This thread never gets old i guess...
I couldn't find a RL photo of the
European version of the multimeter, so here we are:
As you can see, the ratings are very different from the
International version (feel free to compare with your own unit)! Also inside, the PCB and electronics are very different: more components and higher quality more expensive components, fuses, etc. Some trace sections of the PCB are similar but about 40% is different, easily seen from the traces and populated components. Yeah sure, mostly for better input protection and for
really matching the ratings printed on the front. Those lowered ratings were then certified by the top highest German Authorities both
GS and
TÜV, which are commonplace language items in geman households.
So for the International version UNI-T designers simplified the schematics, reduced the number of components, populated cheaper components to cut the costs and the retail price, and at the same time they raised the labeled ratings oic
My neighbor got his European version from a Dutch retailer but the instruction manual was in geman, here are the source PDFs for your reference:
Needless to say, typical pricing for the European version is expensive at 85EUR (2017), whereas the International version can be bought at 45EUR (ebay). The current packaging list is also slightly different: the UT61E nowadays comes with a 'bracketed' holder for the transistor measurement (you can see part of the bracket in the above photo) and with a USB data cable instead of the serial data cable. I didn't have good experience with the USB data cable before, though, as described possibly on another forum. Hence I continue employing the serial data cable and, if needed (see my previous post), a Serial-to-USB adapter based on the FTDI chipset series.
If people have/use the UNI-T USB data cable and are wondering, just do a 24.0h logging test (of voltage or current) and check if your Excel file is complete:
24h * 3600s/h * 2Hz = 172800 data points
Your Excel file should have 172800+ rows. Does it? Well, mine didn't when i used the UNI-T USB data cable. It did when i used the UNI-T serial data cable. There you have it. I don't trust the UNI-T USB data cable anymore.
Cheers, going on summer vacation now, bye!