RoadTest: Multicomp Pro - Fundamentals of Multimeters
Author: robogary
Creation date:
Evaluation Type: Test Equipment
Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True
What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: Fluke 117, Triplett MM525, AstroAI DM6000AR or M6KOR
What were the biggest problems encountered?: PC BLE dongle & software tool – I had to download from an OWON site. really clumsy BLE connection. I tried with a standard bluetooth dongle,that trial was a failure.. The unique OWON dongle is hard to find and costs 4X the cost of a standard bluetooth dongle I had to order the unique and special dongle from Jameco I felt obligated to use this solution as part of the road test. The demo video *Part 8* shows a bug in the PC tool, and the PC tool would not save data in the graph screen, it reported to NEED TO RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR even tho I did that and moved the PC tool to different subdirectories on my PC. See part 11 of the videos to see this in action. The instruction manual also had a couple mistakes.
Detailed Review:
My overall rating of the MP730624 - great value DMM
Android BLE software tool – a bit clunky but very useful. I wish the bluetooth would connect directly to the phone like any other bluetooth device. I was able to retrieve csv data from the phone onto my PC.
PC BLE dongle & software tool – clumsy and didnt work well, looks like a recompiled untested version of the Android app
The unique OWON dongle is hard to find and costs 4X the cost of a standard bluetooth dongle .
The demo video *Part 8* shows a bug in the tool. I could not get the program to save data in the charting screen, it reported to NEED TO RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR even tho I did that and moved the PC tool to different subdirectories on my PC. See part 11 of the videos to see this in action.
Arrival visual inspection photos
AC voltage measurements were taken at 690VAC & 400 VAC, 120 VAC .
The equipment was de energized, locked out and verified zero volts before the DMM was attached to the 690 & 400V measurement points. The equipment was also roped off with appropriate distances.
NOTE : a 690 VAC line at +10% is 760VAC which is 10V beyond the recommended 750 VAC max volts. Be wary of this situation.
The DMM connected via BLE with the heavy panel door closed with the meter inside the electrical cabinet. The cabinet was also inside an environmental chamber, and the BLE signal still came thru to the phone.
Line of sight, not in a panel, I was able to stay connected from the DMM to the cell phone from ~ 20 yards.
Road Test Requirement: Create “How to use a multimeter” video
The video is also published in segments corresponding to the knob settings, demonstrated with real examples.
The videos show the "how to" and most videos show the actual testing.
001 Intro to the DMM the selector knob, buttons, and the input terminals -
https://youtu.be/stB9WNOdWVw 12:44 run time
002 measuring AC & DC volts – video includes the road testing of BLE Android app
https://youtu.be/jRUXajh9OAM 7:33 runtime
measuring ohms, diodes, continuity – video includes the road testing
(003) Ohms https://youtu.be/kNxPRY1JAx8 8 minutes runtime
(004) Diodes https://youtu.be/qUfvmXZZRas 5 minutes runtime
(005) Continuity https://youtu.be/mOsiiOOdA8Q 3 minutes runtime
006 measuring capacitors – video includes the road testing of various capacitor sizes
https://youtu.be/16QiWIxqGlw 6:49 runtime
007 measuring temperature - video includes the limited road testing. The temperature probe provided is only good for air measurements.
https://youtu.be/ofyUCZ7pVzc 3:30 runtime
008 measuring frequency & Duty cycle– this topic got alot of attention - video includes road testing and the BLE PC tool operation.
MultiComp Pro USB scope MP720017 was used as the comparative instrument, measuring duty cycle from a radio control receiver PWM
and Raspberry Pi Pico PWM to an H bridge, on an RC/RPi Pico car.
https://youtu.be/7Tu_gzb54wk 14:30 runtime
Here are a couple screen shots of the measurements of freq & Duty cycle on the RC/RPi Pico car, I was pleasantly surprised how well the measurements agreed.
The red channel is the RC receiver PWM output, ~ 63 Hz, into the Raspberry Pi Pico, the yellow channel is the 2kHz Raspberry Pi PWM signal to the H bridge.
The scope is a MultiComp Pro USB scope MP720017
This screen capture shows a PC SW tool bug
I also used a calibrated lab quality function generator to check freq & duty cycle.
One test , the sine output was set to 60 Hz and the voltage adjusted. The DMM could not read 60 Hz below 200mV. It would not read freq again until the voltage reached 500 mV. AC freq was fairly accurate over the specified freq range.
The function generator was set to 1V out and 1Khz to mimic the DMM spec. The DMM had issues below 20% Duty, which I surmise are from a too low a rms threshold.
009 NCV – non contact voltage measurement - video includes the limited road testing
https://youtu.be/t9NIrixvOpA 1:14 runtime
010 measuring uA mA -– video includes the road testing using a LED current comparing to a Multicomp Pro 710086 power supply display
https://youtu.be/JEAudX-OjwY 8:14 runtime
011 measuring Amps AC of a hairdryer using the 20A series Ammeter terminal
https://youtu.be/lUg_iPGaRBA 3:41 runtime
012 measuring DC Amps of a power wheels car while its running. The Android BLE software tool is demonstrated here.
The amp readings feature a new 20A buck converter which it’s testing and performance evaluated in Part 013.
https://youtu.be/qmD2uOnLKzw 4 minutes runtime
013 measuring DC Amps and evaluating the performance of a DC –DC 20A buck converter power supply.
MultiComp Pro MP720015 hand held scope assisted in this test.
https://youtu.be/W3397mt7qNw 18 minutes runtime
