]

go to Aliexpress they have some really nice DVM's even ones with a 5mghz o'scope for cheap. i might take a month to get it though.

[Infraviolet]

My recommendation would be any "no brand" one from a good electronics supplier (RS, Farnell, Mouser, Digikey...), NOT a no-brand from amazon, ebay, a Chinese discount supplier or a high street DIY store.

I'd suggest having autoranging, ideally with an option to switch to manual ranging if you need it.

You didn't mention in your initial post, but having ohms measurement is extremely useful, as well as continuity bleeping on this setting. And a capacitance measure can be useful too, although not often hugely accurate, it still helsp check what order of magnitude capacitances in a circuit are (capacitors in anything you are repairing are usually not labelled the way SMD resistors sometimes are, you have to measure them).

I find myself using ohms far more often than anything else, volts sometimes and amps only pretty rarely.

The price range will probably be £40 to £70 or so.

[tooki]

..true RMS. It only works on sine waveforms anyway.

Not clear what that is supposed to mean.  True RMS works on all waveforms. It is meters which are not true RMS that give correct readings only on sine waveforms.

Exactly. The ability to correctly give the RMS value of non-sinusoidal waveforms is precisely what sets true RMS meters apart from the others (they’re called “average-responding” meters, by the way).

[JacquesBBB]

If  you are starting in electronics, you will not stop at one multimeter.

Very soon, you will feel the need for a second one. So dont think that you are buying the device of your life.

My advice is too buy a cheap multimeter like this one (Aneng AN8008) which is listed for 24 $
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33001360039.html

This is a very good multimeter with 9999 counts and  all you need to do electronics.
You can see numerous reviews on Youtube.

You can test main voltage with it, but I would not advise to measure main current.

But you can consider it as your first meter, and it  will last you a long time, even if afterwards you buy a second one, you will still use this one, as it as also the advantage to be small.

EEvblog review :

[BillyO]

You might also consider something like a Fluke 8050 (bench) or 8060 (handheld).  You would be able to get a working and tested one in the price range you are looking.  I know others object to these oldies, but they can last forever and are good, solidly build 4.5 digit meters.

[EPAIII]

As recently as ten years ago, perhaps five I would have wanted a VOM/multimeter that provided things like capacitance and transistor checking. But today there are very inexpensive component checkers that do a fairly good job of checking resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, diodes, and often other individual components. You don't even need to tell them what kind of component is being tested, just hook it up and push the button and read the results. After I tried one, I purchased a second one for my other electronic workbench. They only cost around 15 or 20 USD. And I haven't seen them fail yet.

I am also looking for a new DMM but am concentrating on the ranges available and the accuracy, not the component checking ability. The only exception to that is the resistance scales which I still believe will be very useful.

My recommendation would be any "no brand" one from a good electronics supplier (RS, Farnell, Mouser, Digikey...), NOT a no-brand from amazon, ebay, a Chinese discount supplier or a high street DIY store.

I'd suggest having autoranging, ideally with an option to switch to manual ranging if you need it.

You didn't mention in your initial post, but having ohms measurement is extremely useful, as well as continuity bleeping on this setting. And a capacitance measure can be useful too, although not often hugely accurate, it still helsp check what order of magnitude capacitances in a circuit are (capacitors in anything you are repairing are usually not labelled the way SMD resistors sometimes are, you have to measure them).

I find myself using ohms far more often than anything else, volts sometimes and amps only pretty rarely.

The price range will probably be £40 to £70 or so.

[EPAIII]

Much is said here about true RMS. Here is my take on that.

I worked as a full time, professional in the electronics field for over 45 years and do more work now in my retirement. My work included routing maintenance, repairs, and design and construction. In all of that time I never once had an actual need for a true RMS measurement. Perhaps it may have been nice to know on a very few occasions, but it almost never even entered my mind. When I needed a better understanding of what was going on in a wire or cable, I reached for an oscilloscope. It was that simple:an average reading VOM or a scope.

My advice is, unless you have a definite and KNOWN need for true RMS measurements, do not worry about that feature in a meter. Other features are much more important from a practical use point of view. Accuracy, a fast acting analog like scale, auto-ranging, ease of use, safety, the number of features, and even ruggedness are far more important in my humble opinion.

