What multimeter

[foges]

This is probably the wrong forum, but i wasnt sure where else to post. Anyways im planning to aquire a digital multimeter, but have no clue what to get. Im an electical engineering student, so i dont need it for any professional work, i just thought it was about time that i get one, I still want it to be able to last a while though. I have read that the fluke ones are good, but they are reasonably expensive... What can you guys recommend (ps: i live in europe so its preferable that whatever one you recommend is produced by a well known, bigger manufacurer to increase the likelyhood that its avaliable in europe)

 

[Zepper]

Fluke is good and sometimes you can get one that Sears sells at a sale price. Keep an eye out. Quite a few places here sell a decent Vellemann (ChiCom made) unit for under $50. +sh. bgmicro.com sells several Vellemann units so you can know what they look like.

.bh.

 

[foges]

Thanks for the heads up, do you have an suggestion for a specific Velleman?

 

[Zepper]

I'd probably get either the Met1015 (temp in C) or the Met1033 (temp in F). I'd probably get the 1033 as the F is in smaller increments and that's what I'm used to. Easy enough to convert F to C. Check the specs that your course recommends - when I went to tech school (mid-'60s), they caused us to buy a Simpson analog multimeter and cable set thru the campus bookstore - wasn't cheap either. A real old warhorse...

Here is a link to the Velleman DVM page:
http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/product/list/?id=342990 - the 1015 is the 890C while the 1033 is the 890F (this may be a US only item as I don't see it on the others). You may find other models available where you are. I think their HQ is Velleman N.V. in Belgium.

.bh.

Oh, and your thread is in as good a place as any.

 

[hanoverphist]

i have a fluke 787, 87 and a sperry. the sperry was the first meter i bought, i used it for a couple years before my boss told me to get the 787. i paid 26 bucks for the sperry, but that sucker has served me well. iti passed "trial by fire" when i taped it to a and c 480V 400A motor lead and hit the disconnect and it didnt blow up hehe. the 787 is a bit overkill for normal use, but i use it for generating a 4-20mA loop at work.

 

[pm]

I'm an electrical engineer. I use Fluke's at work and everyone here swears by them - and they are very very good. But I use super cheap Sear's and Radio Shack multimeters at home for work on my electric vehicle and other electronics projects at home. The Sears one that I use has a clamp ammeter and that's been much more useful than I thought that it would be when I bought it. Most of the time I use a super-cheap autoranging folding Radio Shack multimeter that I got years ago - heck I had it out last weekend when I was trying to figure out why our christmas lights weren't working (binary searched through the chain using the multimeter to find the bad bulb)..

About the only major advice I'd give is make sure to get one that powers itself down if you accidently leave it on. There's nothing more annoying than reaching for a multimeter and finding out that you accidently left it on 6 days ago and the battery is dead and then you have to hunt around for replacement batteries.

 

[foges]

Thanks for the suggestions and tips. Anyone have any experience with the EX330 or the Fluke 115? they seem to be able to do about the same thing, one just being about half the price of the other?