Minipa ET-997 $50 MultiMeter Review

[metalphreak]

http://www.minipachina.com/products-16893-5714-item-17432.html

Got mine from DealExtreme for $38.29 so this falls into the Sub $50 range

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.42269 Quite a few user photos there too.

Has the usual Volts/Amps/Resistance stuff. Resolutions for each mode are on the minipa website. Also does capacitance, frequency, and duty cycle.

CAT II 1000V rated meter.

Test probes are CAT III 1000V / CAT IV 600V Rated. Mine also came with the temperature thermocouple. The carrying case is a nice touch. It's not padded but it'll protect your meter from scratches etc.

Dave will be disappointed to know the short circuit tester/buzzer is latched and has a bit of a delay. The fuse is not accessible without dismantling but the main fuse is "resettable". The screw for the battery cover has a threaded insert The autoranging is reasonable. It's not instant but it usually finds its way within a second. Backlight is white and lights up the display quite evenly.

Now, time to tear it apart 

Back Panel Off


Front of PCB (LCD lifted and hinged on the LED backlight leads)


Where the action happens


Main IC FS9922-DMM3


The entire package


All up I'm pretty happy with it as a cheapy meter. Nothing about it annoys me. I don't have a Fluke or anything to compare voltage/current readings with but it reads a solid 5.00V on my regulated bench PSU.

I know Dave can't review the many hundreds of sub $50 meters out there but here's another (in my opinion) good option to consider when buying.


Hmmm looking at the datasheet, looks like it also has RS232 Pin 94 Low enables TX on Pin 92. I'll have to take it apart again, but it doesn't look like those pins are connected to anything on the PCB.

[saturation]

Nice.  Have you tested its accuracy?

[BillGeo]

Nice.  Have you tested its accuracy?

How can one test the accuracy of a DMM, if one doesn't own another measurement instrument, a more precise and/or calibrated one?

[mzacharias]

Nice.  Have you tested its accuracy?

How can one test the accuracy of a DMM, if one doesn't own another measurement instrument, a more precise and/or calibrated one?

At the very least you can measure a brand new AA alkaline cell. If it reads about 1.56 or so at least you're close.

[BillGeo]

Nice.  Have you tested its accuracy?

How can one test the accuracy of a DMM, if one doesn't own another measurement instrument, a more precise and/or calibrated one?

At the very least you can measure a brand new AA alkaline cell. If it reads about 1.56 or so at least you're close.

I guess you could do that. But what about self discharge?
You wouldn't know how long the battery has been on the self.

[saturation]

You'll need a friend or find one at work 

In the end a good test of a meter is how it measures, as that's what its made to do.
 

Nice.  Have you tested its accuracy?

How can one test the accuracy of a DMM, if one doesn't own another measurement instrument, a more precise and/or calibrated one?

[Kiriakos-GR]

The fuse is not accessible without dismantling but the main fuse is "resettable".

In my village this only fuse , called as exchangeable ..

resettable= an automatic Fuse , that disarms and arms back manually.   


And another thought ..  Lots of trimmers in it !!
If something has so many trimmers  (potentiometer) in it , I would expect that it comes with an 50 pages calibration manual ..

Yes its a cheapy ,  but behind any cheapy , its an cheap products manager !!
And I suggest to let him with out food as punishment ..     

 

[mzacharias]

Nice.  Have you tested its accuracy?

How can one test the accuracy of a DMM, if one doesn't own another measurement instrument, a more precise and/or calibrated one?

At the very least you can measure a brand new AA alkaline cell. If it reads about 1.56 or so at least you're close.

I guess you could do that. But what about self discharge?
You wouldn't know how long the battery has been on the self.

OK, but self-discharge is in the small microamp range. If it's on the shelf less than a couple years, you'd never see any drop in the battery voltage. That's not a firm rule, I'll agree, and my suggestion was only just that, a suggestion.

[metalphreak]

I've got a ZhaoXin RXN-3010D-II which is a dual 30V 10A adjustable power supply. It has a third 5V constant regulated output and the meter reads this fine as ~5.000V It also agrees with my rigol 1052E (although a scope probably isn't the best thing to measure voltage with).

You don't buy one of these to do critical measurement with 0.01% accuracy, but I like the look and feel of it, and its handy to have a couple of cheapies kicking around if you want to do multiple measurements at the same time.

Should do a review of this PSU some time. Just have to think of some cool things to do with 60V and 10A >

[Simon]

Yes its a cheapy ,  but behind any cheapy , its an cheap products manager !!
And I suggest to let him with out food as punishment ..     

 

wish I could do that to my production manager 

[quanttrom]

I own this DMM and I also happen to have access to a whole bunch of Fluke and a bunch of bench multimeters.

Would anybody be interested in seeing how accurate it is compared to theses???

[saturation]

I would, please do!

I own this DMM and I also happen to have access to a whole bunch of Fluke and a bunch of bench multimeters.

Would anybody be interested in seeing how accurate it is compared to theses???

[Genin]

+1. I also would. Please Quanttrom, do it.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[ablacon64]

I'm also very interested, quanttrom! I liked very much this DMM looks, I have other Minipa models and find them very useful.

[gcp6ca]

quanttrom, never did provide any comparisons so I thought I would for others that might be interested. I actually bought a second one since I like the first one and in general it is fairly close to a Fluke 89 IV (about 0.2% or less). This post has DC voltage measurement photos.

[gcp6ca]

This post has DC current (mA and uA) measurements. The Minipa ET-997 on the right has Fluke CAT III probes with alligator clips soldered at the end.

[T4P]

Nice photos
Well in spec, what else can i say? The TRMS version goes for 50bucks

Hmm ... I still think UT61E is a better deal for money if you don't mind not having temp or backlight but want the peak and 22000 count feature (220mF ... 220Mohms)

[cookie]

good share,good  tips,I got a lot

[saturation]

Its also good to torture test the meters to see if the accuracy is retained under summer heat or winter cold.  Put the meter in the fridge, then freezer each for an hour and see if its still accurate.  For heat, just leave it in a box under the sun [ to keep UV rays from bleaching it] or you can put it in an oven, try to get ambient to reach  <= 120F, for an hour.