Witch Multimeter for electronic hobbyist?

[ElectricPower]

Hello boys and girls

I wan't to buy a good hobbyist multimeter for electronic use  with high resolution and for measuring uA and mA etc. i have looket at Aneng, Uni-t and other brands and i just do not know what to choose.

I do not want to spend all my money on Fluke.

I'm also open for trying bench top multimeters, but they are expensive....?

Nice display with backlight is also wanted...

[AaronLee]

I don't know of any multimeters which are haunted.  For my personal use, with similar needs as yours, I searched threads here and came up with the Aneng AN870 and the EEVBlog BM786. I purchased both of them and I'm happy with them for what they are and the prices. They both seem popular with other members here, so I'd suggest having a look at the specs of those two for starters, and see what you think, and determine what your price range is.

I purchased the Aneng via AliExpress, and the BM786 via Amazon.

[ElectricPower]

Thanks for quick feedback

Is the EEVblog 121GW multimeter any good? I have seen the test done of Joe Smith and i have read a lot of complaints regards to 121GW. Is BM786 better than 121GW?

[AaronLee]

Thanks for quick feedback

Is the EEVblog 121GW multimeter any good? I have seen the test done of Joe Smith and i have read a lot of complaints regards to 121GW. Is BM786 better than 121GW?

I didn't do a thorough comparison between the EEVBlog 121GW and the BM786, but the BM786 was cheaper, easier to purchase (Amazon), and in just looking quickly at the specs seemed to be a better meter for my usage. Maybe someone else who knows more can comment about the differences, issues, etc.

[AaronLee]

I'm also open for trying bench top multimeters, but they are expensive....?

And to address that point, I've seen it often said that you can't have too many multimeters. There's times when you need two or more at once for measuring multiple things. That's why I chose those two portable multimeters I did. But for even higher accuracy I needed something more, and wanted a bench top multimeter. That was a tough decision for me. I've been happy with the Siglent range of test equipment for the value and features/quality they provide, so took a long hard look at their meters. But in the end, I decided that the cost savings wasn't nearly as much, compared to the cost savings of Siglent oscilloscopes and function generators over the big name brands. So for a bench top multimeter, I personally went with the Keithley DMM6500. Based on your comment about Flukes, I'd guess the Keithley is way over your budget. It is a very nice bench top multimeter though, and I have a few occasions where I need that additional accuracy it gives, and have a bit more confidence in it's readings than I think I would if it was a Siglent bench top. It was though a close call between the two in regards to my decision making.

I prefer a bench top multimeter in general for what I consider to be overall easier to read displays, and without the need to ever worry about the battery going dead. Plus better connectivity options in general for bench top multimeters. I use all three, but prefer (enjoy) to use the Keithley most of the time.

[rstofer]

I have a bunch of DMMs and a couple of VOMs but the one I reach for is the Aneng AN8008.  It works well, it has a uA scale and it's cheap.  Yes, one of my other meters is a Fluke 189 which cost nearly $400 at the time (20 years ago).  I still reach for the Aneng...

You will need more than one DMM so at least one of them might as well be the AN 8008.  Both of my EEVblog meters work well but they're a little more bulky than the AN8008.

I wouldn't trust the CAT rating on very many meters that weren't Fluke but I don't tend to use my DMMs to look at mains voltages.  Make your own choice here but I use my meters on my electronics bench at 12V or less.  The CAT rating is meaningless.

https://www.tequipment.net/cat-ratings-explained/

[Cerebus]

"Witch Multimeter"?

You'll want one with a hex display then. 

I'm here all week folks...

[Cerebus]

OK, after that you deserve a serious reply.

Of all my multifarious meters (all the way up to a 6 1/2 digit Keysight 34461A) the two that I reach for most are my (first generation) Fluke 25 and its recently acquired cousin the Fluke 27. Simple, only 3.5 digits but accurate, reliable, indestructible, and available secondhand for very little money.

[joeqsmith]

Hello boys and girls

I wan't to buy a good hobbyist multimeter for electronic use  with high resolution and for measuring uA and mA etc. i have looket at Aneng, Uni-t and other brands and i just do not know what to choose.

I do not want to spend all my money on Fluke.

I'm also open for trying bench top multimeters, but they are expensive....?

Nice display with backlight is also wanted...

It really depends on you.   Your posting in the beginner area, so I assume you are a beginner.   Here is a very old lab with a analog meter built in.  I would say its useful for the experiments they are having you run.     

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/show-your-multimeter!/msg3625497/#msg3625497

I started out with a old analog VTVM.  For my 13th birthday, I got another analog meter that I used for many years.   Still today, most of the time when looking at current, I am not using the DMMs built-in shunt.  Instead I opt for external shunts, transformers, other... 

If you are just starting out, I recommend learning the basics.   As far as the Dave's 121GW vs Brymen BM786, if there is something specific you want to see, let me know.   

Here are a few videos on measuring current.

Using an external resistor with the Fluke 101


Simple powered shunt


For higher currents:


Current transformer:


My first DMM:

[ElectricPower]

As far as the Dave's 121GW vs Brymen BM786, if there is something specific you want to see, let me know.

