buying a mulitimeter

jesserparker · « **on:** 30 Jul 2003, 05:57 pm »

i need to buy a multimeter, and obviously quality is paramount here, but i would also like to keep the price as low as possible so once i get it i'll still be able to afford the projects i'll be needing it for. . .

so any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

randytsuch · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Jul 2003, 11:12 pm »

Hi,
Fluke makes very good meters, but they are not cheap. It's what we use at work, where they are used every day for years, and never have a problem.
I also have used another meter that was cheaper, has been reliable, and measures C, L, R and V, but I can't remember who makes it, and it's out for calibration right now. I'll post if I remember.

Randy

mgalusha · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Jul 2003, 11:16 pm »

Jesse,

Fluke makes some of the best around but they can be fairly expensive. I owned a model 77 for over 10 years with never a problem. I did nuke it last year, unfortunately it didn't like 700V in auto range mode.

A less expensive but still good option (IMO) is the Wavetek MeterMan line. I have had a model 27XT for about 3 years and it's worked perfectly. It includes a capacitance and inductance modes in addtion to the standard Volts/Ohms/Amps.

BK Precision also makes some nice products. MCM Electronics carries them and offers some excellent prices if you can catch them on sale.

Hope this helps.

Mike

randytsuch · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Jul 2003, 11:41 pm »

Quote from: mgalusha

Jesse,

Fluke makes some of the best around but they can be fairly expensive. I owned a model 77 for over 10 years with never a problem. I did nuke it last year, unfortunately it didn't like 700V in auto range mode.

A less expensive but still good option (IMO) is the Wavetek MeterMan line. I have had a model 27XT for about 3 years and it's worked perfectly. It includes a capacitance and inductance modes in addtion to the standard Volts/Ohms/Amps.

BK Precision also makes some nice products. ...

Hi Mike,
Wavetek, that's the company I was trying to think of. I think they make a good meter for the money. I may even have that same model.

Randy

ABEX · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Jul 2003, 11:55 pm »

If anyone can suggest a good affordable LRC meter please post as I am in need of one at present also!

TIA

shokunin · « **Reply #5 on:** 31 Jul 2003, 12:26 am »

Digital MM's can be as cheap as $20 (radio shack) or as several hundred dollars or more. Fluke makes some of the best DMM's but they are a little pricey. I use a FLuke 87 III true rms DMM it's been extremely reliable.

Are there specific features you're looking for (auto logging, auto ranging, etc. etc.)?

randytsuch · « **Reply #6 on:** 31 Jul 2003, 12:37 am »

Check out this page
http://www.tequipment.net/Wavetek27XT.html

It has information on this wavetek, and a table that compares features to to other waveteks. There's also a link to it's spec sheet.

I guess I don't have the 27xt, my wavetek doesn't do frequency

Randy

peranders · « **Reply #7 on:** 14 Aug 2003, 11:38 am »

Quote from: mgalusha

Jesse,

Fluke makes some of the best around but they can be fairly expensive. I owned a model 77 for over 10 years with never a problem. I did nuke it last year, unfortunately it didn't like 700V in auto range mode.

Easy to fix this! You have blown a carbon resistor 1 kohms, a fat brown thing. Replace it with a carbon composite type, IMPORTANT as it acts as a fuse together with the arc gaps (blue thing with a narrow cut at the top.

The resistor costs in Sweden 8-10 dollars as a replacement part

The price elsewhere is less...very less.

Haoleb · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 Aug 2003, 04:45 pm »

I bought this one http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&User_ID=13714657&St=1093&St2=51436028&St3=-50352430&DS_ID=3&Product_ID=10712&DID=7 from parts express and it works pretty well. the capactitor testing is a bit akward as it was made for small caps whos leads will go in the slots but that can be worked around. and the moveable display really comes in alot more handy than you would think.

ABEX · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Oct 2003, 10:34 pm »

Haoleb,how u doing. When I get to it I will get this one. The range is of main concern to me. I wish I had the test equiptment I use to have at Data General and National.

http://www.tequipment.net/Wavetek37XR.html

Monolith · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Oct 2003, 11:35 pm »

Maybe I missed it in one of the posts, but what are you wanting to use the meter for? General purpose? Some things to consider:

Some amps have extremely low value resistors that a typical meter cannot read accurately. For this you would need a 4 1/2 to 5 digit meter.

Generally speaking, a multimeter that measures inductance is not very accurate. So if accuracy for inductance is needed, you might look at the range of values that can be measured and the accuracy.

Likewise, capacitance measuring on a multimeter can also be lacking for some desired value ranges used in audio. In the pico farad range, a meter has to be quite sensitive and account for lead capacitance.

I have a Wavetek 27XT which is a decent all around meter with L&C but no transistor checking. I have a separate BK meter for better capacitance checking and other meters/devices for transistor checking. Typically, multimeters will not have the L&C ranges to cover all your audio projects. I also do not consider any of these meters to be "precision" instruments. They give a general idea of values. For low level signals and channel matching the more precise (digits) a meter has the better matching that can be accomplished. Accuracy is dependent upon calibration of the meter and comes into play mainly when attempting to match a measured value with other instruments.

A lot of work can be accomplished with just a good multimeter through voltage measurements and diode checking modes. Wavetek seems to be the leader in price/performance. Flukes are very good meters but also pricey.