#91 - $50 Multimeter Shootout

[EEVblog]

The $50 meter shootout is now up. Still need to get the comparison spreadsheet up, soon.
Wasn't entirely happy with the overall result, it's a bit of hotch-potch, and I didn't cover everything, but hey, here it is.
Comments and ideas to make the $100 shootout better are invited.

Dave.

[TheWelly888]

Drop the Global Specialties one on your toes in the next shoot-out, that will give them some consolation! Then blow it up with Doug's machine! Or drown it in your favourite pot-hole!

I thought you were too hasty in pulling the bails out of the backs of each meter - no-one should be in such a hurry to get the meter stood up.

Great shoot-out! Thanks mate!

[Polossatik]

coool, bored @ work, at least something worth doing...
booting up pc outside the corporate network....

[safarir]

In each shout-out, you should destroy the worst one.

[KTP]

The ohms autorange on my new Fluke 289 is about as fast as the worst of the $50 meters, but it does have an analog bar graph display which is super fast.  Well, ok it doesn't flip through all of the ranges when you go from open leads to shorted leads but it does take about 2 seconds to go from OL to 0.09 ohms when you touch the leads together.

What do you think of calling out thumbs down on a $50 meter for being slow to autorange when a $500 meter is just as slow?

(The fluke does have the nice feature that when it does settle on a value, I trust it  )

[KTP]

Thinking about it a bit more, when you go from an open circuit to short circuit condition in the ohms mode it is like applying a step voltage to a RLC series circuit, with L being the inductance of the meter leads, R being the series combination of the meter lead resistance, probe tip contact resistance and internal meter resistance, and C being the capacitance of the leads and whatever else in the meter.  This will produce a damped oscillation, which may be what the meter waits to settle before displaying the value.  I have to finish up my EE lab but if I thought about it more and plugged in some numbers I could figure out about what amplitude this oscillation would be and how long it would take to decay to a small value.  If you add to this some number of cycles of processer time you could come up with a reasonable delay figure which if a meter does not exceed by too much should not get a thumbs down.

[mikeselectricstuff]

How about illustrating the difference in fuse types, leads and sockets form a safety point of view - 600V across the 10A range please....! Or at the very least 230v mains..

[TheDirty]

On the closeups when you are holding the products, try to slow down a bit.  I played the thing full screen and started to get a headache since the meter fills the whole screen and shakes around like crazy.

[Kiriakos-GR]

Congrats Dave , you did a good job ....    

But you had kick their tiny ass a bit hard ..   No one of them claims Military specs !! about free fall  

The impressive was that all, are well adjusted about accuracy , so no major worries about that.

The probes test , never was important to me , but the display speed, it is.

The light weight meters , haves always issues about standing right , so I do not count this factor.

" Pushing the display glass "  it was a smart move ... anything sensitive to pressure ,
will have issues , at high or low weather temperatures too ..  
  
As an professional , I have no interest at all , in the low-end meters ,  but its good to know , how well the " modern " cheap offerings stands ..  

Lastly , this offerings does not belong , at the European region , it can come, only as "marketed from ebay",
so factors like warranty and parts coverage ...can be totally discarded .  

I will only disagree at one point , the readability of the "Vichy 99 " are tremendous , the most clear display than all , with well shaped digits ..

I tried very hard to not be effected by your tone of voice, feelings and remarks ..
So  I vote for the   " Vichy 99 " as an nice meter to have ,
for a student who does not drop his stuff on the ground ..  

  

[EEVblog]

In each shout-out, you should destroy the worst one.

Sounds good!
Actually, I really want to destroy all of them, just for fun.
Maybe another time...

Dave.

[EEVblog]

What do you think of calling out thumbs down on a $50 meter for being slow to autorange when a $500 meter is just as slow?

All the tests have to relative to the group being tested. If there is a fast one in the $50 group then the slow ones get the thumbs down for that feature.

Dave.

[EEVblog]

On the closeups when you are holding the products, try to slow down a bit.  I played the thing full screen and started to get a headache since the meter fills the whole screen and shakes around like crazy.

Yeah, I noticed that on the playback, sorry!
Will try and slow down next time.

Dave.

[safarir]

In each shout-out, you should destroy the worst one.

Sounds good!
Actually, I really want to destroy all of them, just for fun.
Maybe another time...

Dave.

You can also give them away ...

[EEVblog]

In each shout-out, you should destroy the worst one.

Sounds good!
Actually, I really want to destroy all of them, just for fun.
Maybe another time...

Dave.

You can also give them away ...

I could. But being in Australia means the postage costs me a packet.

Dave.

[MrPlacid]

Episode #91, too short!!!  Hahaha.... I enjoyed every minutes of it. Thanks Dave.  I enjoyed watching the Global multimeter, it was quite comical.

[kc1980]

Thank you for the awesome, sleazy multimeter porn!  I'm glad I was able to pick up a used higher end multimeter after watching this video.  I've always liked the Wavetek/Meterman/Amprobe meters; they seem to be a value.  Can't wait to see the $100 shootout.

[charliex]

It was a good vid dave a lot of fun to watch. A+++ will watch again.

i wonder if we'll see some of those meters disappear from teq

For the next test, i'm curious about how each of the meters would fair strapped to a smallish model rocket.

[Polossatik]

For the next test, i'm curious about how each of the meters would fair strapped to a smallish model rocket.

+1
Or test their "durability" by rocking them in a dryer or so

Great video Dave, I can't wait until the next one

[cybergibbons]

I'd be quite interested to see how they deal with being shorted across a supply - nothing ridiculous like mains, but maybe a car battery? I've had some meters look like the fuse will work, but when they are really abused, tracks lift off the PCB before the 10A fuse goes.

[dengorius]

Well if you're ever going to make another puzzle vlog you already have the prizes

[EEVblog]

Well if you're ever going to make another puzzle vlog you already have the prizes

Indeed!
The multimeter situation is getting a bit ridiculous really!

Dave.

[Kiriakos-GR]

As one technician who cares to have the right tools , I find the all progress so far as useful. 

The young ones should be aware of what to expect by those products.

By my taste , I would call as " Non interesting " the yields about ... more smoke, and blasts, and harsh behavior over the instruments ..

Sorry if I have step over any toes ... but this looks as an worthy review to me , and not as an Circus ,
or an dragster racing show.   

[PetrosA]

Dave, that was a great episode (shaking images aside) and it certainly didn't feel too long to watch. I got my Greenlee DMM (electrician's type) and I'll try to use some of your criteria when I make my review of it. First impression is very positive - more to follow...

[Simon]

I enjoyed it, particularly as i have two of the meters, the AM220 and VC99, the amprobe I knew would do well, the Vichy I'm hardly surprised at, I always thought of it as a piece of crap since i started using it, it's ok as a second meter but i'd never fully trust it. the seller got neutral feedback from me for it and even tried to bribe me with a small amount of refund to change it which I refused to do

[mikeselectricstuff]

In each shout-out, you should destroy the worst one.

Sounds good!
Actually, I really want to destroy all of them, just for fun.
Maybe another time...

Dave.

I think mains on the 10A range (with the supplied leads!) would not only be fun, but actually moderately useful in terms of evaluation safety. Results would fall into 3 simple categories :
1) Fuse blows, meter still works after replacement.
2) Meter destroyed but remains mostly intact & operator uninjured
3) Possible injury/death to operator