Show your Multimeter!

[bullet308]

BTW, since the Vichy/Victor/Whatever 4070L was the topic of some discussion, I thought I would do a mini-teardown and review on it.

(Edit to add for archival/search purposes: it is actually made by HoldPeak in China:

http://www.holdpeak.com/0/Productshow.aspx?id=20063

(Thanks to bored@work  for the link :-)

As noted above, accuracy is not its strong suit (mine reads about 10% high on average), but its the cheapest (+/- $25) way to measure inductance and stretch your available ohms and capacitance bandwidth beyond what your typical DMM will do. As I had a pressing need to measure inductance and was about broke at that point, I gambled and gave it a shot. It turns out to be quite useful, but hardly a definitive example of type.

BTW, of note up front is that it is totally unfused and clearly marked on the front as "MAX 30v DC" on all inputs. After poking around inside, you had better believe that I have taken those limitations to heart. This meter is somewhere between a CAT-0-rating and a small hand grenade for use at anything much higher.

The rubberish/soft plastic armor peels off with some difficulty. Its so stiff and thin that it can hardly provide any shock resistance at all.

Two screws (including the threaded insert battery cover screw) and you are in. Eight more little screws and you have the main board out. Not much to it. The display is interesting in that the LCD is mounted in the front cover with two long flexible connectors at the top and bottom hooking it electrically to the main board.

Sandwiched in between is a remarkably simple and effective (and cheap) way of backlighting the LCD: a thin translucent layer of plastic to conduct light from a single white LED mounted to the side. My Extechs should have half as good a backlight, and better than most anything else this side of, what? Agilent? Fluke? Not sure even they work much better. Kudos for shipping a cheap meter with a good backlight.

It has three tiny trimpots on the board. Perhaps it could be more precisely calibrated on the ohms and capacitance ranges, at least within the limits of my Hameg bench DMMs, but as this is the only inductance meter I have , I cant do much with that measurement. Might try that later.

It apparently has some means of testing transistors built into the face as well, but I didn't test that, as I gather such things are typically about useless anyway.

Photos below. I hope this is of some use to anybody.

[Bored@Work]

BTW, since the Vichy/Victor/Whatever 4070L

Whatever = HoldPeak http://www.holdpeak.com/0/Productshow.aspx?id=20063

[ablacon64]

Whatever = HoldPeak http://www.holdpeak.com/0/Productshow.aspx?id=20063

It's very beautiful in white, never seen a white meter before.

[T4P]

So you can showcase the scratches/dents you get on it 

[PA4TIM]

it is white ( kind a) and i love to have one but never seen one in real

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

Well,
     i have no idea whats going on in this thread but as far as holdpeak goes the best they have is this

Three SMD Tweezer Multimeters -> http://www.holdpeak.com/0/Default.aspx

[donald]

nothing  exciting , just normal use..

1)top left DMM - Dick Smith Q1429
2)top right hand - ST or T instrument model M-770
3)middle left  -  Fluke counter 1900A
4)middle Right - Fluke 8012A
5)Bottom - HP 3457A

sorry about focus , it was  having a bad day..

[PA4TIM]

Your camara must be emotional upto tears while shooting the picture, I think I see an Agilent 3457 or so but it is rathher unfocussed

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

nothing  exciting , just normal use..

Donald ,
          Can You Name The Brands And Model numbers there .Specially that analog meter you have  .

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

My Agilent u1242B

I've had too many to count I think.

No such thing as to many multimeters!

Sir ,
 Can you share more details of the same i am planning to buy one along with my protek 608

[steve30]

This just came in the post for me:

Got it off ebay for £20 inc postage. Battery holder was damaged, but I replaced it with an identical one. I already have a 1503 so am very familiar with the workings. Unfortunately, the case is really tatty and the handle was broken, but the sticker says it was last calibrated in 2008, and it seems to work nicely. It came complete with a set of good C batteries .



Here it is measuring a 4.096V reference IC.

Inside:

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

Well,
 Very nice how well this works is amazing .I also shop more lying there ,What are those  .Whats the total collection like .I Myself Wanted a amazing Digital One Also Myself with a retro look ,But there is a space issue issue currently

[Monkeh]

This just came in the post for me:

Got it off ebay for £20 inc postage. Battery holder was damaged, but I replaced it with an identical one. I already have a 1503 so am very familiar with the workings. Unfortunately, the case is really tatty and the handle was broken, but the sticker says it was last calibrated in 2008, and it seems to work nicely. It came complete with a set of good C batteries .

