Decent benchtop multimeter for beginner?

[nctnico]

Op said he prefers a handheld meter but wants a bench meter for more accuracy.

Where does the OP write that? I can't find it... 
To me the opening post reads more like the OP is looking for a stationary DMM and is fed up by using handhelds. 

[live2fish88]

I currently have a fluke 179, TPI 194 II, Fluke 374, a Klein and a kaiweets. The latter are just throw in the car or in the toolbox for a throw around meter. I’d like a dedicated bench top meter for the larger display, somewhat permanent location and the ability for it not to fall down lol. It seems the stands on handhelds are never wide enough to provide good stability, one wrong move with the leads and they fall down. Sometimes it’s hard to see the display without a backlight… the list goes on.

[nctnico]

I currently have a fluke 179, TPI 194 II, Fluke 374, a Klein and a kaiweets. The latter are just throw in the car or in the toolbox for a throw around meter. I’d like a dedicated bench top meter for the larger display, somewhat permanent location and the ability for it not to fall down lol. It seems the stands on handhelds are never wide enough to provide good stability, one wrong move with the leads and they fall down. Sometimes it’s hard to see the display without a backlight… the list goes on.

I totally get that. Those reasons are why I switched to bench DMMs about 2 decades ago. To many bench DMMs are all about precission though; don't let yourself get distracted by that.

[wraper]

Op said he prefers a handheld meter but wants a bench meter for more accuracy.

Where does the OP write that? I can't find it... 
To me the opening post reads more like the OP is looking for a stationary DMM and is fed up by using handhelds. 

I thought it was OP who said that but it was another user in reply #8.

[Fungus]

Agreed, the BM869S is a well respected meter. Again, I think they only list the best case accuracy.

Actually worst case.

I would still like to see accuracy shown across the ranges like Siglent shows. I don't believe for a second these handhelds accuracies are equal across all ranges.

Brymen clearly show accuracy on all ranges.

Datasheet here:
https://brymen.eu/wp-content/uploads/biall/102092/102092.KARTA_EN..2015-07-09.1.pdf

[bdunham7]

Hey guys. Looking for a new bench top meter. I don’t feel comfortable buying used unless from a reputable seller (but still prefer new). I have handhelds but would like a dedicated bench top unit. Trying to keep the price $300 or below.

Before you decide you should have a look at what capabilities you can get in a bench meter over and above what your handhelds have and determine if any of those might be useful to you.  I'd also think about either bumping your budget, reconsidering used or both.  For example, prices of the 34401A have been cooling a bit and you can get something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/365031591932?epid=710140765

Some advantages of getting a halfway-decent bench meter include the high-impedance input mode, much greater AC bandwidth (over what you have now) and of course much greater accuracy.  Convenient data logging (can be always connected to a computer) is also a handy feature on many newer bench models.  $300 is a tough price point, there's a lot of junk down there.

[live2fish88]

Ok so let’s say I go up to 3045x pricing, is the extra 45$ for the 3055 worth it?

[KungFuJosh]

Ok so let’s say I go up to 3045x pricing, is the extra 45$ for the 3055 worth it?

That depends. I used to own both, but I sold the 3055. It didn't do anything for me that my 3045X (upgraded to 3055X-E) couldn't do. I liked the 3045X better because it doesn't have a fan, so it was quieter.

Technically, the 3055 hardware is superior, but in practice it was the least stable of my 3 bench DMMs. It was still good, but not better (to me), and no thanks to the fan noise.

Now I just have the 3055X-E and the 3065X. I still use both, and if I want it quiet, I use the 3055X-E.

Just keep in mind that if you have a different firmware/hardware range, you won't be able to upgrade the 3045X (at least not yet).

Normally, there's a $100 difference between the two. If you think you'd prefer the 5.5 digits, then I'd spend the extra $45. If you'd prefer it to be quiet, get the 3045X.