As for the current emphasis on "true RMS" measurements I can only speculate that with the constant improvements in digital ICs, a much less expensive method has come into common use and the manufacturers are making the most of it. But it is strange that I do not see any of them talking about the uses of that feature.

[jonpaul]

In USA Harbour freight has a red DVM, basic but many nice features, pitfalls is just 2 ACV ranges...
$5..7 ,sometimes free with a coupon and other purchases

Got 10, give as gifts, for travel, etc

Jon

[BillyO]

In USA Harbour freight has a red DVM, basic but many nice features, pitfalls is just 2 ACV ranges...
$5..7 ,sometimes free with a coupon and other purchases

Got 10, give as gifts, for travel, etc

Jon

French humor JP?

[Bud]

My advice is too buy a cheap multimeter like this one (Aneng AN8008) which is listed for 24 $
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33001360039.html

Don't. The probe sockets on this gizmo are absolute garbage. Made from paper thin metal and do not make reliable contact with the probes.

[jonpaul]

BillyO: No joke, bought these over the years for $0, 2..3..5.

Often as a loss leader on a coupon.

Not a Fluke 87V but for 90% of non critical work its fine...or gifts!

Loose it, break it no loss!

A rel cheapo for USA beginners!


Downside: Yes chepie leads/connectors, ONLY  two ACV ranges , 200 and 250V   for mains.

The transistor checker is fun

Amicalment!

Jon

[BeBuLamar]

In USA Harbour freight has a red DVM, basic but many nice features, pitfalls is just 2 ACV ranges...
$5..7 ,sometimes free with a coupon and other purchases

Got 10, give as gifts, for travel, etc

Jon

I have a few over the years. They never last all that long.

[bdunham7]

200 and 250V   for mains.

The newer ones are marked this way and they have reduced the already paltry protection that the meters have, but they will happily (but not accurately) read voltages much higher than that.  I've had mine up to 1500VDC and 1100VAC without a hint of protest.  Just don't do it for too long as I'm sure the tiny voltage divider gets warm pretty quick.

[Zico]

From what I'm reading here, I'm thinking of actually getting different devices for different tasks instead of one that does it all. If I can get one thing that is safe for mains to test voltage at the wall / extension cable, one thing to test components as EPAIII suggested here, and a more specialized DMM, it might be a way to go.

As recently as ten years ago, perhaps five I would have wanted a VOM/multimeter that provided things like capacitance and transistor checking. But today there are very inexpensive component checkers that do a fairly good job of checking resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, diodes, and often other individual components. You don't even need to tell them what kind of component is being tested, just hook it up and push the button and read the results. After I tried one, I purchased a second one for my other electronic workbench. They only cost around 15 or 20 USD. And I haven't seen them fail yet.

I am also looking for a new DMM but am concentrating on the ranges available and the accuracy, not the component checking ability. The only exception to that is the resistance scales which I still believe will be very useful.

Do you have some recommendations for components checkers? And what DMMs would complement them considering that it doesn't need to do these tasks anymore?

[tooki]

Much is said here about true RMS. Here is my take on that.

I worked as a full time, professional in the electronics field for over 45 years and do more work now in my retirement. My work included routing maintenance, repairs, and design and construction. In all of that time I never once had an actual need for a true RMS measurement. Perhaps it may have been nice to know on a very few occasions, but it almost never even entered my mind. When I needed a better understanding of what was going on in a wire or cable, I reached for an oscilloscope. It was that simple:an average reading VOM or a scope.

My advice is, unless you have a definite and KNOWN need for true RMS measurements, do not worry about that feature in a meter. Other features are much more important from a practical use point of view. Accuracy, a fast acting analog like scale, auto-ranging, ease of use, safety, the number of features, and even ruggedness are far more important in my humble opinion.

As for the current emphasis on "true RMS" measurements I can only speculate that with the constant improvements in digital ICs, a much less expensive method has come into common use and the manufacturers are making the most of it. But it is strange that I do not see any of them talking about the uses of that feature.

While I agree that TRMS isn’t necessarily that important for most purposes, almost any multimeter that is decent in all of the important things you mention is going to be TRMS these days.

As for how they do it: I doubt it was ever all that expensive to implement once the TRMS converter chips came out. Manufacturers just charged more for it because they could, as a differentiating feature.

