Usefulness of clamp meter for general electronics work?

[Rooster Cogburn]

I've been looking at clamp multimeters for general electronics work. Consumer electronics troubleshooting (TVs/network gear/audio gear/laptops/game consoles), PC/microcontroller/RPi stuff. Clamp multimeters seem to be mostly targeted towards electricians, car mechanics, high amperage AC measurements, but I wonder if I would get some utility out of one on my bench.

I did some research and stumbled on the UT210E (Pro) as an inexpensive AC/DC current clamp meter with mA resolution and read a bit through the large thread it has here. There's also the slightly more expensive UT204+, but I guess 6000counts with a 6A range is basically the same as 2000counts with a 2A range if I'm mostly interested in mA?

I'm just curious if you think it's worth the 30-60EUR to buy such a meter for my use case, considering the limits in accuracy and potential finicky issues with interference, zeroing and magnetized clamps. Also, would looking into a current scope probe or a clamp for my existing Fluke meter be a better option? (I suspect no since it'll likely be too pricey, but please correct me there).

Thanks!

[Fungus]

I'm just curious if you think it's worth the 30-60EUR to buy such a meter for my use case

I vote "no".

[Rooster Cogburn]

I vote "no".

I'd get some use out of some magic device that could tell me the current flow through a wire, but these inexpensive ones are just too low accuracy to be of use?

There seem to be inexpensive current clamp scope probes:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1000002327012.html

...but >=10mA and ±(1.5% ± 5mA) is not very useful.

I've also found this device:

https://www.kew-ltd.co.jp/en/products/detail/00039/

The 0.01mA DC resolution and smaller clamp seem very much like what I'm looking for, but I don't even dare to research its price.

[Grandchuck]

This is an interesting device:

https://www.crowdsupply.com/weston-braun/little-bee

[Rooster Cogburn]

This is an interesting device:

https://www.crowdsupply.com/weston-braun/little-bee

Huh, neat. I know there are scope probes that you can just put on a PCB trace, but they're usually way out of my price range and much more expensive than this.

[HKJ]

I've been looking at clamp multimeters for general electronics work. Consumer electronics troubleshooting (TVs/network gear/audio gear/laptops/game consoles), PC/microcontroller/RPi stuff. Clamp multimeters seem to be mostly targeted towards electricians, car mechanics, high amperage AC measurements, but I wonder if I would get some utility out of one on my bench.

Depends on what you need. A clamp meter is very useful when you want to measure current with minimal burden voltage, but they are not very good at low current.
My favorite clamp meter is Benning CM11, it is considerable better than UNI-T at low DC current and low DC current is what I need most for electronic.
Note: With clamp meters low current is mA, they cannot be used at uA level.

[SilverSolder]

The Uni-T is good down to about 10mA or so.  It definitely has its uses - it is convenient in many cases when you don't need super high accuracy - but shouldn't be your only meter...

[Rooster Cogburn]

The Uni-T is good down to about 10mA or so.  It definitely has its uses - it is convenient in many cases when you don't need super high accuracy - but shouldn't be your only meter...

I got a Chinese Fluke already. It's OK, but it doesn't have RMS, bargraph and the continuity tester is slow. What to upgrade first... In any case, I'd buy the clamp meter for nothing but contactless current measurement.

Depends on what you need. A clamp meter is very useful when you want to measure current with minimal burden voltage, but they are not very good at low current.
My favorite clamp meter is Benning CM11, it is considerable better than UNI-T at low DC current and low DC current is what I need most for electronic.
Note: With clamp meters low current is mA, they cannot be used at uA level.

I've seen the meter you mentioned, but that's like 10x my budget. For me it's just that when troubleshooting and repairing stuff inserting a DMM into the circuit for current measurement is always a pain and I often though it would be nice to just measure if maybe the current going to that board or component was high. I'm not sure if the UT210E is precise/reliable enough, though. The drift and the limited resolution etc. I also wonder how often external magnet fields will prevent taking a measurement. I'm thinking of transformers in power supplies and I also often work on CRTs with all the magnetism from the deflection system.

[HKJ]

Depends on what you need. A clamp meter is very useful when you want to measure current with minimal burden voltage, but they are not very good at low current.
My favorite clamp meter is Benning CM11, it is considerable better than UNI-T at low DC current and low DC current is what I need most for electronic.
Note: With clamp meters low current is mA, they cannot be used at uA level.