The main other thing I would consider is the counts. I do prefer the 5.5 digits (220,000 vs 66,000 on the 4.5 digit meter). The ranges make more sense to me, but YMMV.

[uargo]

Ok so let’s say I go up to 3045x pricing, is the extra 45$ for the 3055 worth it?

Absolutely yes, at that price for $45 extra the SDM3055 has better hardware (resistive divider, voltage reference etc), better precision 0.06 vs 0.015, 1 more digit 4.5 vs 5.5, higher frequency measurement 500KHZ vs 1MHZ and some other things.

[uargo]

Ok so let’s say I go up to 3045x pricing, is the extra 45$ for the 3055 worth it?

That depends. I used to own both, but I sold the 3055. It didn't do anything for me that my 3045X (upgraded to 3055X-E) couldn't do. I liked the 3045X better because it doesn't have a fan, so it was quieter.

3045X (updated to 3055X-E), adds 1 more digit, but still has the same hardware and the same 0.06 precision of the SDM3045X

[live2fish88]

I don’t get what you guys mean by 3055x. I haven’t seen that model on their website?

[uargo]

I don’t get what you guys mean by 3055x. I haven’t seen that model on their website?

It is a Chinese firmware that can be installed (I think it is not possible anymore) on the SDM3045X to convert it into SDM3055X-E, which is a version that is only sold in China, which is an SDM3045X with the same precision of 0.06, but it adds 1 more digit.
But I repeat, it still has the same hardware and the same precision of 0.06 as the SDM3045X.

[KungFuJosh]

3045X (updated to 3055X-E), adds 1 more digit, but still has the same hardware and the same 0.06 precision of the SDM3045X

I did mention that the 3055 hardware is superior. However, the correct way to look at it is that the 3045X is crippled by the firmware. Whether or not somebody needs higher accuracy is a different question.

I don’t get what you guys mean by 3055x. I haven’t seen that model on their website?

The SDM3055X-E is a China market only variant. They took the exact same meter, reduced the capabilities via the firmware, and put a different sticker on it to create the SDM3045X.

[uargo]

There is also a custom firmware for the SDM3055 on this forum by a user that gives you 8.5 digits and you can put it on, but the thing is that the digits have to be correlated with the precision of the hardware, that is, the SDM3055 has the precision for 5.5 digits, from there on the rest of the digits will show inaccurate data, for example the 6th digit will be inaccurate, the 7th very inaccurate, the 8th and following digits will show garbage.
Why do you think the SDM3065X costs 250€ more than the SDM3055?
Because of the extra precision it needs to show the 6th digit correctly

[uargo]

In summary what I mean is that the SDM3045X upgraded to SDM3055X-E will show you 5.5 digits and will look very cool. But it will never have the same precision (accuracy) in measurement as the SDM3055.
And for $45 difference it is certainly worth it.

[KungFuJosh]

No question, it's worth the difference in money...unless fan noise drives you crazy. 😉

To be fair, if I didn't get the 3065X, I would have kept the 3055. When I need the accuracy I have it. When I don't care if a 250VDC measurement is off by less than 2V (0.06% = 1.5V), then I go for the quiet one.

[robert.rozee]

I currently have a fluke 179, TPI 194 II, Fluke 374, a Klein and a kaiweets. The latter are just throw in the car or in the toolbox for a throw around meter. I’d like a dedicated bench top meter for the larger display, somewhat permanent location and the ability for it not to fall down lol. It seems the stands on handhelds are never wide enough to provide good stability, one wrong move with the leads and they fall down. Sometimes it’s hard to see the display without a backlight… the list goes on.

on the basis of the above, a Fluke 37 may be a good match, such as this one for us$50 on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185960963771

can be run on a plugpack, although has enough space inside to fill it up with more than enough battery capacity to run for several years. if it is not heavy enough, place some chunks of lead inside. the only thing lacking is a backlit display - has anyone added this to a 37?

or a Fluke 45 if you could get one at a sane price (and it had a good condition VFD).


cheers,
rob   :-)

[Phil1977]

- The AC-ranges switch to zero below 1% of their full range.

