Show your Multimeter!

[eevblogfan]

hello

well , I am setting up my lab , so I have 3 meters and I am working for another budget (for rigol-1052E oscilloscope ) and maybe function gen and counter are next ,

I know that 5.5 digit HP-3478A 303,000 count and the 4.5 digit 50,000 count fluke 287 are over kill for newbie like me , but I wanted a high quality meters and low drift one's (I am working hard for the budget so call me stupid or so will not match the reality ) and all of those cost me total of 781.3$ (including in't shipping and customs )  farther more - the fluke 87-V and HP-3478A are used (the HP came calibrated within the 170$ price ! ) , Quite surprisingly the fluke 87-V came well-well within speck and by few of he's voltage ranges he follows tight to the hp as well as +-1Dgt (the 287 is only by +- 3Dgt while quoted out by 20 on mVDC)

[voidptr]

hi 

for my first message here, i want to brag too so ...

here my multimeters 

the one on the left is a Mastercraft from CanadianTire Store, it is good i used it  time to time  when i need  more precision for small noob electronic projects ...

i used most of the time the 2 Equus on the right, i needed 2 multimeters for power measurement and for poking all around house and car so i got them in special at Napa store few years ago , they are great !!! )

[TiN]

Hi all



Enjoy, 2400 is not exactly multimeter tho, but rest are
Got 2400 broken and fixed just week ago (had broken VFD)

[DRT]

The Agilent U1241A meters were clearance items from RS (First one turned up with no leads so they sent me another one. They didn't want the first one back!). The Fluke 8840A was from ebay - 10GOhm input impedance up to 20V, works great apart from a fading VFD display.

[bullet308]

In all their glory:

[Quiggers]

uni-t ut60a



not my actual meter, but the same as mine, just too lazy to take a pic and upload it.

i also owned a ut30 (if memory serves) which i passed on to my little brother, a good unit for under €15
the ut60 set me back just over €60 but has earned its keeping over and over again.

I eventually got its software to run under windows7 but the refresh rate of the captured waveform is too slow to be useful

[hlavac]

Alright, I'm in... not really a brand, but not too cheap and works reasonably well.
I have thrown out my old analog one years ago, it rusted

[T4P]

It's okay, i threw out my analog sanwa years ago because it is rendered beyond repairable back then 

Alright, I'm in... not really a brand, but not too cheap and works reasonably well.
I have thrown out my old analog one years ago, it rusted

That's a V&A i think?

[hlavac]

This one. Axiomet seems to be some sort of east european brand. Can't find a "made in china" sticker on it but it may be a chinese rebrand or something.

[T4P]

This one. Axiomet seems to be some sort of east european brand. Can't find a "made in china" sticker on it but it may be a chinese rebrand or something.

VA18B .

[mianchen]

Just found this thread when searching for something I was looking on eBay - I feel that I should post my multimeters too.

1. HP3468A, got it off eBay for £60 incl postage.
2. VC97.
3. VC99, bought these two off eBay too. Both work fine for my hobbyist needs, £50 for both VC97 and 99.
4. DT-830B, I knew it was gonna be a piece of crap, but I still bought it to find out 'how bad can a dirt cheap DMM be', this one was £4.99 free post. It was CRAP, I had to ditch the test probes and solder a pair of leads to it -  the sockets have a thick layer of oxidised copper and the probes were flimsy. Well, for less than a fiver, I can't ask for too much.
5. This one is in the 2nd picture, it's part of a 'Universal Electronics System' (more details here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/metex-universal-combined-test-instrument-systemsstations-a-look-inside/). I bought the whole 'system' for £50 incl delivery. The DMM was dead so the seller refunded me £25. I later managed to fix it. Again, it's probably not a great DMM, but hey, it's good enough for me. And for £25 you get a 19999 count DMM, a tripple output (0-30V 2A, 5V 1A, 15V 2A) power supply, a crappy function gen and an "ok" frequency counter I think it's a good deal.
6. I recently bought a Solartron 7075 off eBay for £29, it seems 'working', will add to the thread when it was confirmed working or repaired.
7. (Not in the pictures) I have 2 analog meters and an earlier version of DT-830 (or something similar) that I bought 20 years ago when I was a kid. They were left somewhere in my parents house back in China after I went to university - will find them when I next visit my mom&dad.


oh, the shiny Rigol DS1102 is my new piece of kit that I got from Germany last week after my old CRO is dead (will still try to repair it)...

