Best Multimeters

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:09 am

I'd bought a nice(looking) Radio Shack 17 function multimeter for use with my electronics projects. The thing is horrendously inaccurate. If you adjust the dial to read the proper resistance of a known resistor at one scale, the number comes up completely different at a higher and lower scale.

I do have an ancient Craftsman multimeter which gives accurate readings, but it only reports resistance in K ohms. Not particularly useful to me.

So, what multimeters do all of you use, and can you suggest a good one to buy?

EDIT: If this would be better suited to the Technical Questions subforum, a moderator can move it.

APHawkes · Post by **APHawkes** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:05 am

I have a cheapo chinese multimeter for things where accuracy isn't important (is that 3.3v or 5v or 12v ?). Anything requiring accuracy I grab a Fluke.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:39 am

I use a cheap one, cost Â£5 on e-bay. I have a Â£20 one too, but use the cheap one as it reads similarly and has an audible "beep" when you check continuity, which is rather handy.

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:11 am

teraflop122 wrote:I'd bought a nice(looking) Radio Shack 17 function multimeter for use with my electronics projects. The thing is horrendously inaccurate. If you adjust the dial to read the proper resistance of a known resistor at one scale, the number comes up completely different at a higher and lower scale.

I do have an ancient Craftsman multimeter which gives accurate readings, but it only reports resistance in K ohms. Not particularly useful to me.

So, what multimeters do all of you use, and can you suggest a good one to buy?

EDIT: If this would be better suited to the Technical Questions subforum, a moderator can move it.

Thats normal for electronic multimeters. You have to know the range of the resistor so you can get the most accurate reading.

Speaking of reading resistor values why don't you just read the color codes?

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:14 pm

I'm no expert, but when a multimeter reads 40 with 100 ohm scale but 1 at 1000 ohm scale I tend to think something's wrong.

I'm not too worried about reading the resistance of clearly marked resistors. I was, however, using a clearly marked resistor in order to test the accuracy of the multimeter.

Post by **bicostp** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:54 pm

We've got a couple:

- Radio Shack 22-811. Picked it up for $20 on clearance when they were liquidating a nearby store. It's pretty accurate.

- An old Beckman Tech 310, been around as long as I can remember. It doesn't do as much as the RS meter, but oddly enough it's more accurate. Get one if you can find one. (Here's a nearly identical one on eBay.)

- Last but not least, a Keithley 2000 my dad found in the trash at work. It works just fine, and has more functions than I know what to do with. Apparently it can also be used as an RS-232 data acquisition device or something. (People throw away fun toys.)

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:03 pm

bicostp wrote: - Last but not least, a Keithley 2000 my dad found in the trash at work. It works just fine, and has more functions than I know what to do with. Apparently it can also be used as an RS-232 data acquisition device or something. (People throw away fun toys.)

Holy Crap that this is a beast

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:05 pm

I am going to ask my neighbor if he can get me a Motorola multimeter!

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:28 pm

teraflop122 wrote:I'm no expert, but when a multimeter reads 40 with 100 ohm scale but 1 at 1000 ohm scale I tend to think something's wrong.

I'm not too worried about reading the resistance of clearly marked resistors. I was, however, using a clearly marked resistor in order to test the accuracy of the multimeter.

Could be a dead 9Volt battery. My multimeter gave strange readings when the battery is low. The low battery indicator wasn't even on.

LoyalistRevolt · Post by **LoyalistRevolt** » Fri May 16, 2008 10:44 pm

bicostp wrote:We've got a couple:

- Last but not least, a Keithley 2000 my dad found in the trash at work. It works just fine, and has more functions than I know what to do with. Apparently it can also be used as an RS-232 data acquisition device or something. (People throw away fun toys.)

YOUR DAD FOUND THAT IN THE TRASH!!!!!!!!

I'm a real chepo so I bought a radio shack one I barely know how to use it

Post by **bicostp** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:03 am

Yeah, thrown away because they apparently don't do electronics work in this country anymore. It may have been another company in the same building (All the companies in that building share a junk electronics pile in the communal loading dock. Usually it's just got a bunch of near-useless junk like P3 class desktops and dead CRTs.)

In retrospect, using it to test the box of mystery batteries was like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

That older Beckman unit is great, and gets far more use. If you can find one, get it.

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Best Multimeters

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