Joe Smith tested 121GW and the result was not wery good. I just think it's a little strange that Dave talks rubbish about all other meters but not his own, when other (Joe Smith) just think it's crap.

I think 121GW is i nice meter to look at, but if it fall apart after one year i do not want it...

[HB9EVI]

let's say: every meter for its purpose...

Dave is right about his critique on Uni-T and others about missing protection, MOVs a.s.o. and the often flimsy construction; but that doesn't mean that those meters are not usable and worth the buck they cost
if you keep away from mains and power electronics, there's no harm using those meters in the lab and they can do you a good service for a long time

[Doctorandus_P]

You can watch and read a lot of reviews, but often half of those reviews is about the instrument, and half of the review is about the reviewer.

You also have not said much about what sort of meter you want, but I'm guessing you're in sort of the same ballpark as me.
I've bought some of the el-cheapo's and find them ... inadequate. I've bought two Aneng AN8009 meters, and a few weeks after buying them one of showed a 1% 1k resistor as 960 Ohms, unless you fiddle with the rotary switch or wiring, then it sometimes shows the correct value.

There is also no chance in hell that I will ever buy a fluke. Sure it's quality, and they're reliable, but only people who have an excessive amount of money or fanboys buy those.

I thought about buying an 121GW, but decided not to. It has a whole bunch of unusual ranges, which I really do like, but the quality of the meter is not on par with it's price, but that also depends a bit in how you calculate in those extra ranges, which also need extra hardware. Final decision of not buying it was the closed firmware. If the software for this thing was fully open I likely would have bought it.

I really like the Brymen meters. Quality is quite good (although maybe a tad less then the flukes) but they're half the price or less.
Brymen meters start around EUR70, and you can get "lots of digits" for EUR150 with the BM867s. (But not all digits are meaningful in all ranges).

Just had a look at a store in the EU, (welectron) and they also sell the 121GW for EUR250.

I don't give much about CAT ratings. I mostly use a DMM for low voltage use and the fuses are horribly expensive. (and as a beginner you will blow them. (Having a DMM that beeps at you when the probe is in the current socket while the dial is in a voltage measurement really helps here). On top of that, everything after the main fuses in your house is CAT 2 anyway, and it's not such a big deal if half the meter explodes and lets out smoke if you do something really stupid. Just as long as the casing itself stay's mostly closed and there are no metal parts sticking out it will scare you but it's still reasonably safe (for you personally, the meter won't work anymore after that).

I am also interested in benchtop meters, but the meter I want does not exist unfortunately.
The "professional" meters start at around EUR500, and they all have a 30cm or so deep cabinet, and I have no room for that.

I was intrigued by the (relatively) new Owon xdm1041. The price is right, it has a nice front panel. Nicely readable TFT screen, but in the end it's just a handheld meter in a fancier box. It does not have decent data logging capabilities and it has unacceptably slow auto ranging for a benchtop meter. It is an extremely hackable meter though. The DMM  with galvanic isolation is on a separate PCB from the microcontroller, and you can simply wire in you favorite microcontroller and start experimenting. Digilent has an "arduino shield" with the same DMM chip, and also some relatively cheap Chinese models have the same HY3131, but the chip is hard to buy separately, so building your own based on that chip is difficult.

There is a vichi brand tabletop meter that is apparently half decent, but I don't like monochrome LCD's (although it has backlight (Continuously on?))

If you're interested in tabletop meters, and don't want to spend too much, then I recommend to build your own. You can get quite decent ADC with built in voltage reference (such as ADS1118) for a few euro's, and with a bit of tinkering with analog switches for auto ranging and a bit of protection it's easily turned into a decent volt meter, and with small additions you can create other ranges. With 860 samples/s it's also plenty fast for very quick auto ranging.
You can also build a few different meters. Having more then one DMM is almost a must for electronics work. For example to measure current and voltage simultaneously, or monitoring voltages at different points in a circuit simultaneously.
Scullcom has published quite a lot of projects for measurement equipment, and open sourced it, so you can use those projects as a start and make your own variant.

[armandine2]

i just do not know what to choose.

One of the reasons I don't have a Brymen meter is the look is not working for me - I also find Dave's blue option an unappealing colour - given that I do have a PeakTech meter whose original brand name I haven't researched.

If you want to  check their specs:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/PeakTech/page/B53F40FF-4E0D-44C8-BCFB-412208B54A75?ref_=ast_bln

[ElectricPower]

Wow!

Peaktech looks like a wery exiting multimeter for a reasonable price

[joeqsmith]

As far as the Dave's 121GW vs Brymen BM786, if there is something specific you want to see, let me know.

Joe Smith tested 121GW and the result was not wery good. I just think it's a little strange that Dave talks rubbish about all other meters but not his own, when other (Joe Smith) just think it's crap.

I think 121GW is i nice meter to look at, but if it fall apart after one year i do not want it...

