New ANENG M1 multimeter!

[Fungus]

I just got a new ANENG multimeter in the post, the ANENG M1.

It's only $7.50 so don't expect miracles, but there's quite a few pleasant surprises so far.

The display is huge and the backlight surprisingly bright (literally surprising, I went "woah!" out loud when I turned it on!). I think I need to measure the LED current and see how hard they're driving it.

The case is quite solid, not quite as good quality plastic as an AN800X but streets ahead of a typical DT830B. It's available in three different colors, you can choose the color when you order.

The input jacks look quite solid. Probes are serviceable, but not great.

It has a continuity buzzer. Not fast, but it's there. The diode tester has no problem lighting up a white LED.

No CAT rating is printed on it but it says "Max 600V" (presumably only for the voltage ranges).

Here it is next to a DT830B. It's a bit narrower but a bit thicker. Overall not much difference in volume.



The big surprises are on the inside. It says 'fused' on the outside and when I opened it up I found a fairly chunky polyfuse (rated 250V, 200mA). That's cool.



The 10A range doesn't use a traditional wire current shunt, it's a big SMD shunt resistor instead. I should probably do a four-wire measurement on that to see the resistance and what sort of power it's dissipating at 10A.



Nice strain relief on the battery cable. Metal threaded insert on the battery door. Overall good attention to detail.



Not sure if it's digital or manual calibration yet. There's a tiny potentiometer in the middle of the PCB but it's not obvious what it's for. I'll give it a twiddle later and see what happens.

There's a bit of comedy in the manual. It says "... to replace the fuse (250mA/250V self-restoring fuse) remove the 4 screws in the back of the case. Simply remove the old, and replace with new one.". 

It's as simple as that!

[MT]

seams to be same specs as old Aneng XL830l so its a all 830 crap! Im disappoint! But its cheap arse DMM's!

[MiroS]

Display is big, backlight surprisingly bright (literally surprising, I went "woah!" out loud when I turned it on).

OK, I see.. it means that you have to buy protective glasses to use it right?

[Fungus]

seams to be same specs as old Aneng XL830l so its a all 830 crap! Im disappoint! But its cheap arse DMM's!

Yes, but.... input protection, continuity buzzer, polyfuse on mA range, decent case, decent input jacks, battery wire won't snap off every time you open it.

Quite a step up from a DT830B IMHO.

[Gandalf_Sr]

I don't see why I would buy this over the AN8008, what are the specs like?

[Fungus]

Display is big, backlight surprisingly bright (literally surprising, I went "woah!" out loud when I turned it on).

OK, I see.. it means that you have to buy protective glasses to use it right?

I tried to capture the difference between this and an AN8008 on camera. I'm not sure if it comes across well, it looks at least twice as bright as the AN8008 in real life.



One thing I just noticed is that the light has the usual timeout, but ... it fades away smoothly instead of just turning off. 

It's almost as if the LED's connected to the big red capacitor near the LED cable and they let the capacitor drain away to zero through the LED (why else would they need that huge capacitor in a multimeter?)

[Fungus]

I don't see why I would buy this over the AN8008, what are the specs like?

Nobody's saying you should! 

It's just a new very low cost ANENG meter. Nothing more.

[floobydust]

I see the big fat A/D integrating capacitor, so this is a single chip analog DMM IC?
1/4 the price of the MCU versions and no firmware bugs , lol.

[Fungus]

I see the big fat A/D integrating capacitor, so this is a single chip analog DMM IC?
1/4 the price of the MCU versions and no firmware bugs , lol.

Is that what it's for? I did wonder why it's rated at 250V.

nb. I haven't spent any time looking where all the PCB traces go yet.

[floobydust]

My wild guess is the DMM IC is by Cyrustek, like a ES218 with a few less pins and features.

[Fungus]

My wild guess is the DMM IC is by Cyrustek, like a ES218 with a few less pins and features.

Is that good or bad? 

[ModemHead]

Looks like your basic ICL7106 clone based 830 design.  2000-count manual range. Two DC-coupled ACV ranges: 200V and anywhere from 250V to 750V, depending on the maker's expected legal responsibilities.  The big display, backlight and polyfuse are nice additions.  And the SMD current shunt.  Nicely built, considering the price.

BTW, the pot trims the 100mV reference.

[floobydust]

Non-MCU DMM's are fine, I kinda prefer them if I'm out in the field troubleshooting and need to rely on behavior.