I've seen the meter you mentioned, but that's like 10x my budget. For me it's just that when troubleshooting and repairing stuff inserting a DMM into the circuit for current measurement is always a pain and I often though it would be nice to just measure if maybe the current going to that board or component was high. I'm not sure if the UT210E is precise/reliable enough, though. The drift and the limited resolution etc. I also wonder how often external magnet fields will prevent taking a measurement. I'm thinking of transformers in power supplies and I also often work on CRTs with all the magnetism from the deflection system.

It is not a cheap meter, but it is better than UT210E for low current DC, for me that makes it worth the money.
For a cheap clamp meter used at low current DC the UT210E is good, the CM11 is the next step up, but it cost money.

[SilverSolder]

[...] For me it's just that when troubleshooting and repairing stuff inserting a DMM into the circuit for current measurement is always a pain and I often though it would be nice to just measure if maybe the current going to that board or component was high. [...]

I would say the Uni-T is perfect for that, as long as the device being troubleshooted? troubleshot?   ...uses more than 10mA - 15mA or so.   It is challenging to get good measurements at lower currents than that.

Sometimes it is possible to loop the wire carrying the current a couple of times through the clamp, which increases sensitivity commensurate with the number of turns...

[Bobson]

Do not forget that like many clamp DMMs, UNI-T 210e has very narrow bandwidth (not only TRMS).
When you speak about electronics lab use, do you consider that many low-cost DMMs, including Zotec/Aneng/etc have considerable sensitivity drop after 1KHz? It makes them unsuitable for many tasks.

[J-R]

It's not necessarily sold for this purpose, but if you're willing to pay a bit more or wait for a good deal to come along, check out the Fluke 771 for high accuracy, low DC current situations.
1mA accuracy is a piece of cake but it can also reach down to to the 0.01mA level. For example, I just did a quick test and got 15.47ma from my DMM and 15.49mA on the Fluke 771.

[Rooster Cogburn]

I would say the Uni-T is perfect for that, as long as the device being troubleshooted? troubleshot?   ...uses more than 10mA - 15mA or so.   It is challenging to get good measurements at lower currents than that.

Sometimes it is possible to loop the wire carrying the current a couple of times through the clamp, which increases sensitivity commensurate with the number of turns...

Troubleshat

Yeah, I think I could have some use for this device then. Read about the looping trick, it's a clever idea. I wonder if this would be useful for my CRT repairs as well...

btw, there is no meaningful difference between the normal and 'Pro' version, right? I think on AliExpress it's basically just Pro while I can buy a non-pro locally for the about the same price.

Do not forget that like many clamp DMMs, UNI-T 210e has very narrow bandwidth (not only TRMS).
When you speak about electronics lab use, do you consider that many low-cost DMMs, including Zotec/Aneng/etc have considerable sensitivity drop after 1KHz? It makes them unsuitable for many tasks.

I was mostly thinking about DC current and even my main DMM isn't a true RMS one, hm. To be honest, I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that with any electronics bench equipment I'll either massively overspec 'just in case I might need that' or find out 6-18 months down the line that it's missing some feature or is lacking in performance. I'm very much still learning and it's basically safe to say that I don't know what I don't know and eventually will realize I need something a little different.

It's not necessarily sold for this purpose, but if you're willing to pay a bit more or wait for a good deal to come along, check out the Fluke 771 for high accuracy, low DC current situations.
1mA accuracy is a piece of cake but it can also reach down to to the 0.01mA level. For example, I just did a quick test and got 15.47ma from my DMM and 15.49mA on the Fluke 771.

About 10x my budget! For that kind of money I'd upgrade my main DMM to something like an 87V, buy a nice LCR meter, maybe an in-circuit ESR-meter and still have leftover money for a UNI-T clamp meter :-)

[maxwell3e10]

I use UNI-T 210E frequently for testing DC current in circuits. If one is careful, it is possible to get a few mA resolution. Just need to zero the meter, then slip the wire into the jaws without moving anything else or changing the orientation of the meter. It's a good compromise of accuracy, convenience and price. If I  need more precise current monitoring I solder a few ohm resistor into the line and measure the voltage.

[David Hess]

I use my clamp meters when doing electrician stuff, but never on my workbench for electronics.  I am more likely to use a kill-o-watt meter.

