Multimeter spreadsheet (80 manufacturers and over 400 meters listed)

[omgfire]

At Brymen brand at line BM867 in collumn "T" there is a "v" sign. What does this "v" means? It has temperature measurement capability?

Iam before of buying one like this meter, the price is affordable, it has a lot of funcionality, but I realy need to have temperature capabilities (not needed to be very accurate).

TASI-8620 for $12 will keep your multimeter available for measuring something else at the same time.

[Kuro]

At Brymen brand at line BM867 in collumn "T" there is a "v" sign. What does this "v" means? It has temperature measurement capability?

Iam before of buying one like this meter, the price is affordable, it has a lot of funcionality, but I realy need to have temperature capabilities (not needed to be very accurate).

No, the BM867 does not support temp reading. Best is not to trust the xls too much, verify the specs on Brymen's documentation. I found the xls confusing in quite a few spots, so I only used it to get a rought comparison between brands and models, and then get the official specs from manufacturer's documentation.

If you need temp, get the 829s (cheaper, bit less accuracy, less resolution, but added LoZ and non contact EF) or the 869s (more expensive, slightly more accurate, added VFD as well).

[Wytnucls]

At Brymen brand at line BM867 in collumn "T" there is a "v" sign. What does this "v" means? It has temperature measurement capability?

Iam before of buying one like this meter, the price is affordable, it has a lot of funcionality, but I realy need to have temperature capabilities (not needed to be very accurate).

No, the BM867 does not support temp reading. Best is not to trust the xls too much, verify the specs on Brymen's documentation. I found the xls confusing in quite a few spots, so I only used it to get a rought comparison between brands and models, and then get the official specs from manufacturer's documentation.

If you need temp, get the 829s (cheaper, bit less accuracy, less resolution, but added LoZ and non contact EF) or the 869s (more expensive, slightly more accurate, added VFD as well).

Correct, no temp reading on the BM867. There are likely to be some omissions and mistakes on the spreadsheet, due to the immense amount of information and sometimes erroneous or misleading specs released by the manufacturers. I rely on owners to flag those mistakes and the list should get more accurate with time. It is of course best to double check features on the manufacturer's web site, but that's not foolproof either, as I have discovered in a few instances.
If you find the list confusing, let me know how it could be improved and I will try to implement changes whenever possible.

[Lomax]

Dunno if you're interested, but here are the values for the new-ish Testo 760-2 & 760-3 (760-1 lacks RMS). There are a few points where I had to put a "?", notably the AC+ column - these meters do autodetect AC/DC voltages (zero crossing detection), but I'm not sure if that's what this column is for? I also haven't been able to find a battery life estimate, and could not figure out what the columns "P/F" and "4-20" stand for. I don't think 4-20 has anything to do with 420...

Code: [Select]

760-2,6000,?,1k,x,100uV,08/-/3,100nA,10,1k,10,60M,v,1,30,2.5,30M,v,x,v,x,<,x,x,2,60s,v,A,x,x,x,x,v,x,3AAA,?,x,x,T,600,IV,?,?,x,v,£140,2
760-3,6000,?,1k,x,100uV,08/-/3,100nA,10,1k,10,60M,v,1,60,2.5,60M,v,x,v,x,<,x,x,2,60s,v,A,x,x,x,x,v,x,3AAA,?,x,x,T,1000,IV,?,?,x,v,£200,2
Edit: These meters have quite a few unusual features (which is why I'm interested in them), but the spreadsheet lacks a free-text column for listing these. Not only have Testo opted to eschew the traditional rotating knob measurement selector in favour of a (backlit) button interface, but they are IP64 rated (with the manufacturer supplied leads). They will also auto select measuring mode based on where the leads are inserted and have the somewhat unusual (for the price range) ability to measure duty cycle (1-99% <=1kHz). More details are available in the user manual.

[Wytnucls]

Thanks for the heads-up. I had never heard of Testo before. Will add them to the list at the next revision.
If you wonder what the column headings mean, hovering your mouser pointer over the very first instance (Gossen), should bring up explanatory text.

[Matthematik]

I've been trying to figure out what the BW column represents but haven't had any success. Can someone help me out?

[hammy]

AC Voltage max bandwith.

[rsjsouza]

I can't seem to find Mastech ms8228/ms8229? could someone with the knowlage add this as well to the cheet?

As mentioned in the first post, the spreadsheet contains DMMs with 6000 counts or higher.

[12321dk]

I didnt want to make a new post for this, but I really need help here - is this a good multimeter to buy for 70€? Its used, almost new.

NEUMANN ST-9118T
http://www.neumann-messgeraete.at/ecommerce/product?category_id=344740&product_id=343956

[PedroDaGr8]

I didnt want to make a new post for this, but I really need help here - is this a good multimeter to buy for 70€? Its used, almost new.

NEUMANN ST-9118T
http://www.neumann-messgeraete.at/ecommerce/product?category_id=344740&product_id=343956

That is just a rebadged CEM meter, model DT-9918. Not really all that impressive.

