EEVblog 1378 - NEW Uni-T UT61E+ Multimeter

[free_electron]

Two disqualifiers

- numeric aspect ratio. sorry. only Fluke and HP get this right. these elongated characters are hard to read. disqualified
- non standard plug arrangement. prevents me from using things like 0.75 inch pitch bnc to banana adapters, thermocouple interfaces and so many other banana plugs on 0.75 pitch

eevblog multimeter has same issue . get those banana jacks in line. not all weirdo.

[Monkeh]

Two disqualifiers

- numeric aspect ratio. sorry. only Fluke and HP get this right. these elongated characters are hard to read. disqualified
- non standard plug arrangement. prevents me from using things like 0.75 inch pitch bnc to banana adapters, thermocouple interfaces and so many other banana plugs on 0.75 pitch

eevblog multimeter has same issue . get those banana jacks in line. not all weirdo.

I'm pretty certain they are 0.75". All my 'weirdo' ones are, despite not being in a neat line.

[free_electron]

Two disqualifiers

- numeric aspect ratio. sorry. only Fluke and HP get this right. these elongated characters are hard to read. disqualified
- non standard plug arrangement. prevents me from using things like 0.75 inch pitch bnc to banana adapters, thermocouple interfaces and so many other banana plugs on 0.75 pitch

eevblog multimeter has same issue . get those banana jacks in line. not all weirdo.

I'm pretty certain they are 0.75". All my 'weirdo' ones are, despite not being in a neat line.

but i want them in line... many pomona boxes and other 'adapters' bank on the 4 terminals to be either in line or in 'quad' (calibrators for example have ready wired blocks you simply plug in) . The key ones are the pitch between ground and Volt-ohm and ground-200mA range.  for low current measurements you may want to use coax or triax cables and then you need a bnc or to banana adapter. in the old version at least the mA/uA range is next to COM , in the new version it is too far away. the 10A range sits next to COM .. FAIL !

But the big stinker is the aspect ratio of the numbers. They are too hard to read. Fluke has the ideal ratio becasue they copied it from HP's 7 segment displays. ( fluke is actually a smidgen wider than a HP 7 segment. Also the way the segments flow into one another ( the chamfered edges ) makes a big difference in readability. The numbers need to be designed just right when it comes to width , height  , pitch and segment shape / angle. Fluke nailed it. So did HP. This elongated crap ? unreadable.

[WackyGerman]

They did some improvements what is really good , but it is still a bad meter . They sell it as an electricians meter , but it s definetively not . The CAT rating is still a lie , the fuses are only 250 V and do not have the rupture capacity they need for a proper CAT IV 600 V meter , the input protection is still lousy and the clearance is not good enough . Still many work to do for Uni-T 

[Kleinstein]

They did some improvements what is really good , but it is still a bad meter . They sell it as an electricians meter , but it s definetively not . The CAT rating is still a lie , the fuses are only 250 V and do not have the rupture capacity they need for a proper CAT IV 600 V meter , the input protection is still lousy and the clearance is not good enough . Still many work to do for Uni-T 

Not much work needed:  just replace the CAT rating with a realisting  250 V CAT 2 .

[Fungus]

They sell it as an electricians meter , but it s definetively not . The CAT rating is still a lie

Not much work needed:  just replace the CAT rating with a realisting  250 V CAT 2 .

Or... if you're an "electrician" you can buy a Fluke 101 for half the price and stop worrying about fuses.

[madires]

A sparky uses a Duspol or similar tool for checking voltages and a clamp meter for measuring current.

[WackyGerman]

Yes for 0 V check I use a voltage checker ( Fluke T150 )like demanded by the safety regulations and for current measurement I use a clamp meter , also for safety reasons . But for voltage , resistance and diode measurements I need a multimeter . But that s not the point .
The point is that UNI-T sells equipment with wrong CAT ratings , poor input protection under a wrong description , in this case as an electrician multimeter . For electricians this multimeter is absolutely not suitable .
If you label a multimeter with CAT IV rating the user expects CAT IV rating , nothing else . If you order and pay a car with 450 hp you expect a car with 450 hp , not 45 hp . If they would label the multimeter with CAT 2 and sell it as an electronics multimeter all would be fine . The problem is that UNI-T is kidding and lying so they habe a bad reputation and that s right

[madires]

I fully agree that labeling the UT61E+ as "Digital Multimeter - Electrician" is misleading nonsense which can harm people. And the common use of underrated fuses in El Cheapo DMMs is worrying. I've seen too many 250V glass fuses in DMMs.

[Lango1818]

Re UT61E+ software.
Hi all, I had a hard time finding the link for the software for the UT61E+ . The UT61E software does not work on the UT61E+. Nor would UltraDMM work.  After spending some time roaming around on the net I found this link to the software
 https://www.uni-trend.com/meters/html/product/NewProducts/UT61%20161%20Series/UT61E+.html
Worked first time, although as Dave said on his vid, I would rather have a Temp probe than the transistor HFE doodad. Especially when you can buy a component tester from around $10. I hope some finds this of some use.

[hve]

What about this meter?

Code: [Select]

RuoShui 86E digital Multimeter
Max 22000 count
Auto range
Temperature frequency capacitor with USB interface Transfer:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000178957414.html

All for under 50 European central bank inflatable coins ...

Looks pretty similar to the UT61 and has temperature as opposed to HFe nice big screen, is this the UT61E+ killer ??
Have ordered one and will share some pictures of the inner workings if you like..

[jdutky]

Does it have a proper auto-hold function? You know, where the meter will hold the current value after some short stable period (e.g. 1/10 sec) without you having to push a button (because, however useful it might be, I don't have three hands).

