Multimeter of choice

[cyberfluxor]

I'm currious, what is everyone's multimeter of choice? I'm looking at selections online for digital display units and prices can jump quickly. Are there any manufacturers/models to stay clear of or a particular place to buy at a good rate?

[Peale]

Fluke makes some excellent meters.

If this is just going to be a hobby type thing though, a cheap meter will do fine.

[Hep038]

Have used Flukes all my life. Have yet to have one die on me, or one not work after it has been dropped about 1,000 times.

[shawnbo42]

I also have a Fluke and it has always been good to me. Not to throw water all over the picnic, BUT....there's a meter out by Protek that runs about $80, a co-worker bought one, and I have to say, it's a really nice meter. I am actually thinking of buying one in addition to my Fluke. I can get you the model # if you're interested.

[98PaceCar]

If I used mine enough, I'd have a Fluke for sure. I don't do a whole lot with it anymore, so I'm down to a cheapo I bought at Radio Shack some time ago. I think it's a metex. Does good enough for measuring voltage and such, but I wouldn't use it for any sort of precision work.

[cyberfluxor]

I also have a Fluke and it has always been good to me. Not to throw water all over the picnic, BUT....there's a meter out by Protek that runs about $80, a co-worker bought one, and I have to say, it's a really nice meter. I am actually thinking of buying one in addition to my Fluke. I can get you the model # if you're interested.

Is it the Protek 6300 (http://www.protektest.com/Prodinfo.asp?prodid=6300)? I was leaning towards purchasing a Fluke, or maybe just get a Gardner Bender (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?id=100013868&jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&marketID=401&productId=100013868&locStoreNum=8125&langId=-1&linktype=product&storeId=10051&ddkey=THDSiteMap) from Home Depot. Just not too sure and since its primary function is testing arcade equipment was currious what some DP members use.

[shawnbo42]

Not sure that's exactly it, but it has at least 95% of the features of the one he's got. It's a heck of a meter, for sure. If you're going to use it more than like 3 times, then I'd recommend it to you. Not sure how it holds up to a Fluke, but I have heard nothing but good things about it from numeorus sources.

[jb143]

A Fluke is definatly a great meter and extremely accurate but it might be overkill depending on what you use it for and how often your using it. If you just need to read the occasional voltage or resistance then a $20 meter will probally do. If you actually need to know the difference between 100V and 100.025V or need to measure higher frequencies then a Fluke might be what you need.

[Pantechnicon]

I got a hold of a very nice Fluke from my last big IT job. It has more functionality than I'll ever utilize, but cheap as free so I can't complain.

[ubikuberalles]

I bought a meter from Radio Shack many years ago when RS was actually selling electronics instead of just phones like they do now. It was an analog meter but was very dependable and reliable. I loved it. Still do.

[XYXZYZ]

What do you plan on doing with it? For arcade games I don't think you'll need anything more than continuity and basic voltage/resistance checking. A good old $20.00 Rat-Shack meter will do. They're a little on the flaky side if you want precise readings, mine is digital auto ranging and tends to jump around a bit on resistors. At work I have a really nice BK Precision benchtop meter that's spot on every time.

[channelmaniac]

If you get one of the more expensive Radio Shack meters you'll do just fine. I picked up one of their $89 units when it was on clearance for $39. It does caps, diodes, transistors, frequency, resistance, and voltage checks.

I also have a couple of Fluke meters.

The Radio Shack one gets the most use as it's faster than the Flukes, especially when doing continuity beeps trying to find which pin on a 100 pin SMT chip goes to a broken trace.

RJ

[XYXZYZ]

If you get one of the more expensive Radio Shack meters you'll do just fine. I picked up one of their $89 units when it was on clearance for $39. It does caps, diodes, transistors, frequency, resistance, and voltage checks.

I also have a couple of Fluke meters.

The Radio Shack one gets the most use as it's faster than the Flukes, especially when doing continuity beeps trying to find which pin on a 100 pin SMT chip goes to a broken trace.

RJ

A built in cap meter for $40 is pretty damn nice, wish I could find one of those deals around here. I love the beeping short finder, my meter at home doesn't have one so I made a little breadboard circuit for that. I need to make it a permanent tool, but I'm too lazy to get around to it.

[cyberfluxor]

What do you plan on doing with it? For arcade games...
For the most part. I plan to use it for testing chips on "bad" boards and to isolate issues with any modifications I do. There are also random occurances I need a multimeter, but head to a friends house that has one instead. For example the other week when the power supply to one of my laserdisc players kept blowing its fuse. So I'm mostly looking for a general purpose tester with a primary function of messing around arcades and possibly but doubtful, monitors.

[DeputyMoniker]

Another vote for Fluke. As a matter of fact, for years, "multimeter" wasn't even a part of my language. Anybody and everybody I knew used a Fluke, so we all just called it a "Fluke."
Currently, I don't recall the brand I use. It was passed down to me from my grandfather, to my father, to me. It's a very good one and I'll let you know when I can get to it. (It's in my office and the office is full of boxes.)

[Strangedogs]

I use Fluke on my day job and have an old Analog Simpson Bench Meter I use at home. I'm old school - I prefer Analog over Digital.

[jcalder8]

I use Fluke on my day job and have an old Analog Simpson Bench Meter I use at home. I'm old school - I prefer Analog over Digital.
Eeeeew old technology gross!!!...... oh wait that's ok here :D

Welcome to DP BTW

[DeputyMoniker]

I'm old school - I prefer Analog over Digital.

Yeah. The one I use is analog and I do prefer it over digital.

[cyberfluxor]

Do all Fluke models have fuses in them? When I was looking at a few last week at the store none listed having a fuse, but maybe it's a standard feature for them.

[cyberfluxor]

I'm currently split between two multimeters, both are manufactured by Ideal Industries:
Model 61-360 (http://www.idealindustries.com/media/pdfs/products/manuals/61-360_manual_v2.pdf)
Model 61-361 (http://www.idealindustries.com/media/pdfs/products/manuals/61-361_manual_v3.pdf)

After looking through their specs sheet the 61-360 is a bit more precise while the 61-361 offers true RMS and the additional features of Hz, RST, and capacitance testing. I'm leaning towards the 360 since it's cheaper by $40, however with the additional features available on the 361 am I better off with that in addition to have other specs to learn from regarding circuits? I also plan on using the unit for checking other electronic devices and testing, for example a 5200 controller or various media devices like LD players.

Went with the 360. :)
Any further discussion or opinions would still be nice.

[channelmaniac]

I use Fluke on my day job and have an old Analog Simpson Bench Meter I use at home. I'm old school - I prefer Analog over Digital.

That can be BAD NEWS on digital electronics. Most analog meters put out between 1.5 and 9 volts DC directly through their probes when measuring resistance. This can severely damage digital electronics.