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Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: theoldwizard1 on September 01, 2018, 01:40:20 am

Title: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: theoldwizard1 on September 01, 2018, 01:40:20 am
Well my 20+ year old Craftsman DMM has started acting wonkie ! DCV (auto range) will not read the voltage of a known good 1.5V battery, so I guess it is time to go shopping.

This is for general use, around the house and on automobiles.  If I had DEEP pockets I would get a Fluke 88V but I don't care how good they are I just can not justify the price.  The Bryman BM235 is pretty nice, but being the cheapskate that I am, I was hoping for something decent in the $50 range.

Here are my requirements.
Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: retiredcaps on September 01, 2018, 01:46:11 am
Quote from: theoldwizard1 on September 01, 2018, 01:40:20 am
Well my 20+ year old Craftsman DMM has started acting wonkie ! DCV (auto range) will not read the voltage of a known good 1.5V battery,
If you are interested in possibly fixing the above, I can make suggestions.  If yes, start a new thread under repair and post the model number and some clear focused pictures.

As for the $50 meter, plenty of opinions will arrive soon ...  I no longer participate in the recommendation threads.
Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: xrunner on September 01, 2018, 02:08:28 am
Check out the UNI-T UT139C 6000 Counts Digital Multimeter - about $48

Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: coromonadalix on September 01, 2018, 03:18:34 am
I would say this meter too, UNI-T UT139C   seems decent and fast enough in autorange, 1 fuse is hidden in the casing the other is accessible thru the battery door ...  the NCV detection may be practical

Youtube review and teardown : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKcCEqApIgc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKcCEqApIgc)
Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: gedong on September 01, 2018, 04:44:13 am
I used UT61E for almost 3 years without problem.  my only complaints are no backlight and no auto off. the battery will pretty much died in few weeks if forgot to turn off.

i also have UT139C which is bit smaller to complement each other.

bought from aliexpress / banggood with free shipping.

another interesting DMM is maybe Aneng AN8008/9 or Aneng Q1. compact and seem not bad in < $20 range
Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: HKJ on September 01, 2018, 06:58:51 am
You can check this list for ideas: https://lygte-info.dk/info/DMMReviewsGood.html

The UT61E is a good meter, except if you want to measure current, it has rather high burden voltage in some ranges.
Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: kerrsmith on September 22, 2018, 12:00:23 pm
Just thought I would mention that the ANENG AN8008 is currently on offer at Banggood at around $17:

https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-AN8008-True-RMS-Digital-Multimeter-AC-DC-Current-Voltage-Resistance-Frequency-Capacitance-Test-p-1157985.html?p=2D100314686672015046 (https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-AN8008-True-RMS-Digital-Multimeter-AC-DC-Current-Voltage-Resistance-Frequency-Capacitance-Test-p-1157985.html?p=2D100314686672015046)

I have been using this meter (and the AN860B+) since they came out and have found them both to be really good meters for the price. I do not use them for high voltage work, just for low voltage and for me they are just what I need. I bought a fairly cheap voltage standard just to test them with and they both show nearly exactly what it says they should.

I really like these meters as they have lots of functionality, the only thing I miss is an option to measure inductance but I built my own meter from a kit for this and it seems to work very well (when I wind a toroid it usually measures pretty close to what I calculate).

It does not have a removable rubber outer case as you said you were looking for but at the price this may not really matter.

Dave did a video on this meter a while ago as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdGQEVdxmQQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdGQEVdxmQQ)
Title: Re: Moderately priced portable DMM
Post by: Fungus on September 22, 2018, 12:18:55 pm
Quote from: kerrsmith on September 22, 2018, 12:00:23 pm
https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-AN8008-True-RMS-Digital-Multimeter-AC-DC-Current-Voltage-Resistance-Frequency-Capacitance-Test-p-1157985.html?p=2D100314686672015046 (https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-AN8008-True-RMS-Digital-Multimeter-AC-DC-Current-Voltage-Resistance-Frequency-Capacitance-Test-p-1157985.html?p=2D100314686672015046)

I have been using this meter (and the AN860B+) since they came out and have found them both to be really good meters for the price. I do not use them for high voltage work, just for low voltage and for me they are just what I need. I bought a fairly cheap voltage standard just to test them with and they both show nearly exactly what it says they should.

I second these meters.

The 860B+ is very solidly built, has proper mA ranges, and a decent rubber housing. You can get one for under $25 (https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/ANENG-6000-counts-LCD-Digital-Multimeter-DMM-with-NCV-Detector-DC-AC-Voltage-Current-Meter-Resistance/919484_32799992769.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.36.64982d516HY6ma).