Multimeter? TENMA 72-6130 or FLUKE 106 any good?

Hi!

Glad you asked before you purchased : ) Not sure on those little flukes - they are for general household use, not for engineers. I just checked the

basics on those like resolution and if you can manually set ranges, and do min/max. Same with the Tenma one you mention, it looks like a

hobby one (no removable probes either).

But there are many alternatives at near-similar price range that would be much better.

Maybe this one -  72-7745 - TENMA - MULTIMETER, DIGITAL, HAND HELD, 3999 | Farnell element14

I've not used it, but the specs and price look reasonable. It is missing min/max though, which is nice to have.

Still, for the price it will be useful as a secondary one even if you upgrade to a better one some day.

Get some nice test probes at some stage (some of the fat ones shipped with the multimeter are difficult to use on small circuits).

The stuff like frequency and capacitance are nice to have, but so rarely used.

My regular use Fluke (model 175) is low-to-midrange and has these, but I don't think I have ever used these functions since it was purchased maybe 5 years ago.

If you really need to measure capacitance or inductance, there are cheap devices on ebay that are pretty accurate, although they measure

at a low frequency. You'll be doing those latter two measurements out-of-circuit. Don't worry about having those on a handheld multimeter.

Hi shabaz
Thank you for your informative reply.
The multimeter you have mentioned Iooks good but it almost touches double the budget what I can afford right now. I can only afford below $50 multi meters. I need frequency but I am not looking for capacitance either. I have few more options near my budget :
1 Uni-T -Autoranging Modern Digital Multimeter [ UT61A ] ― Lynx - The Do It Yourself [ DIY ] Online Indian Store

2 http://www.urjakart.com/fluke-107-digital-multimeter.html

Hi!

Uni-T are pretty awful (from experience).

The Fluke 107 isn't appropriate either, it has a resolution of 1mA on the current range, which is unusable for electronics design.

Why do you need frequency? (just wondering in case there is a different way to meet that need).

Maybe worth it to keep going with your existing meter, and spend the $100 or so later, rather than spend $50 now.

Well, thank you for that. You certainly saved me from buying that Uni-T. Actually my very own first project (circuit) was about digital clock (in CSIO, a Research & development branch of CSIR in India) in which I made 1Hz clock source (unit) using 555 timer, JK flip flop and few more components, I remember using a multi-meter back there to check the Hz. Surely the multi meter I used was of high quality I don't remember its name now but it was really helpful in creating almost 1 Hz clock. Currently, I am working on AC drive I can't disclose everything here but I need to keep track of frequency for this project as well.
I was really considering to increase my budget but this is how far I can go right now and I am really in need of some basic multi meter here right now.

What will be a reasonable budget to buy one good multi meter?

mudz

I think the Tenma one (72-7745) is about the right specification.

The frequency measurement examples don't require a multimeter, so you could continue to use your existing multimeter until you have the budget.

A 555 based 1Hz clock will never stay accurate for very long, it will drift, so the multimeter doesn't help any more than just (say) counting 1Hz pulses over a

minute for example, to get it close enough. For the other project, you may be using a microcontroller in which case you can calculate the frequency

exactly, or you could use a known oscillator and divide down. There are other ways too.

In summary, save the money for now, if the choices currently are the Fluke 107 or Uni-T, because both will disappoint for developing electronics projects.

Yes, yes you are absolutely right about 555 not being the right component. Actually 555 was used to generate 10Hz clock then I used decade counter to divide it by 10. Surely it wasn't accurate But as that was my first step in to this digital world and I made my first circuit, I was happy. That project really helped me to know how to solder, how to make connections between two Ic's etc (basic knowledge). That time I didn't knew about microcontrollers but later on I made many projects using microcontroller including a small digital clock using DS 1307. Check out my first project pic
 
Then after a year when I started with microcontroller I made my own development board

and I believe I should save few more bucks to buy a good multimeter.

Can you suggest me which one should I buy so that I get to know how much I need to save?

They look like fun projects! : )

This one seems quite good from the specs:

72-7745 - TENMA - MULTIMETER, DIGITAL, HAND HELD, 3999 | Farnell element14

Yes they are, for starters
Alright TENMA  72-774572-7745 it is I was looking over internet for info related to some multimeters and I came across this blog post where it is mentioned by one person that TENMA is rebadged UNI-T It's here(Reply#7 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/review-tenma-72-7222-digital-clamp-multimeter/
Is it true?

Hi!

I actually have that current clamp meter - Not amazingly constructed but it is cheap and was what I expected. It does the job (I don't use it often - and can always borrow a better fluke clamp meter on the rare occasion I need it).

Unfortunately I'm going on the spec sheet alone, I don't have that Tenma multimeter I'm afraid

Hi!

I actually have that current clamp meter - Not amazingly constructed but it is cheap and was what I expected. It does the job (I don't use it often - and can always borrow a better fluke clamp meter on the rare occasion I need it).

Unfortunately I'm going on the spec sheet alone, I don't have that Tenma multimeter I'm afraid

Hi shabaz
Thanks, I was waiting for your reply only as no one else is jumping into this important(well for me) thread and I am really considering to buy one good multi-meter. So, I am raising my budget I can now purchase $100 multi meter but I believe I would not be getting any good multi meter in this range as well?
I am considering FLUKE 115 True RMS or TENMA 72-774572-7745 or Agilent u1232a ?

What should I choose? Or there is some other meter around $100(+$20) range?

The problem is, your budget of originally $50 gets you something perhaps close to what you already have with a $2 one.

With $100 budget you can get a device with a good spec (on paper) - that Tenma one I mentioned.

If you want a Fluke or Agilent, you're looking at a further 3-4 times the cost (so about 6-8 times your original budget) before you're approaching something you might want.

You can check the spec sheet of the Fluke you mention, would you be happy with the resolution on the current range? If so, then great, but I can't see this

as being suitable. Basically, you can decide for yourself based on the specs that you think you need.

The particular Agilent you mention has some quirks on its current measurement range too according to the detail in the spec sheet.

If you're going Fluke then about the minimum you should consider is something like the 170 series.

But basically, check the specs because if your existing meter doesn't cut it any longer then based on whichever bottleneck (specification) you

are hitting, you can check to see if your planned multimeter spec solves it.

After researching for few days I came to know that it's really tough to buy a so called good (or say intro to professional life) DMM below $200. You just need to drop the word "good" and use only DMM in that range. It just does not matter if I buy a $10 or $50 DMM, also If I am going to add extra $50- $80($130 range) I am just getting a $50 DMM with little extra features like Good built and little high protection but with almost same or little increase in accuracy/resolution.

shabaz You are absolutely right that >$250 is the range where the difference starts i.e. FLUKE 170 series or similar other competing DMM manufacturers. above $400 good DMM starting range.
No dis regard or dis respect but the only DMM's I am not going to buy are TENMA or UNI T because they both are same and have almost No/sickening regards toward safety(you can check their tear down and compare with other DMM's).

FLUKE 11x series are just same with less or more features Agilent  U1232AU1232A or BK2709B are like$10 DMM's for Hobby thing/newbie in electronics I am not saying that they are same as cheap DMM no they are nice but just start up toys for electronics fresher's

Now I am confused , I can't buy those fancy FLUKE 170 series and I can't wait as well. I guess I have to go to electronics market and choose between BK, FLUKE, Agilent price for features as they almost have same accuracy.

mudz