I've gotten really used to the auto-hold feature on my Tek DM916 and I'm not willing to pay for another digital meter unless it has gotten this right.

[hve]

It does have HOLD, single press to activate, single press to release...

[Fungus]

That's not auto-hold though.

[Trader]

Where's the 10MOhm input resistor chain? I can't see it.

Definitely give the Aneng 870 a spin but get some of these super needle-sharp gold probes to go with it:

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/33006553337.html

I have 2 pairs from 2 sellers, they are very sharp (good), but they oxide easily and the resistance is ~100 mOhm.

A good (chinese) probe has resistance around 30 mOhm.

ProbeMaster around 25 mOhm

[HKJ]

A good (chinese) probe has resistance around 0.3 Ohm.

ProbeMaster around 0.25 Ohm

I would expect about 10 times lower than that for good probes, i.e. around 30mOhm.

[Trader]

A good (chinese) probe has resistance around 0.3 Ohm.

ProbeMaster around 0.25 Ohm

I would expect about 10 times lower than that for good probes, i.e. around 30mOhm.

Yes, my mistake, the correct tested values:

I have 2 pairs from 2 sellers, they are very sharp (good), but they oxide easily and the resistance is ~100 mOhm.

A good (chinese) probe has resistance around 30 mOhm.

ProbeMaster around 25 mOhm

[rsjsouza]

- non standard plug arrangement. prevents me from using things like 0.75 inch pitch bnc to banana adapters, thermocouple interfaces and so many other banana plugs on 0.75 pitch

I'm pretty certain they are 0.75". All my 'weirdo' ones are, despite not being in a neat line.

but i want them in line... many pomona boxes and other 'adapters' bank on the 4 terminals to be either in line or in 'quad' (calibrators for example have ready wired blocks you simply plug in) . The key ones are the pitch between ground and Volt-ohm and ground-200mA range.  for low current measurements you may want to use coax or triax cables and then you need a bnc or to banana adapter. in the old version at least the mA/uA range is next to COM , in the new version it is too far away. the 10A range sits next to COM .. FAIL !

As Monkeh had said, all the meters I have/had that feature the triangular arrangement are also appropriately spaced to use the banana adapters in both current ranges - something impossible with the inline arrangement. But I also like the inline arrangement in larger meters. YMMV.

But the big stinker is the aspect ratio of the numbers. They are too hard to read. Fluke has the ideal ratio becasue they copied it from HP's 7 segment displays. ( fluke is actually a smidgen wider than a HP 7 segment. Also the way the segments flow into one another ( the chamfered edges ) makes a big difference in readability. The numbers need to be designed just right when it comes to width , height  , pitch and segment shape / angle. Fluke nailed it. So did HP. This elongated crap ? unreadable.

free_electron, I suspect you would be surprised how similar the displays of various meters are these days. Check my page at:
https://sites.google.com/view/vbeletronico/display-de-mult%C3%ADmetros

[joeqsmith]

Nice meter, though 20A DC measurement, with a 10A fuse...... Guess it is the same current shunt, just with the "30 seconds maximum" there to prevent you blowing the fuse too often.

Waiting for Joe to blow it up, and if it will survive the grill starter lowest energy test that he has. My bets are it might just barely pass, but will fail on the higher energy tests. But at least they spent the 30c and added in the 3 MOV's to it.
...

I was recently asked about this meter and was told they had copied many of my changes to the 61E.  Doing a quick search, I didn't come across a schematic for it.     

The 61E would fail the first round of tests, pretty much like most UNI-T products I've looked at.  I gave up some of the frequency response to improve it's ability to handle an ESD event.  The PTCs were replaced and MOVs were added to handle the slower waveforms.   
The 61E had some of the worse burden voltages I have seen.   I had added a gain stage to improve one of the ranges. 
It had the worse temperature drift, second to my CEM meter.   I used a diode and resistor to compensate the reference.  It's now one of my more stable meters.
They had placeholders for the larger fuses which I took advantage of.  I then designed and constructed a new shunt for it.  Some of the PCB had to be beefed up.   

This meter would take some abuse now as I have shown in my testing.   

[jspencerg]

This upgrade is obviously not perfect,  but meter has some good qualities.  Mr. Smith is the acknowledged expert about the 61e considering his extensive testing and improvements.  Joe, I realize your interests are elsewhere these days,  but could you give the 61e+ a look and assess the functional changes? I feel I've learned something by watching you modify the 61e.

[Ricks]

The main difference between ut-61e+ and ut-161 is the fuses. ut-161 have larger 1000V fuses.

USB communication:

1. When the supplied usb cabel (D-09)  is insertedn in the meter the 'S' for serial communication lights up in the display (automatically)

2. if a ut-d07a blutooth dongle is inserted  it is not detected, the 'S' do not light up (a newer ut-d07b dongle is needed ?)

3. the apps, iDMM 1.0 (ut-71/ut-171/ut-181), iDMM 2.0 (ut-61/ut-161/ut171/ut-181). It did not install on an older android 5.5 phone.

[Per Hansson]

Hi Dave, it would be cool if you could test this new meter with mains on ohms mode.
It was an easy way to kill the old one, I'm interested if the new one is any better.
I posted in Joe's thread here with more details:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/msg3698545/#msg3698545

[floobydust]

FYI  UT61E+
Dave tried it 245VAC 50Hz on Ohms and it survived: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/msg3713581/#msg3713581
joeqsmith tried it 300VAC 60Hz on Ohms and it survived: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/msg3713920/#msg3713920
The PTC seems to cover it ok.

[Scherms]

Sorry, for the regular UT61E, not the UT61E+

[Per Hansson]

That schematic posted above is for the regular UT61E, not the UT61E+