There is an exception.  I have a Fluke DC clamp meter which plugs into another multimeter and has milliamp resolution.  That comes in handy sometimes.

[beanflying]

My UNI-T gets pulled out for quick checks of AC and DC currents on my R/C gear or any mains gear I want to see if it is in the ballpark so yep it is worth the few $. That said while accurate for more serious or accurate measurements I pull out the shunts and loggers or better meters and break into the circuit. Compared to built in current ranges on most meters external shunts make a lot of sense but that is another can of worms for another topic but in testing them against the UNI-T it stacks up well.

For safety, speed and generally a good result buy it.

[radiolistener]

UT210E is must have if you're want to test current consumption for a powerful devices like 20-60 Amps, for example power amplifier, etc.

[Fungus]

I'd buy the clamp meter for nothing but contactless current measurement.

Use will be very limited at the currents you'll be measuring in the cases mentioned above.

Depends on what you need. A clamp meter is very useful when you want to measure current with minimal burden voltage, but they are not very good at low current.

At low currents the burden will be in the millivolt range so there's no real advantage.

If you're building stuff on the bench then it's fun to put something like this in the circuit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/321455179817

This lets you do a quick/safe check on the current without swapping the leads on the multimeter.

For that kind of money I'd upgrade my main DMM to something like an 87V

I wouldn't, not when Brymens are about 1/3 of the price and more capable. Leave the 87V for corporations with too much money.

[radiolistener]

If you're building stuff on the bench then it's fun to put something like this in the circuit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/321455179817

That's a bad choice, because 0.1 Ω at 60 Amps will have Voltage drop 6 Volts which is not acceptable.
And 60*6=360 W heating exceeds 10 W power rating for this resistor, so it probably will be damaged.

Also, often there is no way to break wire for current measurement and clamp meter is the only way you can use.

[Fungus]

That's a bad choice, because 0.1 Ω at 60 Amps will have Voltage drop 6 Volts which is not acceptable.

Common sense should say "Don't do this at 60 amps"...

OP said: "mostly interested in mA" so you could even use a 1 Ohm resistor - burden will be millivolts and you don't have to multiply the reading by 10.

[SilverSolder]

Here's another trick you can do with the little Uni-T:   measure currents up to 200A!

I ran into the problem of needing to measure the current of a starter motor, and the 100A range of the Uni-T was not enough...

To double the range, you can insert a "calibrated piece of wood" to hold the clamp open, creating an air gap in the magnetic circuit!

The gap needs to be 6.25mm wide (at least on my example) to cause the sensitivity to drop by half - so 100A on the display means 200A actual current!

[madires]

I use a clamp meter for measuring higher currents and when I don't want to cut or disconnect a wire. In general, if you deal with currents below 100 mA a DMM is clearly the better tool.

[Rooster Cogburn]

So I bought one, seems useful enough for 39EUR. I'll also eventually get a current clamp for the scope. Should be useful for buck/boost/SMPS work. I should try hooking up one of those hall effect sensor modules...

Makes sense that you can extend the current measurement range by opening up the ferrite core. Probably not something I'll need much, 100A is plenty for my purposes.

[BeBuLamar]

I wonder why would you need the clamp at all?

[beanflying]

I wonder why would you need the clamp at all?

Poking around in mains powered anything it is way safer and faster than bodging a DMM in circuit for a start. This is really the primary use case.

On the bench with low current (say less than a few Amps) a DMM for DC work in particular makes more sense.

In one of my use cases for R/C aircraft and Helis I can drop the clamp over a LiPo wire instead of finding room for a high power shunt and DMM or Logger. Typical currents here are anything from a few Amps toward 100A and can be over.

Because of the ability to measure DC current anything Automotive these work great, same non bodge benefit as witth mains and if you want to poke around an Alternator then way more capable than a DMM without an external shunt.

[Rooster Cogburn]

I wonder why would you need the clamp at all?

Because wouldn't it be nice if you could measure current as easily as voltage? No switching of DMM leads, no blown fuses if you get the range wrong, no desoldering wires / components, no shunt resistors, no burden voltage, no touching of potentially dangerous parts, no risk of damaging the DUT with your soldering iron, not having to turn everything of to insert your DMM into the circuit, etc.

Obviously you sacrifice a lot of precision, but it seems like a useful tool to have. Certainly at 39EUR.