Heck, the Fluke 83V (average-responding sibling of the TRMS 87V) actually still contains the TRMS converter chip, probably as signal conditioning or something. It’s literally one single capacitor (and a calibration) away from having TRMS.

[nightfire]

This stuff (and as a similar example the Fluke 175, which only is one backlit display and formally lesser accuracy away from the 177) is done to cater to two major points:

- to be able to sell meters which slightly fail the specs of the top model, as rework would probably more expensive
- to be able to have a model at lower cost for cost-conscious buyers AND to be able to claim something around the lines of "We can give you that price because you do not have the top notch features of the top model"

Honestly, the 0.15 % DCV accuracy of the Fluke 175 against the 0.09% off the 177 and 179 is... only marginally worse, considering it is a 6000 count DMM.
As the LED is equipped in most PCB revisions, I also actively thought of getting myself a 175 as a second DMM and then get the keyboard map as a spare part for about 20 bucks and mod it.

[nightfire]

If  you are starting in electronics, you will not stop at one multimeter.

Very soon, you will feel the need for a second one. So dont think that you are buying the device of your life.

....

But you can consider it as your first meter, and it  will last you a long time, even if afterwards you buy a second one, you will still use this one, as it as also the advantage to be small.

In this usage scenario, I would also expect this to be a valid reasioning. Heck, as I started to get going in electronics for hobby use about 3 years ago to build my home bench, i started with one used handheld DMM from ebay- now I have 5 DMMs here (working condition...) and well, the stuff seems tp reciprocate...

For a first DMM, to get the feet wet, I also would say that TrueRMS is nice, but no dealbreaker. In most cases when repairing things it is important to know THAT voltage is there, but not exactly how the waveform runs.
So some budget version of decent quality is usually sufficient, and with my knowledge of today I also considered buying a 50€$ DMM as a secondary handheld in addition to the stuff and bench DMMs I already have.
My looks went to the Uni-T 139C, which would cover most of my  use cases except hard work at mains voltage distributions- here I have different equipment available.
Otherwise, even when repairing household appliances, usually you do NOT measure current directly with the multimeter, only check voltages. And then the often mentioned flimsy 250V glass fuse as protection for the Amps input becomes quite irrelevant.

Yes,  you have to know what you are doing (and more important: what not to do and how to have some standard procedures while working), but apart from that these devices are quite capable for doing electronic work.
Usage in the industrty for electrical work is a very different field with other requirements.

So, as the Amprobe 510 was mentioned, it also would IMHO fit the bill as a first DMM, simply to begin with. And with experience (and hopefully some saved money due to the repairs being done) a second meter or more specialized stuff like a clampmeter or probes will follow soon.

Questin for the OP: From which shops are you being able to order that charge decent shipping costs?

[Zico]

Questin for the OP: From which shops are you being able to order that charge decent shipping costs?

Amazon offers free shipping on orders above $50 (though even if it's less I can add another item I will need anyway so I will get free shipping).
That's where I found the Klein Tools https://www.amazon.com/Multimeter-Auto-Ranging-Klein-Tools-MM600/dp/B018CLOSTC
and the other models.

This store offers free shipping for orders above $25: https://www.testingster.com/testing-inspection-instruments/electrical-power-testing/multimeters/?min_price=30&max_price=80&orderby=price
This shop has the Amprobe and some Extechs at good prices I believe.

Ebay and AliExpress shipping varies a lot as it's per item basis, but there could be good things there.

In any case, I can't go over $75 (inc. shipping) because then import taxes kick in and everything becomes a lot more expensive. Even a $75 purchase becomes $90 right off the bat.

[nightfire]

For the testingster store you linked, I would suspect fraud. Selling actual Fluke DMMs for a third of the price is... questionable.

At amazon, putting israel as receiver, I get only a few brand names that I would recognize, some of them are clearly relabellers like Aneng or Kaiweets.

Good bets in the sub-75$ range are IMHO: Fluke 101 (but no Amp measurements), Uni-T 139 B or C, Uni-T 61B+

For beginning, the Fluke has a proven track record being safe and reliable, if you are a bit more into features (and do not do Amps measurements at mains voltages) a Uni-T meter could also be some nice tool to begin. Other forum members should have some hands-on experience on those. And the difference to the import limit might be invested in better test leads or hooks etc. that help with working.