[PA4TIM]

A part of my collection of multimeters.

[saturation]

PA4TIM, your meters were a clue:  a quick look at your website shows your lab is fantastic.

http://www.pa4tim.nl/?page_id=2

[M. András]

im curious about the connectors in the keithly 2000 and in the analog meters those looks intresting, whats the typ of the banana plugs?

[PA4TIM]

The stackable bananas in the same color of the wire are just cheap cables from conrad. I use them normaly not for measuring.

The fat yellow cable is triax. Got two versions. One has a bnc on one end ( and a bnc to bnana adapter on the meter) and the outer shield is used for shielding.

The other version has 3 bananas on each side. The bananas are good quality gold plated lammelle versions. This cables I can use for guarded or shielded measurements. Also have 4 wire cables, plus/minus, 2 x sense and the shielding for shield  or guard. This for calibrators, kelving connections, 4 wire powersupplys ect.

I also have made cables made from RG58. Two bannanas on each side. Use them unabllanced but also 2 paralleled. The shields in that case for instance as shielding or guard. In some cases a guard on the input ( measure) cable and grounded at the output( source)

[AndyC_772]

I guessed they're ordinary stacking banana plugs, with DVM probes plugged in that have 4mm adapters attached.

[shebu18]

A little question, what should i choose. Uni-t 61E or Vichy VC99+?

[T4P]

A little question, what should i choose. Uni-t 61E or Vichy VC99+?

The answer is clear: UT61E
I stay from the VC99 because it's just awful

[PA4TIM]

According the specs ( for what they are worth) the Unit-t 61E
It is 0.1% instead of 0.5% DC. So 6V on the VC is 5.967 to 6.033 so no much use or 6000 count.
The VC is AC avarage measuring upto a lousy 400Hz, this is realy prehistoric. But most important, imput protection is max 250VDC
The unit-T had 1000VDC protection and meaures upto 10KHz AC. Only thing I do not understand s why they talk about TRMS for only 10-100% of the range ?? Combined with a crestfactor of only 3 makes me think it is not TRMS at all.

[M. András]

thanks, ohh thats a hirschmann test plug the little brand mark gives it away. is there any difference between the 2 type of the hirschmann plugs 1 has a single pice of lamenate and the other is shown on the picture. i bought in the local electric supply store some cheap bana plugs well thats for sure i never gonna plug those into my fluke again, it damaged for the first time the shrouds from the inside, quite deep cuts... i gonna buy in the next week a set of the hirschmann plugs and give them a try, i guess i wont be dissapointed in them

[AndyC_772]

I've no idea what types are available, I'm afraid - I just bought a reasonable quality pre-assembled test lead:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/346-9272/

[Mikey]

My multimeter is so cheap it is not even worth taking a picture of, and some might even be offended by seeing it, so cheap is it.

It is a $15 from adafruit, and all I need it to do is pretty much to just let me know around what voltage I got... I haven't made anything that critical yet, and does not need super accuracy to just be able to pull a relay or make a led light up

[somlioy]

Actually got the clamp meter today.

The blue box-thingy is an insulation tester.

[T4P]

Fluke toolkit! 

[JuiceKing]

OK, here's mine.

I bought the Supertester 680R in 1978, when I lived in the UK. It's got tons of sentimental value to me but it's a crappy meter--inaccurate and dangerous. Who else used these?

I picked up the Sanwa in Akihabara when I lived in Japan. It was cheap, and has a nice clamshell cover, so it's convenient to toss in a bag. It must be 15 years old now, but the same model is still in the Sanwa catalog. Notice the captive leads--no banana plugs. Be careful with that dial...

I got a good deal on the Simpson on eBay. Don't use it much, but it sure smells good. Made of Bakelite.

The Flukes are the meters I actually use.