| Products > Test Equipment |
| Fast Multimeter Suggestion |
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| JeffNichols:
I'm looking to buy a new multimeter to augment my UNI-T UT60A. I bought the UNI-T from Sparkfun years ago and it's always performed acceptably. Now I'm in the market for a second meter, and I've got a bigger budget to work with. I'm looking for something in the $100 to $250 range, but I could probably go higher for the perfect meter. This is for electronics work (<30V); I doubt I'd do any work at all with mains voltages. I want a fast multimeter. Fast auto ranging and fast continuity response. The faster the better. I searched through the forum trying to find people discussing fast multimeters, but I didn't see much. I'd be nice to have more resolution (and the associated accuracy, of course!), but this is not essential. I want to know that the 10kohm I'm probing is a 10kohm as soon as I touch my leads to it. I don't want to wait 3 seconds for the meter to find the right ohm range, only to have my leads slip before it can make the final measurement (this happens all the time, at least to me). Another great feature would be a auto-capture mode where it beeps when it's done with the measurement, so I can keep my eyes on the circuit board. I don't know if this has a specific name. I feel like I've seen this feature before in one of Dave's multimeter reviews, but I'm not certain. So, anyone have any suggestions? Thanks. |
| Wytnucls:
Hioki claims to be making the fastest meters around, but any high-end Fluke or Agilent should do and they'll have the auto-hold feature you're asking for. |
| Lightages:
I am sure that everyone is expecting me to chime in with a Brymen recommendation. I guess I can't disappoint! I have a Brymen BM257, BM525, and a BM869. None of the Brymens have an autohold feature. It can be faked using the Min/Max function or using the Crest function, but most people don't want to play around to get that. So if you want the autohold feature and it is a deal breaker, then forget Brymen. The Brymens are very fast meters, well built and safe. They also usually offer more features for the same or less money than the big names. You did not indicate what country you are in, so it is difficult to provide any specific information on where to buy for you. But you can get good service from Franky here, AKA iloveeletronics. He sells Brymens: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-BM829-Digital-Multimeter-Dual-Display-AC-DC-TRMS-Dual-Temp-10-000-Count-/201070664254 This hits all your requirements except for autohold. With the wide price range you have mentioned you will get all kinds of recommendations. Above $150 you will also find most of the better manfacturer's models will be well protected for high energy. If all you want to do is <30V, there are many cheap options but they won't be fast or any better built than what you have already. |
| nanofrog:
FWIW, Agilent U1251B or U1252B have the Auto Hold feature Brymen's are missing, but they're also over your budget ($390 & 419 MSRP in the US respectively). Another trick that can speed up a meter is to turn off Auto Ranging. Good quality probes are also important so the meter gets a good signal (tips need to be clean, so if doing automotive for example, clean any grease/crap off first IMHO). The latter usually isn't an issue on more expensive meters, as they're likely to be bundled with decent probes. More budget oriented meters OTOH, may come with the cheapest garbage for probes ever made. So be prepared to budget some extra cash towards probes on the more budget oriented meters. I've even found the Brymen I own benefited from better probes than came with mine (BM857). |
| macboy:
--- Quote from: nanofrog on August 15, 2014, 08:09:07 pm ---FWIW, Agilent U1251B or U1252B have the Auto Hold feature Brymen's are missing, but they're also over your budget ($390 & 419 MSRP in the US respectively). ... --- End quote --- Even better, how about the Agilent (ugh, Keysight) U1273A with dot-matrix OLED display? I posted a brand new one for sale today in the Buy&sell for $300 USD shipped. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-agilent-(keysight)-u1273a-4-5-digit-oled-multimeter/ |
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