Whats your meter? / General Chatting / Forums

Forums

4hv.org :: Forums :: General Chatting

« Previous topic | Next topic »

Whats your meter?

previous 1 2 3

Move Thread

LAN_403

ragnar

Mon Apr 17 2006, 05:54AM

Registered Member #63 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1425

I use a digitech QM1534 DMM, about AUD$40.00

happily measures:
frequency to 10MHz
capacitance,
current,
volts,
resistance,
dio de voltage drop,

The frequency and capacitance functions are what I find most useful. I loop one of the leads around my secondary when doing any TC work and I know what's going on. The diode-drop is great for checking shorted diodes too.

It also has an auto-ranging mode.

Nik

Mon Apr 17 2006, 06:48AM

Registered Member #53 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:31AM
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 638

Mine is an Ideal meter.

Auto rangeing
Clamp on ammeter up to 400A
AC <1000v
DC <700v
Ohmeter with a 0.1 to 10Mohm range
And a continuity beeper.

Its not a great meter but the clamp-on ameter is really usefull.

Adam Horden

Mon Apr 17 2006, 10:01AM

Registered Member #176 Joined: Tue Feb 14 2006, 09:35PM
Location:
Posts: 44

Steve Conner wrote ...

I've got a large 6 digit true RMS benchtop meter made by Schlumberger, a reasonably good quality handheld meter made by ITT (a bizarre design with both a digital display and a needle. I must admit I bought it because it looked neat)
and a cheap and nasty Altai thingy.

We have better meters at work, an Agilent 34401 and a Fluke 87, but I won't bring them anywhere near my HV experiments at home

I got a Fluke 179 true RMS meter. Its a great tool could not do half the stuff I do without it but its a little annoying to have just that meter. It was about Â£270 at the time and I do wiring installs and stuff so I dont like useing that up a ladder. I am going to get a cheap 87 from ebay for that sort of work. I had a cheap metrex meter but it was years old and developed some werird faults like showing 240VAC as 24VAC.

I had to do a quick job and needed to know if there was a voltage at a JB.The first time I used this on fluke 179 on site. Trying to hold the meter and not falling off the ladder I dropped it. I was just a tad p*** off when I did it. Only time I used it on site I wouldent usally use it but it was a quick job that needed to be done.

Fluke claim to drop test them and actually give a life time warrenty if you break it. It bounched surrved from about 2M. Thats not bad at all onto concrete. They come as standard with a fixed rubber case thats molded to the meter. You cannot remove it and it looks pritty snazzy.

I would recomend the 179 to any one. Its got volts, amps, ohms, capacitance, frequency, temp etc.

I never expected to use the temp feature on it. I actually have used it several times now and its really usefull to have.

Its also cat 3 and cat4 rated so its nice for 3 phase work.

Adam

FastMHz

Mon Apr 17 2006, 05:38PM

Registered Member #179 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 02:08AM
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland - Close to Prime Outlets
Posts: 287

I use a TPI 440 when I'm sure of what I'm testing: here

And harborfreight $2.95 specials for more unknown things...

ReddyK

Mon Apr 17 2006, 06:08PM

Registered Member #92 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 03:11PM
Location: Indian Trail, NC
Posts: 39

Nothing but Fluke for me. Blown up alot of others but, the Flukes always last.
2-77s
1-88
Steve

Avalanche

Mon Apr 17 2006, 07:13PM

Registered Member #103 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 845

I use a Mastech meter, with a serial interface for logging, or just in case you want to use the PC screen instead of the multimeter screen. I picked it up in a sale from Maplin in the UK, and I call it the 'poor mans Fluke' because it looks a bit like a Fluke from a distance (yellow surround).

robert

Mon Apr 17 2006, 11:16PM

Registered Member #188 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 05:18PM
Location:
Posts: 67

I have got a Keithley 173A benchtop DMM (very accurate 5digit, 0,015%+1dig), also a Leader 852A benchtop DMM (not in the pic) and a gossen metrawatt metrahit 15s handheld DMM (real solid thing, impossible to blow up.Has protection spark gap for voltage range and the "wrong" connections are mechanically blocked).
Also several cheap meters that are only used for continiuity checking and the like where accuracy doesnt matter, or where it could possibly blow up.
For scopes, i have a TEK TAS250 digitally controlled analog 2x50Mhz with cursor/readout (nice feature) and a Gould 1425 DSO (with keypad).

i am 2 photos

Cesiumsponge

Wed Apr 19 2006, 03:09AM

Registered Member #397 Joined: Wed Apr 19 2006, 12:56AM
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 125

Fluke 87 III True RMS multimeter, snagged on ebay two or three years ago somehow for $100. It's so cute that it'll backlight the LCD and beep at you and I like autoranging as I'm lazy. I had the current circuit fuse blow probably a year and change ago. I actually bought some replacement fuses last month when I dug up the meter and never installed them...I'm looking at it right now and I think I'll put them in now before those that baggie of fuses! *rushes off to find screwdrivers*

Omicron

Thu Apr 20 2006, 01:48AM

Registered Member #131 Joined: Fri Feb 10 2006, 09:25PM
Location:
Posts: 185

What do you guys think of this one. http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/extech/pdf/mv110_120_130.pdf

http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/extech/multimeters/mv110.htm

[mod edit] Fixed b0rken links.

previous 1 2 3

Moderator(s): Chris Russell, Noelle, Alex, Tesladownunder, Dave Marshall, Dave Billington, Bjørn, Steve Conner, Wolfram, Kizmo, Mads Barnkob