Even 10+ years out, I wouldn't expect to see any problems with a meter costing this much.   Of course if it just sits on a shelf, and you made sure to remove the batteries, it should last a very long time.  I wasn't impressed with the 121GWs function switch wear, not to mention the several other problems. 

For my hobby use, I am far more concern about the EMC standards than safety.   I want a meter than can survive some small transients and not have to be tossed.   I was very surprised to see the grill starter cause the 121GW to start to exhibit high enough leakage to throw it out of spec.   Normally, I only see this with the really bottom end meters, like UNI-T.   With our dry winters, ESD can be a major problem.   I also do a fair bit of work with low energy high voltages, and again, would like a product that can handle some amount of abuse.    This is where companies like Fluke and Brymen really shine.  Sadly, Fluke doesn't offer a meter I would be interested in.  I like the old Fluke 189 which was a nice basic meter.   

[ElectricPower]

Thanks for good answer

What do you think about PeakTech multimeters? Just another random brand, or is it good shit?

[CharlotteSwiss]

I have some Uni-T multimeters, I'm satisfied 

[ElectricPower]

I bought an Uni-t 61E in an norwegian store for 7 mounth ago. I turned it on in the car and it did't work. Continuity test did not work, and the backlight flickered.

I turned it back and get my money back. It just felt cheap and not worth the money. (120 dollar). It's alot cheaper from China, but still, i think i not want that one.

[joeqsmith]

Thanks for good answer

What do you think about PeakTech multimeters? Just another random brand, or is it good shit?

Sorry but I have not looked at any products from them.   They offer a very wide variety of products.   The handheld meters I am looking at have the TUV and GS marks.   I think if I were to run one, it would be the PeakTech 3442.     

I bought an Uni-t 61E in an norwegian store for 7 mounth ago. I turned it on in the car and it did't work. Continuity test did not work, and the backlight flickered.

I turned it back and get my money back. It just felt cheap and not worth the money. (120 dollar). It's alot cheaper from China, but still, i think i not want that one.

Interesting as my 61E came without a backlight.   Assuming yours was a 61E, there are certainly different flavors of the same model number.   There's a whole thread dedicated to that meter here.   

[james_s]

"Witch Multimeter"?

You'll want one with a hex display then. 

I'm here all week folks...

A similar thought popped into my head when I saw the thread. The joke might not make sense to someone who is not a native English speaker so I'll provide a hint, the word that was obviously intended is "which", the sound is identical but the meaning is very different. Isn't English fun?

On that note, one of my coworkers recently joked that "If the engineer who designed English worked for me, I would fire him on the spot."

[james_s]

I bought an Uni-t 61E in an norwegian store for 7 mounth ago. I turned it on in the car and it did't work. Continuity test did not work, and the backlight flickered.

I turned it back and get my money back. It just felt cheap and not worth the money. (120 dollar). It's alot cheaper from China, but still, i think i not want that one.

I suspect the battery was low, many meters (and other devices) will behave strangely with low batteries. If it felt cheap for the money then returning it is reasonable though.

[CharlotteSwiss]

I bought an Uni-t 61E in an norwegian store for 7 mounth ago. I turned it on in the car and it did't work. Continuity test did not work, and the backlight flickered.

I turned it back and get my money back. It just felt cheap and not worth the money. (120 dollar). It's alot cheaper from China, but still, i think i not want that one.

 
I know people who bought a Fluke only to find out they had some problems ..; this is to say that you have probably been out of luck. I have the UT71 and it works great (and the ut210 clamp meter, too, is worth more than the money I paid for it)
 

[rsjsouza]

I read your posts but I am still unsure where you are going to use the meter. If it is on the bench and low voltage circuits, some of the options above are reasonable: Aneng AN870 (Richmeters RM219) has a great price/performance. Richmeters RM113D is also a very entry level that is well built mechanically at a very reasonable price. You already have a bad experience with the UT61E, but it has a great set of features for the price. Another one that is quite well built is the Uni-T UT139C. All these multimeters are electrically fragile, therefore are useful for the purpose of low level electronics and the occasional outlet measurement.

The Brymen BM235 is an excellent entry-level meter with good protection. The BM257 gives you a bit more features and robustness at a bit higher price. The BM786 starts to put you into the "serious" range of meters. Joe also tested the Fluke 101 and found out it is electrically indestructible - my experience with it, however, revealed a lacklustre build quality with two units I had. Also, it is a very basic unit w.r.t. features.

Good luck in your quest!

[xavier60]

This ‎Thsinde model runs on a 9V battery and is less likely to be destroyed by electrolyte leakage than DMMs that are powered by AAA cells.
The only annoyance so far is the auto power down warning beeps, like the Anengs do.

https://www.amazon.com/Autoranging-Multimeter-Temperature-Capacitance-Transistors/dp/B075WRQYX5/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Thsinde&qid=1630917988&sr=8-3

[ElectricPower]

Thanks for all answers

I decided to try different types of multimeters, so i ordered five multimeters from AliExpress.

I ordered:
- TOOLTOP ET8134
- Aneng AN870
- Aneng AN8009
- Aneng Q10
- Bside S20 EMF Black