First multimeter

[Muxr]

Not just any Uni-T please. The better bet is the UT139C. Or get the Amprobe AM-510.

Why the UT139C as opposed to a UT61E?

Uni-T has a lot of variance between their meters. But UT139C is generally considered safer and better built. UT61E is not too far behind though.

I actually picked up a UT61E while back just as a cheap data logger. Also I second Lightages's AM-510 recommendation.

[Deathwish]

I have a Claus Ohlson UT61E , thing takes forever to read resistances.

[Muxr]

Just compared my UT-61E to a Fluke 87V, measuring a 100ohm resistor. Don't notice a big difference. Fluke seems to get a faster reading, but 61E seems to autorange quicker. But I wouldn't say it's on the slow side, not sure if it's the revision thing.

[TMM]

UT61E is nice for it's resolution, but not a great primary meter. It's slow as a wet week, continuity mode is useless, etc. A UT139C is much more useful as a primary meter albeit with less resolution/accuracy. BM257 is even nicer again if the budget allows.

What makes the 87V such a nice meter imo is not the resolution, accuracy, safety or robustness, it's just that it's a very responsive meter and is mostly free of silly operation quirks that most cheapo meters have. Everything "just works". The 139C and the BM257 do a lot of things right which would make them a nice meter to use on a day to day basis even if they can't live up to the resolution, accuracy of an 87V. Other meters like the 61E or that BK precision one would drive me up the wall if i used them day to day because they have stupid quirks that you can't get rid of.

With these Fluke's, you don't need warranty, they are rocksolid...
If they are in "working conditions", you will not have problems with them...

Truth, but more than once someone has been burnt by buying a "powers on seems to work fine" one from ebay and it has arrived out of spec from being overloaded. If you have have another meter to compare to (even a cheap Uni-T) then it is worth a gamble buying a used Fluke and comparing them, if it seems in spec it probably is. Buying a second hand Fluke as a first meter without having some way to test it is not something i'd recommend.

[timofonic]

UT61E is nice for it's resolution, but not a great primary meter. It's slow as a wet week, continuity mode is useless, etc. A UT139C is much more useful as a primary meter albeit with less resolution/accuracy. BM257 is even nicer again if the budget allows.

What makes the 87V such a nice meter imo is not the resolution, accuracy, safety or robustness, it's just that it's a very responsive meter and is mostly free of silly operation quirks that most cheapo meters have. Everything "just works". The 139C and the BM257 do a lot of things right which would make them a nice meter to use on a day to day basis even if they can't live up to the resolution, accuracy of an 87V. Other meters like the 61E or that BK precision one would drive me up the wall if i used them day to day because they have stupid quirks that you can't get rid of.

With these Fluke's, you don't need warranty, they are rocksolid...
If they are in "working conditions", you will not have problems with them...

Truth, but more than once someone has been burnt by buying a "powers on seems to work fine" one from ebay and it has arrived out of spec from being overloaded. If you have have another meter to compare to (even a cheap Uni-T) then it is worth a gamble buying a used Fluke and comparing them, if it seems in spec it probably is. Buying a second hand Fluke as a first meter without having some way to test it is not something i'd recommend.

Just do some social engineering and use a lab/workshop from your local university

[John Coloccia]

Fluke 87 or BK2709B would be my two top choices.  Someone mentioned "funny quirks" with the 2709B.  Like what?  I've used them and like them specifically because they're very speedy, have a great continuity check, and no bad habits. I can tell you that I have an Extech something or other here.  It has a crap continuity test, and is slow as molasses.  Very unpleasant to use as anything but a second meter for occasional measurements.

[Deathwish]

I'm not a fluke fan boy, I tend to go for the cheapest one with the ability to do what I want at the time of purchase, but my favourite meter was the Fluke 77 I had many many years back, never let me down.

[Sigmoid]

Fluke 87 or BK2709B would be my two top choices.  Someone mentioned "funny quirks" with the 2709B.  Like what?  I've used them and like them specifically because they're very speedy, have a great continuity check, and no bad habits. I can tell you that I have an Extech something or other here.  It has a crap continuity test, and is slow as molasses.  Very unpleasant to use as anything but a second meter for occasional measurements.

Yea, I found no funny quirks in the 2709b. Maybe the battery was failing when the "quirks" manifested?

And before anyone buys a Uni-T, watch Dave's teardown video I linked above. After watching that, I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole. Also, they generally go for around $50, while the 2709b goes for $80.

That sure is worth some MOVs and general build quality, right? Even if you THINK that "oh I'll never measure high voltage", a multimeter is something you buy for 10 years, or 20. You'll probably do some home remodeling, and need to measure mains... Or decide to build a tesla coil for fun. Or a solar panel setup on your roof.

Go with a "real" meter. The 2709b is most certainly one.

[Muxr]

I have a UT-61E and a bunch of Flukes. UT-61E comes with an rs232 adapter via IR port on the back for connecting it to a computer, which can be real handy for data logging. It's why I got it, since it's something I use rarely and for $50 it's about the cheapest solution out there.

I am not going to hate too much on it. It's a cheap meter. It has some redeeming qualities, it's fairly small so it doesn't take much room and it's conservative on the battery consumption. It can certainly do the job, but I echo what others have said. Get a proper safe meter. More importantly you should have at least 2 meters, ideally 3. Since you want to measure multiple things at the same time, and you want to be able to double check their results if for whatever reason one of them goes out of cal or it breaks.

Great deals can be had on Fluke 2nd hand meters on Ebay. 83Vs are excellent meters and can be picked up under $100. Even 87Vs can go under $200 you just have to be patient. I happen to really like Fluke meters, because they are top quality and their UI is my favourite. But you can also go with a new meter from other decent brands.

- Brymen, Amprobe, BK Precision, Agilent/Keysight.. are some that you can also go with.

A decent DMM will outlive your every other tool pretty much, and DMMs don't really become outdated like other gear. A 30-40 year old 8060 Fluke is still a very capable meter for instance. So spending extra few bucks on quality goes a long way.

For the absolute cheapest decent meter, Amprobe AM-510 is pretty good.

[timofonic]

Fluke 87 or BK2709B would be my two top choices.  Someone mentioned "funny quirks" with the 2709B.  Like what?  I've used them and like them specifically because they're very speedy, have a great continuity check, and no bad habits. I can tell you that I have an Extech something or other here.  It has a crap continuity test, and is slow as molasses.  Very unpleasant to use as anything but a second meter for occasional measurements.

Yea, I found no funny quirks in the 2709b. Maybe the battery was failing when the "quirks" manifested?

And before anyone buys a Uni-T, watch Dave's teardown video I linked above. After watching that, I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole. Also, they generally go for around $50, while the 2709b goes for $80.

That sure is worth some MOVs and general build quality, right? Even if you THINK that "oh I'll never measure high voltage", a multimeter is something you buy for 10 years, or 20. You'll probably do some home remodeling, and need to measure mains... Or decide to build a tesla coil for fun. Or a solar panel setup on your roof.

Go with a "real" meter. The 2709b is most certainly one.

My DMM is half broken and has a shitty continuity test since the beginning. It's very frustrating because I still do shitty PCBs and need to check them so a good continuity test is very important to me.

I might buy a DMM, but I'll do my own one for short term and for fun. I put some schematics in this forum thread, I'll check them all and do the one I consider better (the programmable one seems better and easy to do).