Multimeter for beginner.

[Cwmdu]

I am retired and want to learn about electronics. I have been told:

To stay away from anything dangerous. So no high voltages or currents. Build a battery transistor multivibrator for starters.
Buy an Owon VDS1022I first. Isolation to protect my laptop. Being able to see what is happening and being able to get close on voltage is enough.


I asked "What about a multimeter?" And was told: It is not necessary, but if you want one get a CEM DT337.

Is this the best multimeter for a beginner?

[Axtman]

My humble opinion is that there are so many good multimeters out there that you almost could not go wrong. That is if you are working on battery powered or low voltage circuits. I you are working on line voltage or high voltage circuits then I would say FLUKE.

Dave Jones has some great videos:

[Fungus]

Is this the best multimeter for a beginner?

No, that's a clamp meter so you're paying for some things you'll never use and missing out on some things that you'll need.

It's also expensive. You can get a lot of multimeter for far less money.

Where are you going to buy the meter from? If you're buying on Aliexpress you'll get a lot more options than on Amazon (Amazon is a horrible place to buy stuff like this).

[shapirus]

Buy an Owon VDS1022I first.

Avoid. It's super inconvenient. The scope should normally be a dedicated device. Well, convenience is a subjective thing, but the fact that you'll need to handle two devices instead of one isn't. Also, it makes you depend on the quality and availability of the software that works with the scope.

If on a tight budget, get a cheap chinese handheld scope such as JDS6052S, or similar (maybe there were some more attractive devices released in the last couple of years). They do everything a beginner would ever need: two channels, pause, zoom, single-shot, simple math etc.

I asked "What about a multimeter?" And was told: It is not necessary, but if you want one get a CEM DT337.

"not necessary"? A multimeter is the first tool that the beginner needs to buy, even before a soldering iron. You can get away without a scope, but not without a multimeter.

CEM DT337 is primarily a clamp ammeter. It's a useful tool, but it can wait until you need to measure currents of the order of at least several amps without the need to break the circuit.

Get a proper DMM instead. What model, depends on what you are willing to spend and whether you need to measure anything beyond low-voltage (think battery voltage levels) curcuits. There are many options. Nowadays there's a lot of quite decent choices starting at about $25 from brands such as Aneng which will get you started and serve you well until you understand that you need a second DMM, by which time you'll be able to choose it using your experience.

[Fungus]

Dave Jones has some great videos:

Those are hopelessly out of date now...

[shapirus]

Those are hopelessly out of date now...

They can still help to understand the general idea of what direction to look in.

[Fungus]

For building a "battery transistor multivibrator" you could use a freebie DT830.

OP appears to live in the UK so maybe he could start with Big Clive's favorite "trashy" meter, they're easy to get over there:



(it's the D03047 - the one on the right in the thumbnail)

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duratool-Manual-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B07K27M68T

[shapirus]

For building a "battery transistor multivibrator" you could use a freebie DT830.

Yeah, but it's important to understand that its only positive side is that it's free or almost free. Gets the job done, but in terms of UX it's awful.

[Fungus]

in terms of UX it's awful.

I'd have said "direct and simple". 

Everybody needs more than one meter though. A cheapo meter will do to get started and a lot will be learned with it.

A better meter can be chosen at leisure...

[Cwmdu]

I was told get a clamp meter in case I start messing about with cars (which is probable), it is difficult to blow anything up with a clamp meter.

[shapirus]

I was told get a clamp meter in case I start messing about with cars (which is probable), it is difficult to blow anything up with a clamp meter.

That's what you generally want to stay away from until you have experience and understand what you're doing.

Clamp meter is used to measure current in a non-intrusive way, which, that is correct, makes it very difficult to blow something up. Get it if you need it. But I think I won't be very wrong guessing that you won't have much to measure in the car besides the engine start and battery charge current. Does it justify spending money on a clamp meter? That's up to you, but if you decide to get one, make sure you find a model that has both DC and AC measurement modes. As usual, there are decent inexpensive chinese meters.

[TizianoHV]

A clamp meter is really useful but you'll need also a multimeter to measure lower currents. (if your circuit draw 100mA a clamp meter is useless).

Two years ago I bought a ANENG AN8009 for 25€. For the price is really capable and robust. I used it at work and it fell on the ground from 2m (6 feet) twice, long battery life, cable detector....

Maybe would be more useful a dc-ac clamp for oscilloscopes? (it has no display and you can use an oscilloscope or multimeter to read the value...)

[mwb1100]

Starting off with a $20 or less meter is fine for low voltage electronics work (there a bazillion of them out there,and nearly all except the absolute cheapest will give accurate enough readings for volts & ohms).  I'd agree with the previous recommendation of watching Dave's $50 shootout even if the low end landscape has changed.  The info in it will give you an idea of what's important to look for.

I recently got one of these to check out (I can't really explain why - I already have more meters than I know what to do with):

  - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M8641Y7  (note, there was a 20% off coupon checkbox when I bought - look for it if you decide to pull the trigger)

I haven't put it though all the paces yet, but initial impressions were good:

  - within 1-2 counts on all V and Ohm measurements
  - fast continuity buzzer (might need better probes for best results here)
  - the NCV function works better than many other meters I've tried
  - it has really good 1.5 to 12V battery test functions that load the battery and works better than the simple V check.  For example, a marginal 12V "23A" battery I have shows as 11.5V on any meter's V function, but on this meter's 12V battery test with the load it shows 8.2V explaining why some of the functions of the device the battery is in don't work very well.

One minor downside is that there's no capacitance function.  I haven't tested the current measurements.

But if you want a professional quality meter and are willing to spend up to around $100 USD (which isn't a bad price for a pro meter) the Brymen BM235 would be worth a look.  Brymens aren't particularly easy to find in North America.  Dave sells his own eevblog-branded version of the BM235 on the eevblog.com store part of this site, but it can also be had (for less than $100 USD including shipping) from www.welectron.com.