[bozidarms]

Don't forget world's best - METRIX  MTX3293-BT
 

[mqsaharan]

@Wytnucls
I was searching for a new multimeter when I came across your post. And I want to say Thank You very much for taking the time and effort to make such a detailed spreadsheet. Truly helps in selecting a multimeter.
And I totally agree with you that 287/289 are the best in the whole list.

My request is to include the shunt resistance values for current measurement functions. It may or may not be very useful.

Also, I have found two mistakes in the file.
1. The Uni Trend UT171X series has the 100 KHz bandwidth for AC current functions according to their User's Guide.
2. The Keysight U1282A does not have LoZ feature according to its User's Guide.

I apologize in advance if I made mistake in understanding any of the presented information.
Also, ignore this post if it has already mentioned or you have already corrected it in the new revision.

Qasim.

[mqsaharan]

@Wytnucls
I could not find LoZ feature in MetraHit Energy; And both E-Tech and Tech have LoZ feature; according to their manuals.
I did not check the rest.

Again, please reconfirm before making corrections in your file. I may be missing something.

Qasim.

[Wytnucls]

Thanks for you input, but my master copy was corrected a while ago already, to be published at a later stage.
I only quote AC bandwidth when the accuracy band is 3% or less. I will make that clearer in the next edition.
The UT-171 series qualifies only on the 4/6 mA range. All other ranges are high, up to 9%+40 accuracy.

Shunt value can be derived from the burden voltage which is quoted for a few high-end meters.

I'm glad the file might help you finding your ideal meter.

[mqsaharan]

I only quote AC bandwidth when the accuracy band is 3% or less. I will make that clearer in the next edition.

I did not know that. That is a nice criteria, automatically sorts out the usefulness of the current function.

Shunt value can be derived from the burden voltage which is quoted for a few high-end meters.

Seems like I missed that too.

Hope to see updated file soon.

Qasim.

[totalnoob]

Wyt,

I have nothing of value to add, but I just wanted to say thank you for maintaining such a fairly exhaustive list of meters.  I am sure it seems like a thankless job, but it really is a great resource to help in selecting a meter with the features wanted/needed.   

[Wytnucls]

It is rather tiresome. Especially that my last file got corrupted when I changed editor.
Anyway, here is the latest file (Excel) with most problems corrected and a few additional meters.
Please open with MS Excel or the free MS Excel Viewer, to avoid any cell color problems.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10

Remember that the database is not immune from errors, so double check figures and features with the manufacturer's documents before your final buying decision.

[MrCreosote]

I was wondering if there are columns for the following:

Temperature (NOTE:  Stuff like supported range and/or thermocouple type)
Data Logging:  Stored Onboard OR Streamed to PC/Android
Interface:  USB OR WiFi OR BlueTooth

Also, what is "T+"?

Thanks
Tom

[Wytnucls]

I was wondering if there are columns for the following:

Temperature (NOTE:  Stuff like supported range and/or thermocouple type)
Data Logging:  Stored Onboard OR Streamed to PC/Android
Interface:  USB OR WiFi OR BlueTooth
Also, what is "T+"?
Thanks
Tom

Yes to all queries.
There is no T+. Use MS Excel to open the file.

[Kuro]

Thanks for the hard work! Since the 121GW isn't available yet, how certain are the specs you listed?

[Wytnucls]

Everything is still in flux, but main specs should be close.

[MrCreosote]

Finally got to a computer that had Excel on it. 

Having all this information in a Table is VERY AWESOME since there are so many features to select from.

Would like to see Owon but I would not be surprised that they would be in the class of not meeting safety specs.  (Maybe that could be a column so every model could be in a single Table?  Would be interesting to do X-Y plots on Price -v- Safety Fails.

Some observations:

1) Sorting the Excel spreadsheet was the objective.  But when sorting by features, not having a Manufacturer column made it difficult to determine at times.

2) What does Display "M" and "MT" mean?  Only 3 CEM DMM's had the MT.  Also Fluke 187/9 & 287/9 all had M listed - I don't think the 187/9 are graphical displays while the 287/9 are.  If the T in MT meant Trend, then what does the M mean?  Multi?

3) Does the "v" represent Check Marks?

4) Legend Comments sometimes do not explain the possible symbols used.  AND I found I had to edit the Comment box size to be able to see everything written - no biggie but wondering if Excel went haywire since it would wrap word characters.

[Wytnucls]

The Owon B35T is in the list.
M means multiple readings, usually with a graphical display.
T is a trend capture, as mentioned in cell notes.
Fluke 187 II and 189 II have graphical displays.

Some comment boxes may still be of the wrong size, but they are very few of them left now and most get corrected with each new revision.

[MrCreosote]

RE:  Fluke 189II has Trend Capture http://www.testmart.com/webdata/mfr_pdfs/FLU/189IIdatasheet.pdf - should it be a MT?
RE:  Fluke 187II:  can't find any reference to it.

I think I don't actually know what a Graphical -v- Trending display are.  I've always thought they could both graph data - "graph paper" or graph your data.  But I'm thinking the Graphical specifically means all sorts of different alpha-numeric layouts and sizes, but NO charting or plotting - which means NO Trend?

[Wytnucls]

I always assumed there must have been a Fluke 187 II, but there is no evidence for it. So, it is now removed from the list.
Of course, 289/287 and 189 II all have trend capture.