OC & Modding Suggestions for a DMM!

S

sridhanush

Disciple
Well i dint know where to post this one....so mods,please move it to the appropriate section...

i am planning to buy a new DMM (Digital multimeter:p ). I think many of the hardcore OCers in these forums use one atleast:) So i thought i will take some suggestions from u guys... Well i am not goin to do any sort of OCing but will be using it for some of my DIY circuits at home.
The main features i am looking for (apart from the basic voltages,current and resistance measurements) are autoranging, continuity checker and capacitance measurements.
Well i know this site doesn discuss too much about electronics stuff :p but still, if anyone out there has any idea about DMM's please do post...
Oh yeah, finally, the budget:p i would be happy if i could get the above within Rs500...
 
I bought a Rishabh DMM a couple of years back and it is with German Collaberation and it is very well made. I had a problem with the beeper in it and the service I got from Rishabh over this complaint was fantastic - they called me from Nasik 2 times to check if I was satisfied with a replacement piece they organised for me. The unit I got is Max12 which cost me about 2.5K ... over your budget I know. But buy Rishabh's DMM they are well made. They have a web page - Google should help you find them.
 
Thanks for the suggestion Eazy.. well may be 2.5K will be an overkill for my uses... But i will check out the company website and let ya know if there are cheaper versions available. Also, i think a 500 bucks should fetch me a decent DMM with the basic features i am looking for... but i dont have any idea about the brands here.... could u let me know bout some of them.. thanks!
 
If you're looking for a capcitance check DMM for 500 bucks, all you're gonna get is a regular 'Made in China' unit with a name like UNI-T (pronounced as two words).

They work well enough, I have one such piece with capacitance and temperature measurements, but don't use it too regularly. The accuracy is OK but the temperature drift sucks (500-600 ppm), plus it switches off automatically so there's no really reliable way to get a very stable reading off it (this is comparing it with a programmable power supply).

That thing cost me about 700 bucks IIRC.

A 'good' DMM is a Fluke. Nothing else comes close, really. They cost the earth but are as accurate as an atomic clock, with zero temperature drift (~35 ppm) or close enough.

It's also about 5K for a starting model with only basic readings, but that is a serious piece of gear.

At your budget you should go for the ones that meet your feature needs. Pretty much forget about brands and/or great quality.

Having said that, the meter I personally use most often is a basic chinese unit that's smaller than my hand, and has only basic readings + transistor tester, uses a single 9V battery that lasts about five years, and is good enough for 99% of every use imaginable. It probably drifts .1 volts (what's that: 800ppm? worse?) in half an hour from the time it is switched on, but I really don't need that sort of accuracy...
 
I *think* you can get a MM within that range.We use one with all the stated features except capacitance meter which costed Rs.125 a few months back.but i give you a gurantee that itll go bust (atleast the ammeter) from 1-2 years of purchase.

Even so,its true VFM
 
sangram said:
A 'good' DMM is a Fluke. Nothing else comes close, really. They cost the earth but are as accurate as an atomic clock, with zero temperature drift (~35 ppm) or close enough.
Click to expand...

OH... YES..., YES... YES.... I have always wanted a Fluke DMM for testing the voltages of my AA and AAA batteries and off the SMPS's :) I saw a Fluke at the shop when I bought my Rishabh and it had the works including a temp probe and the kitchen sink thrown in for free at a CHEAP price of 14,000/- :O
 
oh thanks for the inputs guys!

Well Fluke is my dream thing too! I have heard people goin hoarse praising its accuracy:eek:hyeah: but the prices are just above the universe for me:p
And eazy, well i couldn find much about Rishabh on the web... there is an official site, but it does not mention anything bout the DMM's.

And Kumar, did u get a digital MM or an analog one? because i think a decent DMM costs a min of 300 bucks or so,and that too for the chinese ones.

Anyway, keep ur views comin guys..
 
A decent fluke is roughly around 8-9 grand. The entry level is not that great. However if you are looking for something cheap, just get one of the cheap chinese ones... a decent basic unit is arnd 500 bucks. However most of them are quite inaccurate out of the box and require a bit of calibration.
 
sridhanush said:
And Kumar, did u get a digital MM or an analog one? because i think a decent DMM costs a min of 300 bucks or so,and that too for the chinese ones.
Click to expand...

An average chinese made DMM will cost about 125 to 150 bucks (without capacitance measurement). I got one for 175 bucks some 6~7 years back. Good enough for occational use where high accuracy is not needed. It blew when I tried to measure the voltage from a DC to High voltage AC Inverter I was trying to cook up at the time. The DMM was rated to measure max 1000V max and it got more than that. :eek:hyeah:.

For 500 bucks you should get something better, but its still a low budget for a decent DMM.
 
Just been to the local hardware guy today evening.... ah! Its an enlightenment to say the least:p Well 500 is a bit on the lower side... but he had all the chinese ones in stock... needless to say that he would be clueless with other branded models..... none of them had autoranging (of course now i realise that it is a high end feature). Most of them were from some brand called MESTECH( chinese)... he had a 600V model in stock and it costs about 350 or so.Seems like a rugged unit, atleast to feel. Other high end ones had frequency measurements too (upwards rs850, but chinese again :S ). And eazy, sorry my mistake, i will not be in Blore for atleast another week... but i need to make the purchase now, within a couple of days... anyway, thanks for the links and the Rishabh ones sure look good... will definitely suggest them to some of my friends back home..and as far as googling is concerned, i checked only the pages from india :rofl: ... couldn find the official site u gave me ... so normal googling should have done the trick:p
 
Finally got hold of one:eek:hyeah: ... got it a couple of days back but dint find time to post it....
Its an Orpat MM and costed me 600 bucks. Well its not very accurate as usual in this price range but it offers almost everything i wanted... capacitance, continuity check, temperature measurement(-50 to 1000 deg C) and can handle 750VAC and 1000VDC.....

Thanks for ur suggestions guys! And please bear with pics.. had to take em with a 3230:p so its quite grainy.
 

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