Ron, I agree - the RS meters give a lot of value for the money. I have a low-end RS DMM that reads up to 10A. Doesn't have any of the other measurements you mentioned, but it was only $29 as I recall.
And, it is quite a bit slower to read than the Fluke. 73, Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron D'Eau Claire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 6:24 pm Subject: [Elecraft] Useful DMM/Cap/Transistor Meters (WAS: Just built AADE capacitance meter - great!) > If you're in the market for a new DMM, the mid-range Radio Shack DMM's > provide these capabilities as well. One time I suddenly needed a > part for my > Fluke and I was in the middle of building - my K2 IIRC. So I > trucked down to > the local RS store and picked up a meter to use in the interim. > It's a real > workhorse. It measures: > > Voltage, resistance and current, of course current up to about 10 > amps I > believe. > > You can plug a transistor into a socket provided and it'll report > the type > of transistor, the gain and identify the leads. > > Capacitance from a couple of pF to many, many microfarads. It has > about 100 > pF "stray" capacitance, but a 5 pF cap reads exactly 5 pF more than > thestray minimum cap it indicates with nothing connected. > > Temperature with a probe supplied. > > Frequency through the audio range. > > Of course, it has front-panel contacts for critical measurements to > avoidhaving the leads in the circuit. > > The only thing it doesn't measure that I want regularly is > inductance. I > have an inductance measuring device built from an ARRL "Handbook" > circuitthat uses the DMM as a readout. Quite accurate enough from a > one or two > microhenries up to several millihenries. > > I got RS meter about seven years ago, but I see they seem to keep a > meterwith those capabilities in the US$80 to $90 range in their > regularinstrument lineup. > > Yeah, I fixed the Fluke. The Fluke is faster. The RS meter takes > about 2 or > 3 seconds to produce a reading while the Fluke is virtually > instantaneous. I > compared them side-by-side and compared those with a third high-end > meter I > own and all three agree on Ohms, Volts and Amps across the scale > whereverI've happened to check them within 1% or better. Usually > they dial up > identical values on the display when connected together. > > The slow speed of the RS isn't an issue for me because I have an > old VOM > (wiggly meter movement volt-ohm-amp meter) that I use for "peaking" > things,or I use my o'scope. > > Ron AC7AC > > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