[Fungus]

Keep up posted as to how often you really use it and what for. 

PS: Be aware that they get magnetized and need degaussing every now and again.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/over-current-in-clamp-meter/msg1996529/#msg1996529

[McBryce]

If it's for pure electronics, you'll get much more value from one of these: https://www.amazon.de/Hantek-Signalumformer-Wechselstrom-Gleichstrom-Generator-Mehrfachmessger%C3%A4t/dp/B01M5JBG04/ref=asc_df_B01M5JBG04/

This can be connected to your scope to give you recordable curves of the current being drawn by the circuit and the clamp is a more electronics suitable size. You can also connect it to a multimeter to take simple current readings around the house too.

McBryce.

[Rooster Cogburn]

Keep up posted as to how often you really use it and what for. 

PS: Be aware that they get magnetized and need degaussing every now and again.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/over-current-in-clamp-meter/msg1996529/#msg1996529

"
Conclusion

The cheap high sensitive clamp meters will be magnetized and it will show up as an offset on the display, but as long as the zero button is used, it will not affect the measurements.
"

Do I really have to worry about it at all?

And if so, would a few neodymium magnets glued to a case fan's blades make for a good enough degausser?

[BeBuLamar]

I wonder why would you need the clamp at all?

Because wouldn't it be nice if you could measure current as easily as voltage? No switching of DMM leads, no blown fuses if you get the range wrong, no desoldering wires / components, no shunt resistors, no burden voltage, no touching of potentially dangerous parts, no risk of damaging the DUT with your soldering iron, not having to turn everything of to insert your DMM into the circuit, etc.

Obviously you sacrifice a lot of precision, but it seems like a useful tool to have. Certainly at 39EUR.

Of the things the OP listed I don't think he needs to measure current in the range that needed the clamp. Low current the clamp would be not accurate enough.

[Fungus]

The cheap high sensitive clamp meters will be magnetized and it will show up as an offset on the display, but as long as the zero button is used, it will not affect the measurements.

It affects all clamps but the high sensitivity meters will show it more - they're more sensitive.

Do I really have to worry about it at all?

You certainly have to be aware of it and check it regularly.

Even if it's just sat in a drawer it can still get magnetized by the earth's magnetic field. 

And if so, would a few neodymium magnets glued to a case fan's blades make for a good enough degausser?

You could find out and report back 

When the novelty wears off a bit you could try magnetizing it with a neodymium magnet and see how much offset you can get then try the fan trick and report back here.

OTOH I'm betting you can degauss it much more easily just by waving the pole of a strong magnet near it and noting if the offset goes up or down. Reverse the polarity as needed, gradually move further away. You should be able to get it back to zero, no problem. I've fixed old color TVs that way back when TVs had electron guns and wire meshes in the screen.

You can't do any permanent damage to the meter so have a play... 

[HKJ]

I played a bit with magnetizing clamp meters here: https://lygte-info.dk/info/DMMClampDemag%20UK.html

[Rooster Cogburn]

Despite owning and repairing CRTs I don't have a TV degaussing tool, but I'm familiar with the general working concept of it and how to use one. I was thinking worst case I could place the meter on the degaussing coil of the TV to degauss it that way My first thought of improvising a degausser myself was simply to glue a few magnets on the blades of a PC case fan and slow back that away from the clamp. I've seen people improvise CRT degaussing tools this way.

I actually wonder if I can use this meter on a CRT. Every CRT has permanent magnets on the tube and yoke, there's electromagnets all over the yoke and there are several transformers in the power supply section. Wonder if that's too much interference for the clamp to do its job.

I played a bit with magnetizing clamp meters here: https://lygte-info.dk/info/DMMClampDemag%20UK.html

Yeah, I quoted your conclusion in my earlier post!

[robert.rozee]

i have a DerEe DE-3110 clamp meter that includes a 40A DC range. over the years it has been quite useful on enough occasions to easily justify the purchase. one needs to remember that no clamp meter is ever highly accurate, but can provide a useful indication in many situations.

for lower current stuff on the bench, you might like to have a look at these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/403247125639
(ACS712: Fully Integrated, Hall-Effect-Based Linear Current Sensor IC)

1.2 mΩ insertion resistance. requires a 5v supply @ 10mA, and has an analog output that swings between 0v and Vcc as the measured current goes from -5A to +5A (+/-20A and +/-30A versions also available). minimal external electronics is required to create a working instrument.


cheers,
rob   :-)

[Rooster Cogburn]

I have one of these, it was included in some Arduino sensor pack. You can get them from AliExpress as well.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001698417485.html

Might be a fun project!