Probably the one I bid on. The seller was driving the price up and selling it to himself for weeks. Apparently he gave up on ripping people off eventually!

[steve30]

This just came in the post for me:

Got it off ebay for £20 inc postage. Battery holder was damaged, but I replaced it with an identical one. I already have a 1503 so am very familiar with the workings. Unfortunately, the case is really tatty and the handle was broken, but the sticker says it was last calibrated in 2008, and it seems to work nicely. It came complete with a set of good C batteries .

Probably the one I bid on. The seller was driving the price up and selling it to himself for weeks. Apparently he gave up on ripping people off eventually!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271059344157?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

That's the one I got.

I did bid on a few others which were going for not much more money, but got outbid.

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

This just came in the post for me:

Got it off ebay for £20 inc postage. Battery holder was damaged, but I replaced it with an identical one. I already have a 1503 so am very familiar with the workings. Unfortunately, the case is really tatty and the handle was broken, but the sticker says it was last calibrated in 2008, and it seems to work nicely. It came complete with a set of good C batteries .

Probably the one I bid on. The seller was driving the price up and selling it to himself for weeks. Apparently he gave up on ripping people off eventually!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271059344157?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

That's the one I got.

I did bid on a few others which were going for not much more money, but got outbid.

Well Steve ,
 I i Had To Get One benchtop DMM's that dave hates lol ,Then in that case i would go and buy one that has all the bells and whistles .like this when in the bench you have the best of the best .In my case i have lots of dmm's and voms and vtvm lined up for delivery to me  .i have started restoring the units i got and would be taking expert help from all

[Monkeh]

This just came in the post for me:

Got it off ebay for £20 inc postage. Battery holder was damaged, but I replaced it with an identical one. I already have a 1503 so am very familiar with the workings. Unfortunately, the case is really tatty and the handle was broken, but the sticker says it was last calibrated in 2008, and it seems to work nicely. It came complete with a set of good C batteries .

Probably the one I bid on. The seller was driving the price up and selling it to himself for weeks. Apparently he gave up on ripping people off eventually!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271059344157?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

That's the one I got.

I did bid on a few others which were going for not much more money, but got outbid.

Hm, fair enough, not the same one. Really annoys me when people do that, because it was blatently obvious that the guy was using multiple accounts to drive up the price, continually relisting under other accounts with slightly edited descriptions and photos taken in the same place from different angles. Nobody pays more than about £25-30 for these from what I can see, but I bid on the same one three times and got edged out literally at the 1s mark repeatedly, only to see it relisted under a new account a few days later.

[DeKemp]

I upgraded form a 10$ meter to a Agilent U1241B, my first real meter.


Extremely happy with it, also got the bluetooth module for free with it.

[M0BSW]

*chuckle*

Seriously, I have two Fluke 77's that are probably 20 years old, work great, are still in cal, and I see no need to replace them.
(and yes, that's really one of my meters in the photo)

Ohhhh the nixie tube just love them, looking on e-bay for nixie tube gear wonderful

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

I upgraded form a 10$ meter to a Agilent U1241B, my first real meter.


Extremely happy with it, also got the bluetooth module for free with it.

Well,
      Any Comments i am planning to buy the same .

[psycho0815]

I've got the same meter. Wrote up a short review here https://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/agilent1241b-short-review/

[cloudscapes]

uni-t ut60a

it's not amazing, but it's fine for my needs. I don't mind that the continuity isn't latching, as long as it's an instant crackle (and it is). autorange is a bit on the slow side, but overall I just don't feel like I need to hurry and buy a Fluke or anything.it does the job.

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

I've got the same meter. Wrote up a short review here https://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/agilent1241b-short-review/

Wow ,
     thank You

[itdontgo]

I have lots if these virtually in every room of my house and office.  They go in the bin when the battery runs down.  They're mainly used as a voltage checker more than a voltage measurer but that's all I need on my desk when I'm debugging code.



I have a good Mastech on the bench where it stays so I dont lose it.

[itdontgo]

They are made by Mastech btw.

[PA4TIM]

So as a counterweight for all the far-east plastic here a meter that was build to last for ever.
The cabinet is wallnut with a copper shield inside. Accessoires are under the toplid. And the nicest thing is a illuminated scale. You can choose between 10M or " infintive" input resistance.
Its almost as new but I miss the original diode for AC. ( a glass one  like in a Hp410 or AVO CT-38, the kind that is nice in winter because they get comfy warm 
http://www.pa4tim.nl/?p=2915 more pictures