First, I'd try replacing the battery in your Radio Shack DMM if you
haven't already. But I'd immediately start looking for a replacement.
I'm not a test equipment snob, but you need to trust your test
equipment. If you aren't sure if you're testing your circuit or testing
your meter, the job becomes much more difficult. Even as a larval geek
in high school in the mid 1970s, I had a Beckman DMM and wouldn't use a
Micronta meter if someone gave it to me.
I think the best value in a quality DMM is a Chinese Fluke. Fluke has a
line of meters that are manufactured in China and ostensibly intended
for the Chinese market. The owner's manuals are in Chinese (it's a
digital multimeter and we pretty much know how to use those, although
there are English versions of the manual online) and the warranty isn't
valid in the US, but it's genuine Fluke quality at half the price or
less. Here's an example at the lower end, but they have larger and more
full featured meters in their Chinese line as well.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-FLUKE-101-portable-handheld-digital-multimeter-F101-mini-meter-US-SELLER-/182497154039
(if there's a problem with the link, search eBay for 182497154039)
When I bought my Chinese Fluke meter for my toolbox, they could only be
purchased from Chinese sellers, but now they're available from US
sellers so you aren't waiting a month for the slow boat from China.
AvE had a couple of videos extolling the virtues and value of the
Chinese Fluke meters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDm5BfRrAsg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJm9iCha-jM
Of course, wherever there's a market, some Asian ripoffs will occur, so
do try to get reasonable assurances, generally via seller feedback, that
you're getting a genuine Chinese Fluke instead of a cheap Chinese copy
of a genuine Chinese Fluke.
On 07/10/2017 12:07 AM, David Berndt wrote:
Apologies, this might be slightly OT, but I imagine we all use a
Multi-meter a few times a month in our EMC related work.
It seems my Micronta 22-174b has given up on life, or has suffered a
brain injury at the very least. After not using the meter for about 3
weeks I dusted it off and was double checking some wiring for a 24v
servo brake, everything went fine, there was no funny event, no smoke,
no fire, not even any brimstone, but the meter didn't read 24v on the
24v line, more like 19v, and I notice the ohm mode reads 32ohms all
the time, even when it should be displaying open circuit.
Nothing internally seems amiss, no obviously blown traces,
componenents, no burnt smell. Board says 1992, I guess 25 years is
enough, maybe it's time to consider a new unit.
Soooo... Anyone have any recommendations for a hobbyist level meter.
Dave
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