The digital MCU multimeters i.e. AN8008, AN8009 have some firmware fudges so they read stupid under certain scenarios. Also, they are limited to 3kHz on ACV so this M1 might do higher freq. as the true RMS is computed analog.

It looks like a nice build, some 830's are pretty scary inside and most of the work is done by the super complicated rotary switch.

[rsjsouza]

Looks like your basic ICL7106 clone based 830 design.  2000-count manual range. Two DC-coupled ACV ranges: 200V and anywhere from 250V to 750V, depending on the maker's expected legal responsibilities.  The big display, backlight and polyfuse are nice additions.  And the SMD current shunt.  Nicely built, considering the price.

BTW, the pot trims the 100mV reference.

It certainly looks like. Quite similar to Mastech's M830B newer brother I mentioned in the Harbor Freight's thread: the MAS830L. This one actually has two real fuses, though. 

[Gandalf_Sr]

I don't see why I would buy this over the AN8008, what are the specs like?

Nobody's saying you should! 

It's just a new very low cost ANENG meter. Nothing more.

Covfefe 

At some point, it becomes pointless. 

My wife once got a talking plastic model of Rumpelstiltskin in a McDonalds Happy Meal.  Seriously, we have the Pacific clogged up with plastic and McDonalds (supposedly all Earth-friendly) puts all that plastic crap into Kids' meals.

This meter might make a good Happy Meal 'toy' though, at least we might inspire a few kids into STEM although I was told yesterday that it's now evolved into STEAM  (Science Technology Engineering ARTS Math).

Here in Ann Arbor Michigan today the high is going to be -7F and tonight's low -17F (colder than the South Pole apparently) while Oz is having record-setting heatwaves.

I hope someone invents the Mr Fusion appliance soon.

[rsjsouza]

This is too big for a Happy Meal toy. The Aneng Mini would be better suited for that.

(Borrowed from user HKJ from his website lygte-info.dk)

[Fungus]

This is too big for a Happy Meal toy. The Aneng Mini would be better suited for that.

I've got one of those. It has a really great battery tester, something I don't have in any other meter.

[rsjsouza]

I do too, Fungus. It is a curiosity for me.

The 12V battery sucks, though. 

[Fungus]

The 12V battery sucks, though. 

I'm guessing it's a 9V chipset and a 9V battery would have made it much bigger.

The extra thickness of the case due to the battery means it takes standard banana plugs though. 

[Old Printer]

I was curious about actual size so I looked it up and then threw this together for scale. The meter is 99mm high by 50mm wide.

[Fungus]

I was curious about actual size so I looked it up and then threw this together for scale. The meter is 99mm high by 50mm wide.

Yep. They aren't kidding when they say "mini" -  it's about the size of a business card.

Edit: OK, a bit longer than a business card but also a bit narrower. Here's a picture of mine with card+DT830B for scale.





nb. Screen display is bigger than the 830B   

[floobydust]

The 12V battery sucks, though. 

I'm guessing it's a 9V chipset and a 9V battery would have made it much bigger.

On the mini meters, I rip out the crapola A23 battery, 12V 55mAh and glued a 9V battery+holder to the backside. Thick but cheap, a good brand A23 costs as much as the meter.

[Fungus]

On the mini meters

Plural?   

On the mini meters, I rip out the crapola A23 battery, 12V 55mAh and glued a 9V battery+holder to the backside. Thick but cheap, a good brand A23 costs as much as the meter.

I'm pretty sure you could make A23s with 9 button cells the right size and a piece of heatshrink.

There's probably huge bags of the cells for sale on eBay.

[rsjsouza]

I'm pretty sure you could make A23s with 9 button cells the right size and a piece of heatshrink.

8 x LR932 cells.

There's probably huge bags of the cells for sale on eBay.

Just out of curiosity, I did a quick search on eBay for LR932 cells and A23 batteries. 10-pack A23 GP for 5.95?!? I'll eat my words.

[Old Printer]

I'm pretty sure you could make A23s with 9 button cells the right size and a piece of heatshrink.

8 x LR932 cells.

There's probably huge bags of the cells for sale on eBay.

Just out of curiosity, I did a quick search on eBay for LR932 cells and A23 batteries. 10-pack A23 GP for 5.95?!? I'll eat my words.

A23's show at $7.00 for 2 at Walgreens so I guess it's down to how long they last, which would go back to that backlight.