Recommend me a multimeter

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

This will be my first multimeter, don't need anything fancy, just planning on building and debugging a circuit or two. Budget is no higher than $50 (preferably in the $30's). I'm not sure what exactly to look for so I'm hoping you guys could help me out.

 

[balou]

for audio... look that it has good enough AC characteristics. this means good enough resolution in the range of 0 to roughly 5-10 volts. mine only has a range of 0-200v, meaning I only get AC ratings with the precision of 0.5v, way to less to really measure audio signal strengths.

And you should also look into the maximum frequency for AC. cheap multimeters like mine only measure up to a frequency of 500hz reliable, but in audio, 1khz test tones are far more common.

about the other precisions... even a cheap one is good enough to match 1% resistors to roughly 0.1%, especially for audio applications, where you only need a good relative matching and not an absolute matching (meaning, you don't really care about the exact values in ohm of the resistors as long as both have the same resistance)

please post if you found a suitable one, I'd be interested too

 

[balou]

curse you... now I've searched for a replacement multimeter

Caltek BS1703:
frequency measurement 0-20Mhz
capacitance up to 100uF
AC only up to 400hz

Gossen Metrawatt Z104C:
looks very professional, extensive datasheet available, many options
don't know if I got it right... ac v measurement up to 100khz??
capacitance up to 1000uF??
resolution of 10 milliohm??
frequency counter
BOUGHT! it's all because of you, you made my wallet suffer once again, curse you and head-fi

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edit: LOL! this is just the CASE for the said multimeter which lies in our pricerange. dang.
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Meterman PM51
up to 500hz in V AC mode
up to 300uF capacitance
frequency measurement 0-1mhz

Meterman DM7B
up to 1khz in V AC mode
just voltage, amps and resistance plus battery test
but seems to be quite accurate


edit: yeah, my enthusiasm succumbed. looks like I looked at the CASE for a multimeter, not the multimeter itself. said multimeter is ~730$. seems like there are no miracle-performance budget-multimeters

edit2: do you ever intend to build some analog filters, like in a phono preamp, a bass boost, equalizer, brickwall filter? then go with one of the first two, else go with number 3. if you go with number 1 or 2, just download a sine wave generator and generate yourself a 400 or 500hz sine.

oh, and these are btw all from farnell
I'll probably buy the meterman pm51 - it's very compact, and seems to be a good deal for the price (40$).
caltek bs1703 is 33$, meterman dm7b is ~40$

edit3: looks like I'm never going to finish this post.
funny thing, the pm51 doesn't have the ability to do current measurements. for me it wouldn't be a problem, because my cheap 15$ german-radioshack-clone multimeter has good enough current measurements for me. the pm51 also has permanently attached measuring probes. looks like my recommendation to you for a all around diy audio multimeter would be the caltek bs1703

edit4: and the editing is still going on...
looks like the official datasheet for the meterman pm51 has a misprint on it. maximum 300uF capacitance, not 3000uF. so you wont be able to match power capacitors with both of them, so the advantages of the pm51 vanish away. and the caltek has a higher resolution capacitance measurement, so it will be a lot better for matching capacitors for filters. and of course the caltek has current measurement. and detachable test leads. looks like I finally decided to buy the caltek bs1703 for me, nice price and nice features.

 

[modShade]

If you're just getting into some DIY work go for something on ebay. Anything by Fluke is excellent. I got a Fluke 27 for $50 which new costs about $300.

 

[fortney]

Probably too many choices...but don't suffer over it because you can always resell it on e-Bay if you wish.
I like Digital Multimeters with the autoranging feature and the ability to measure current. I find large numbers on the readout LCD desirable.
I bought mine from Electronix Express. Also consider Circuit Specialists who are in Tempe or Mesa, I believe.

F

 

[vixr]

be sure it can match transistors...

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

anyone else has a suggestion?