Many meters do that (or should do that) TRMS converters are inaccurate at low voltage levels.

As it was also stated on this forum: Digital TRMS converters as in the Owon are by far not that inaccurate that it is justified to throw away the lower 1% of the range.

It´s okay to specify no accuracy for < 1% - but to hard switch the display to 0.000 is just good for idiot operators who are confused by a little zero noise. Many better meters like Keysight DON'T do this, but probably they can afford a customer support that explains the IOs why they don't see zero if they cross the probe tips.

[Kleinstein]

The SDM3045 has some quirks with internal range switching at some 2 V and 0.2 V. This because the hardware is made for 0.2 / 2 / 20 V ranges and they have made it 0.6 / 6 V in software for some marketing reasons. This can add an "unexpected" discontinuity and maybe even change in the input impedance at some 2 V (6 V range).
The FW change to the 3055E version on some older units would also fix this issue, not just show 1 more digit.
Given the more stable hardware (and thus better accuracy) and better firmware and no more easy hack to SDM3055E, I would consider $45 more worth it for the 3055.

Dropping the AC reading to zero below some 1% is sometimes found - ideally there would be an extra warning on low accuracy. However this makes mainly sense with analog RMS that has some issues at low amplitude, though the limit should be a bit lower. The digital RMS as in the XDM1041 should ideally not have such an issue. So that is more like a software bug, not caused by using digital RMS. It is more of the opposite and digital RMS (without the bug) can handle the low readings better. The problem with lower end digital RMS is more a limited bandwidth (e.g. 1 or 5 KHz).

There are different reasons for a bench meter and not all bench meters have the full features:
Better visibilty
mains power (no battery)
4 Wire ohms  (rarely found with handhelds)
PC interface
high impedance ranges (rarely found with handhelds)

If it is mainly about good visibilty and a PC interface the XDM1041 is not such a bad choise.

[uargo]

The OWON XDM1041 is very good value for money overall, but it has several things:
1 - Worse accuracy 0.05 at best (in general it has much worse accuracy)
2 - It only measures AC voltage up to 1KHz and AC current is not even specified (which makes me think that maybe it only reaches 100Hz)
3 - 4.5 digits
4 - Very very slow in auto range
5 - Very limited dual display (only for frequency)
6 - It does not have a histogram
7 - It does not have a trend chart
8 - It does not have 4-wire measurement
9 - It does not have a trigger synchronization input
10 - It does not have an RJ45

Don't get me wrong, for that price it offers great value for money. But it is not on par with the SDM3055.

But if you don't need or don't care about the things I have listed, it is a good value for money option

[Phil1977]

I don't think the SDM3055 really competes with the XDM1041.

If you need a "real" benchtop DMM then the SDM3055 is a clear winner.

If you want a "hybrid", semi-portable DMM for the table, then especially the XDM1241 with it´s integrated battery (>10h runtime) is a fantastically convenient tool with the visibility of a benchtop DMM and the portability of a handhold device. For the same reason I often use it for logging purposes together with a PC. It´s just easier to setup than the heavy and large "real" benchtops.

AC voltage and current are both stable up to ca. 10kHz - but I can't quantify the accuracy, it´s definitely not the right tool to do AC characterizations over a broad frequency range.

[live2fish88]

I was sent some clearance rack stuff…
Siglent 3045x and the Rigol 3058E are close enough in price to each other.
Which would be the more solid unit?

[live2fish88]

How is the Rigol DM858E?

[KungFuJosh]

While I hate Rigol in general, I'll put that aside to say:

The display is lame on the 3058E.
The display looks a lot nicer on the DM858.

I can't tell you anything else about the Rigols, other than the DM858 series is a different form factor, which you may or may not like compared to normal bench DMMs.

[live2fish88]

Ok! I think I’m going to keep an eye on the siglent clearance page and if an 8055 comes up I’ll snatch  that.