Quality multi meter

[rv7charlie]

Come on, guys.

jask, what's your background, and how long have you been doing electrical/electronic work? I've been messing with electrons since before you could buy a digital meter, and back then, a *very* expensive meter would go up in smoke if you didn't have everything on the meter set up correctly before applying the probes to the test article.

The higher dollar meters these days will survive all manner of operator ham-fistedness. A cheaper meter likely won't be as tolerant, and it may give you more opportunities to treat it in a ham-fisted manner. That's the price you pay for not paying the price. But for someone who will not use a meter enough to run down the included cheap carbon battery, and is conscientious enough to set up the meter correctly, it makes no sense to tell them they need to shell out $200 for a meter.

Everyone is obviously welcome to their opinion, and they're welcome to say what something is worth *to them*, but it's a stretch to think their singular experience defines value for everyone.

Charlie

[snopercod]

I carry a cheap Harbor Freight meter with me in my parts bag when flying cross country, but use a Fluke 87V at my home base. I can depend upon the Fluke to be accurate, and it has several useful scales. It has a NanoSiemens range which is good for checking insulation resistance, diode resistance, frequency, duty cycle, capacitance, etc.

[rocketbob]

Disclaimer: I have a collection of high-end Fluke and Keithley multimeters, and I really think very little of unsubstantiated opinions.

So I just grabbed one out of my shop, cold, battery over a year old. Hooked it up to my voltagestandard.com DMMCheck.

The calibration values are included just for posterity.

Results:
Vref: 5.0000 HF read 5.02V
1K Rref 1.00019K HF read 1002 ohms.
1mA 0.9998mA HF read 1.00mA

As you can see, for a sometimes free multimeter they are fine.

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by jask

My wife got a free one from HF. The first time she used it check voltage, sparks flew and smoke rose from the meter.

It's not a good idea to check house line voltage with the meter set on ohms.....

[dpansier]

Still have my Simpson 260, it was a quality VOM in it's days.

[rocketbob]

Originally Posted by dpansier

Still have my Simpson 260, it was a quality VOM in it's days.

I have one of those as well, also have a Heathkit VTVM I built when I was a kid.

[jask]

I an just giving my honest opinion. No, it was NOT set to ohms. I have 3 flukes and have been doing electrical work for 50 years.

[Walt]

Originally Posted by rv7charlie

Come on, guys.

jask, what's your background, and how long have you been doing electrical/electronic work? I've been messing with electrons since before you could buy a digital meter, and back then, a *very* expensive meter would go up in smoke if you didn't have everything on the meter set up correctly before applying the probes to the test article.

Everyone is obviously welcome to their opinion, and they're welcome to say what something is worth *to them*, but it's a stretch to think their singular experience defines value for everyone.

Charlie

Because Jask (and I) both think HF sells mostly cheap junky chinese tools and are worth what you pay for them, doesn't give you the right to query him for his resume, and your resume doesn't make you an authority on the relative value of such tools.
I am an ardent supporter of 'if it worth doing its worth doing right', and that includes tool purchases.
Just sayin...

[Tommy123]

Originally Posted by Walt

Because Jask (and I) both think HF sells mostly cheap junky chinese tools and are worth what you pay for them, doesn't give you the right to query him for his resume, and your resume doesn't make you an authority on the relative value of such tools.
Just sayin...

Thanks Walt for saying what I was biting my tongue for. I personally dislike HB for political reasons but if all you're really going to do is check continuity and voltages a cheap one is fine, maybe there's still a radio shack where you live. If you are into doing stuff that also requires a oscilloscope, you already know you need a quality one.

[rocketbob]

I have a box on a shelf containing broken Snap On tools.

I don't have a box on a shelf containing broken HF tools.

I'm so confused.