[radiolistener]

Keep up posted as to how often you really use it and what for. 

When you work with mains and mains distribution box, it is irreplaceable and used constantly.

PS: Be aware that they get magnetized and need degaussing every now and again.

Magnetization can be noticed on 2 Amps range if you're measure DC current with high pulses (more than 10-20 Amps). It doesn't matter for AC. If you don't measure 20-50 Amps DC current pulses, you can forgot about magnetization

For example my UT210E was demagnetized 2-3 months ago or even more. I periodically use it for AC measurements and it still remains demagnetized.

[PushUp]

I would recommend the Voltcraft SMA-10, thus you are able to use your handheld DMM, which is probably able to measure mA/µA; especially when you wanna stay under <10A:

https://www.conrad.de/de/p/voltcraft-sma-10-messadapter-schutzkontakt-stecker-buchse-4-mm-schutzkontakt-kupplung-beruehrungssicher-schwarz-123980.html

Here some pix from an early post:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/clamp-on-amp-meter-for-checking-house-wiring/msg3533522/#msg3533522

[Rooster Cogburn]

Today I got the 210E Pro delivered from UNI-Ts official store on AliExpress. Seems to work great! mA measurements are quite precise. It's trivially possible to measure to measure the current for an LED or a relay. Or check current drawn from a microcontroller on a breadboard. Just a few mAs of error relative to my Fluke. I did some testing in devices like PCs and AV gear where boards or devices are connected with Molex connectors to a central PSU, seems to work fine. I did some testing in the 20A range by hooking up some power resistors to my bench PSU. There is a bit more drift, but it's still more accurate than the crappy ammeter in my bench PSU.

As a general DMM it's quite crappy with a slow continuity tester, a long wait time till it gets down from the MO range to measure a 100O resistor, no features like min/max, no manual selection of ranges and it's of course just 2000 counts. Of course I bought this device 99% for the <2A DC current measurement feature, so anything else is just a bonus, like having a 2nd multimeter.

Hope it keeps working, I'm quite happy with what I got for <40EUR delivered.

[Jester]

A decent clamp-on is great to have, however I only use the electrician type for 60Hz, typically high current measurements.

I had one of those cheap ac/dc low current Mastech ones it was close to useless for DC.

For electronics a used Tek A6302 or A6312 with amplifier from ebay seems to be the go to solution for precise measurements. They work quite well, and if your patient you can get one for 10-20% of the crazy prices at the top of the spectrum.

I was lucky enough to score two free probes once when I paid about $50 for a empty TEK chassis with just the plugin "toolbox" at an auction , the toolbox contained two good probes!

[Rooster Cogburn]

Small addendum to my impressions:

- I remarked how the meter is not very good as a general purpose DMM, but I want to note how decent the continuity tester is. It stays latched for a while so it's not super responsive when you do the whole quickly hitting your probes against each other thing, but the initial response is super fast.

- The build quality is surprisingly good. It feels heavy, dense and there's nothing creaky about it. Rubberized grips on the sides. Just feels really nice to handle.

- When measuring 1-100mA DC and comparing to my Fluke in mA mode there's a 0-2mA difference. That's in ideal conditions with the little disturbance to the meter after zeroing and the wire going dead center through the clamp, so results will be worse if you bump the meter or can't center the wire or you're measuring something where you can't set the meter down while measuring etc.

Overall this thing is really neat and exceeded my expectations for such a low price.

[beatman]

check the extech 380947.i use in various troubleshoots at low current with good accuracy.

[Electro Fan]

If you're building stuff on the bench then it's fun to put something like this in the circuit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/321455179817

This lets you do a quick/safe check on the current without swapping the leads on the multimeter.

 

[TheBay]

I use mine a fair bit in the workshop when I want to either check something that draws a fair bit of current, usually RF gear. Or if I'm working inside something and want to check the current across some wires without electrically disturbing them.

They are extremely handy when working on vehicles too.

If you get one that's not particularly accurate especially at lower currents, wrap the wire around more than once and do the maths.