[rsjsouza]

Does UAE ship to Israel?

If so, shipping might be cheaper than to my location and the Greenlee DM-200A is a Brymen BM251 and of quite decent quality.

eBay auction: #285033915626

[wizard69]

There seems to be some confusion with respect for the need for a True RMS capability.   The short here is to get it if you can find a meter in the right price range.

The long can get really deep but some comments:

• The reality is that documentation created today is often assuming that you will have TRMS meter.
• The quality of the RMS converter varies widely and can be important in some cases.
• It doesn't cost a lot these days to get a meter with TRMS and frankly it is more valuable to me than some of the half assed component testing features.   In other words I value TRMS higher than component testing features, with the exception of resistance testing.
• There are features that you should consider higher than TRMS in my opinion.   One is a back lit display.   If you intend to work on high voltage systems a properly CAT rated meter should be considered mandatory.   People might laugh at the back light but it can be a life saver in the field.   I'd even go retro with an LED screen if back lit meter can't be found reasonably.

Best of luck with this purchase.

[Zico]

Does UAE ship to Israel?

If so, shipping might be cheaper than to my location and the Greenlee DM-200A is a Brymen BM251 and of quite decent quality.

eBay auction: #285033915626

It does ship, but US$70.00 shipping while the DMM is $60. Shipping being between half of what the product costs to more than what it costs is common and is the greatest barrier here to order from abroad.

[Zico]

For the testingster store you linked, I would suspect fraud. Selling actual Fluke DMMs for a third of the price is... questionable.

At amazon, putting israel as receiver, I get only a few brand names that I would recognize, some of them are clearly relabellers like Aneng or Kaiweets.

Good bets in the sub-75$ range are IMHO: Fluke 101 (but no Amp measurements), Uni-T 139 B or C, Uni-T 61B+

For beginning, the Fluke has a proven track record being safe and reliable, if you are a bit more into features (and do not do Amps measurements at mains voltages) a Uni-T meter could also be some nice tool to begin. Other forum members should have some hands-on experience on those. And the difference to the import limit might be invested in better test leads or hooks etc. that help with working.

I think that you are right about testingster being a scam.

Fluke 101 I can get, but I read that they are more expensive than thier real value. Someone else also said that I only rarely need Amps measurement, so I don't mind not having it.
I know that Klein Tools are good (I posted some reviews to them) and are available on Amazon at a decent price, like the MM600.

About UNI-T, as I wrote in the opening comment, I read that they lie about their safety sometimes and it depends if the meter comes from China or from Europe. So the same model can be 2 different devices and I don't know how to verify what I get.

For example. this doesn't look right: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32426172140.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2isr

The 61B+ is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/UNI-T-Digital-Multimeter-Resistance-Capacitance/dp/B08NPDVR6Z/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1B3R7CFOHUYE6&keywords=Uni-T%2B139C&qid=1672583041&refinements=p_n_is_free_shipping%3A10236242011&rnid=10236241011&sprefix=uni-t%2B139c%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-1&th=1

[nightfire]

Fluke delivers in fact some value for the money they cost- I worked years with the Fluke 179 in an industrial environment and was quite happy about this.
But: For home and hobby use you usually do not need the features from a Fluke you pay the big money for, at least not for their top-of-the-line models like the 170 series or the 87V.
On amazon, the Fluke 101 is available for 44$, so very well in the price range- and Fluke is reliable with no worries about fake CAT ratings etc.

[py-bb]

This has hopefully been said but I wont ever stop preaching it:

make sure it's fused (if it can measure current) - otherwise you can't really go wrong and pick a "bad" one.

Before someone points it out, you can pick ones out that are bad for the task at hand, but that doesn't make your choice an inherently bad multimeter, just the wrong tool for the job!

I also like backlights, but yeah make sure it's fused.

I routinely have things I do where they sit out on a desk for many 10s of minutes/hours and I look at the screens, one for voltage one for current. I bought separately coloured ones to reduce chances of a mixup, but armed with a fuse even if I did mix them up nothing too bad should happen.

I've got like 7 stories where fuses saved the day with stuff I have personally been doing Or where fuses stopped the day being totally ruined anyway!