Before ordering, email welectron for an "EEVBlog" discount code to save a few bucks.

[DX1]

A scope may be a good call to start with.
With starter stuff like a multivibrator a multimeter is not very informative, because the signal is dynamic.
What about a graphical multimeter? EG ET828.

[Fungus]

I was told get a clamp meter in case I start messing about with cars (which is probable), it is difficult to blow anything up with a clamp meter.

True, and cars use currents higher than a non-clamp meter can handle (assuming you're going to measure currents).

Still... I'd buy a cheap meter for now and get a clamp later on. A meter like the one above will work much better on the workbench.

[Fungus]

Starting off with a $20 or less meter is fine for low voltage electronics work (there a bazillion of them out there,and nearly all except the absolute cheapest will give accurate enough readings for volts & ohms).

Yep.

When Big Clive says "trashy" he doesn't mean they won't work, just that many people will look down on them because they aren't Flukes and didn't cost a fortune.

They measure very well for the basic stuff (volts/ohms/amps/continuity) and you can buy two of them for the cost of a Fluke fuse.

[james_s]

A multimeter should be the very first tool you buy, and it is the one you will use most often. A scope is nice too but you probably won't use it nearly as much as you use a multimeter.

[BeBuLamar]

I was told get a clamp meter in case I start messing about with cars (which is probable), it is difficult to blow anything up with a clamp meter.

You won't blow thing up if you use the clamp meter as the clamp meter but then you don't need it in that capacity often. You would need to measure voltage and resistance which it can do but doing so you can blow things up the same as a mulitmeter. It's only inconvenient to use. I never use the clamp for anything than measure current.

[mwb1100]

you can buy two of them for the cost of a Fluke fuse

 

[shakalnokturn]

A few ideas for today depending on where you live, by my order of preference (I'm a compulsive DMM buyer, I also have some for sale  ):

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/fluke-87-true-rms-multimeter-voltmeter-/1447537697

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/digital-multimeter-/1438157546

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/multimeter/1453274011

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/fluke-12-multimeter/1453277174

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/fluke-175-multimeter-with-fluke-leads-ono/1451262578

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/draper-dmm300-automotive-digital-multimeter-brand-new/1454011927

If you must also buy a current clamp:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/fluke-325-true-rms-clamp-meter/1452271321

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-power-tools/new-fluke-376-fc-trms-clamp-meter/1452890707 (I think this one is a real bargain, if close enough I'd buy this one, sell it off, that would possibly pay for at least a decent multimeter...)

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-miscellaneous-goods/amprobe-lh41a-ac-dc-low-current-clamp-meter/1425058131

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hand-tools/iso-tech-clamp-meter-true-rms-600a-ac-dc-icm-36r-brand-new-/1452673010

Now I've listed them here, you'll have to be quick if interested!

[BillyO]

Give some consideration to the Kaiweets HT118E (that E is important!  The HT118A is not half the meter).

It's 4.5 digits (precise), it's accurate and for a meter in it's price range (under $70), well built, responsive, nicely executed and comes with decent standard accessories (+case) as well as some "nice" features (too long a list to enumerate).  The only thing it does not have is a "relative" mode.  Something you may never miss.  There are several "reviews" and "first looks" on YouTube and none of them have anything negative to say about it.  When they were first introduced they were on for a special price, and I found a discount code too that made it irresistible so it became my 13th meter.  I have used it frequently and like it a lot.  I can honestly say it's a great meter.

If you were willing to spend 2.5 times that much you could pick up a meter from Brymen that would fill your needs for a lifetime.  Remember though, you really need 2 meters.  One to measure voltage and one to measure current.  If I was just starting out and knew what I know now, I'd pick up that Kaiweets first, then for next Christmas (or whatever your winter holiday is) buy myself a Brymen 78X (I have a 786 because I like blue).

Welcome to electronics.  It's a whole bunch of fun and it will keep you out of the pubs (for the most part) and it will keep your wallet nice and lean.

[BillyO]

They measure very well for the basic stuff (volts/ohms/amps/continuity) and you can buy two of them for the cost of a Fluke fuse.

[Fungus]

Remember though, you really need 2 meters.  One to measure voltage and one to measure current.  If I was just starting out and knew what I know now, I'd pick up that Kaiweets first, then for next Christmas (or whatever your winter holiday is) buy myself a Brymen 78X (I have a 786 because I like blue).

He's already said one meter will likely be used for automotive work so it should probably be a clamp meter... 

[BillyO]

Remember though, you really need 2 meters.  One to measure voltage and one to measure current.  If I was just starting out and knew what I know now, I'd pick up that Kaiweets first, then for next Christmas (or whatever your winter holiday is) buy myself a Brymen 78X (I have a 786 because I like blue).

He's already said one meter will likely be used for automotive work so it should probably be a clamp meter... 

Right.

That would need to be a DC clamp.  Maybe a UT210E?

Nice little meter.  I have one.  Works well except with really low current (under 200ma DC it gets progressively less accurate, but for the price ...).  Only problem is Uni-T, so no support.

[james_s]

Right.

That would need to be a DC clamp.  Maybe a UT210E?

Nice little meter.  I have one.  Works well except with really low current (under 200ma DC it gets progressively less accurate, but for the price ...).  Only problem is Uni-T, so no support.

I don't like clamp meters, I already have a perfectly good meter so I got a AC/DC clamp probe to go with it. The clamp is nice to have but in practice I rarely use it, most of the time when I work on cars I'm measuring volts and resistance. Most of the time when I do want to measure current it's at a range that is below what a clamp can reliably measure, stuff like phantom draw that is draining the battery.