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Multi-meters for PC use...

X

Xylo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Messages
421
I wanted to pick up a cheap multi-meter for the various modding that I'm going to be doing to my upcoming rig.

Let's see...what sort of Vac, Vdc, Aac, and Adc ranges would I want. Vac input voltages up to european would be like 220. Vdc maybe decent in like 15 or so? ... etc.

I think I might have access to a super cheap Craftsman -- and I like the brand, but I think range wise it might be more oriented towards house-wiring. The Craftsman has something like 600V AC & DC...and 10A AC & DC...around low voltages up to like 15, well, it's got a manual at 20. So seems like it should be fine for my purposes...

The cheaper Vastech ones I've seen on various mod sites have a bit higher ranges and more intervals...but know next to nothing about them brand-wise...


Man, I haven't used a multi-meter in years... ;)
 
i have a cheap craftsman DMM and it works pretty good. I borrow my friends fluke a lot because that thing is so much nicer, and its more accurate. The craftsman reads my 12v as 11.97 while the fluke says its 11.99. Pretty close values for a $15 DMM.
 
Any decent voltmeter will work, really all you need for checking power supplies is the 20 volt DC range since the max put out is 12, and if you want to test AC coming in then around 240 volts or so would test anything that'd be used for computer equipment.
 
Fluke is good but not cheap. They do take being dropped really well if it is a handheld model. I would say a used fluke is better than a cheap new meter.. You probablky want to keep it simple I doubt you are going to measure anything over 250VAC and it's going to be a rare day if you see more than 20VDC. A builin diode tester can come in handy

Try e-bay in your part of the world and do a search for fluke and see what happens. I picked up a used Fluke 10 for 25$ shipped on e-bay about 3 years ago and it's still going strong
 
Which Fluke you guys talking about?....

http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/category.htm?category=HMA(FlukeProducts)
maybe the 27?...maybe the 179?
110 or 189?
 
HybridHB said:
i have a cheap craftsman DMM and it works pretty good. I borrow my friends fluke a lot because that thing is so much nicer, and its more accurate. The craftsman reads my 12v as 11.97 while the fluke says its 11.99. Pretty close values for a $15 DMM.
Click to expand...

Which Craftsman?...Remember which Fluke?

The Craftsman 34-82141 is $20 and easy for me to get...
 
Xylo said:
Which Fluke you guys talking about?....

http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/category.htm?category=HMA(FlukeProducts)
maybe the 27?...maybe the 179?
110 or 189?
Click to expand...

This is a Fluke 11 very similar to my fluke 10. Looks exactly like it, may have an additional function or two The link is to an e-bay auction

http://tinyurl.com/7h3sr

Where you at Xylo?
 
Xylo said:
Which Craftsman?...Remember which Fluke?

The Craftsman 34-82141 is $20 and easy for me to get...
Click to expand...

I got the crafstman a while ago, so im sure its been replaced with a newer one. The replacement should be just as good if not better. The fluke my friend has is a 73 or 83 series or something like that. I checked last week for that model on ebay and they went for around $90. Im sure you dont need anything on that kind of level though.
 
Radio Shack has teh Micronta line and they would work well for what you are doing. For my romp around computer toolbox I just have a cheapie $20 DVM that I got at the electronics store. Works fine. :)
 
What you care about is basic accuracy. The specifications for the meter should show that number very plainly.

Oddly, I see no such information at the Sears page for that Craftsman meter. The Fluke website includes that information in the comparison table for any bunch of meters you'd care to bring up.

For $30, I'd be happy to chuck it in my travelling toolbox and bang it around. But for measurements that I care about, I'm going to stick with my Fluke because I know it has excellent specs.
 
Top Nurse said:
Radio Shack has teh Micronta line and they would work well for what you are doing. For my romp around computer toolbox I just have a cheapie $20 DVM that I got at the electronics store. Works fine. :)
Click to expand...

Radio Shack makes me nervous. Heh...the number of really poor quality things I've bought from them before makes me vveeerry wary.
 
mikeblas said:
What you care about is basic accuracy. The specifications for the meter should show that number very plainly.

Oddly, I see no such information at the Sears page for that Craftsman meter. The Fluke website includes that information in the comparison table for any bunch of meters you'd care to bring up.

For $30, I'd be happy to chuck it in my travelling toolbox and bang it around. But for measurements that I care about, I'm going to stick with my Fluke because I know it has excellent specs.
Click to expand...

Here it is:

Sears item #03482141000

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...00&subcat=Multi-Meters,+Testers+&+Accessories
 
Xylo said:
Radio Shack makes me nervous. Heh...the number of really poor quality things I've bought from them before makes me vveeerry wary.
Click to expand...

I have used MM before we had DVM and RS is where I got my first one and my last one. However, the one I really liked was my Simpson which I didn't get from RS. BTW, Before RS they were called Tandy and before Tandy they were called Allied Electronics IIRC. Been a lot of names, but still good basic VM's for 40+ years now. Nothing professional mind you, but good solid hobbyist/home user stuff. :)
 
well I covet the 189 as a loggable, high accuracy meter with trueRMS DC current readings

but then that is complete and total overkill unless you aspire to be a PSU Inquisitor :p
 
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