[coldelectric]

sorry to just pipe in, but can any technicians here help settle my nerves? I've got a beautiful Pintek Pa-677 current probe (clone of Rigol RP1002c) hooked up to a Rigol DS1054z scope, but I'm agonizing over a no0b question: whether the alternate 50mV/A & 500mV/A scales selected on probe correspond (re: selecting the scale on SCOPE's channel settings) to 0.05x & 0.5x respectively, or to 20x & 2x respectively? Is there a snappy rule of thumb or logical tidbit to help keep it straight? My achy breaky heart thanks yall, and I bow 3 times from the waist in recognition of any luminosity to be conferred.

p.s. The Pintek PA-677 is a great current clamp [for my app: viewing V/I waveforms of impulsed/resonant bifilar pancake coils] because it has no phase offset/lag in my freq. window of interest (ULF RF below 100kHz presently). My YouTube guru has to account for a 10degree phase lag for his current probe at 80kHz with his Pintek PA-655, so that his voltage and current sine waves don't overlap quite so nice (without fiddling). He has to look at a chart that came with his probe and subtract the result visually. After referencing my chart once, I dont gotta f with that.

[Fungus]

sorry to just pipe in, but can any technicians here help settle my nerves? I've got a beautiful Pintek Pa-677 current probe (clone of Rigol RP1002c) hooked up to a Rigol DS1054z scope, but I'm agonizing over a no0b question: whether the alternate 50mV/A & 500mV/A scales selected on probe correspond (re: selecting the scale on SCOPE's channel settings) to 0.05x & 0.5x respectively, or to 20x & 2x respectively? Is there a snappy rule of thumb or logical tidbit to help keep it straight?

The settings on the current probe will be for measuring large currents or small currents, nothing to do with the oscilloscope.

You want the output to be as big as possible so choose 500mV/A whenever possible.

[tautech]

sorry to just pipe in, but can any technicians here help settle my nerves? I've got a beautiful Pintek Pa-677 current probe (clone of Rigol RP1002c) hooked up to a Rigol DS1054z scope, but I'm agonizing over a no0b question: whether the alternate 50mV/A & 500mV/A scales selected on probe correspond (re: selecting the scale on SCOPE's channel settings) to 0.05x & 0.5x respectively, or to 20x & 2x respectively? Is there a snappy rule of thumb or logical tidbit to help keep it straight? My achy breaky heart thanks yall, and I bow 3 times from the waist in recognition of any luminosity to be conferred.

p.s. The Pintek PA-677 is a great current clamp [for my app: viewing V/I waveforms of impulsed/resonant bifilar pancake coils] because it has no phase offset/lag in my freq. window of interest (ULF RF below 100kHz presently). My YouTube guru has to account for a 10degree phase lag for his current probe at 80kHz with his Pintek PA-655, so that his voltage and current sine waves don't overlap quite so nice (without fiddling). He has to look at a chart that came with his probe and subtract the result visually. After referencing my chart once, I dont gotta f with that.

Most probably 20 and 2x are the channel input attenuation you need but it helps to check measurements are correct with a known load. Many current probes have one of their settings equaling 1V/A for a 1x scope input setting.
Once you have it sorted print a little chart and keep it in the box with the probe.

Oh and BTW, welcome.

[5065AGuru]

Not sure what work you do but my HP 428B is VERY useful in my work.
Has a large scale analog meter and seven full scale ranges from 1mA to 10A.
It's DC only but the output BNC jack does allow you to see some AC and noise components.
I don't remember the bandwidth however.

Cheers,

Corby

[coldelectric]

Most probably 20 and 2x are the channel input attenuation you need but it helps to check measurements are correct with a known load. Many current probes have one of their settings equaling 1V/A for a 1x scope input setting.
Once you have it sorted print a little chart and keep it in the box with the probe.

Oh and BTW, welcome.

  yup! ok I figured it out by setting scope to ½ & 2x, and 1/20 & 20x, for 500mV/A & 50mV/a settings respectively, and found that 2x & 20x were what gave consistent amplitudes for Vpp, shoulda tried that sooner but we got it now thanks yall!

[M0HZH]

I've been using the UNI-T UT210E for a couple of years now. It's essential for working on high power DC circuits like power amplifiers (20-50A) and quite convenient to use; otherwise, general purpose multimeters or lab power supplies with good meters are much more useful under 10A.