I encountered this vichy thing as well. I smelt a rat. I strongly suspect it is a chinese ripoff of fluke.

Yep Vichy is just a copy of flukes.. And we know the Chinese aren't good at copying properly.. Looks sure.. proper quality/component/materials..heck no

Of course people need to remember that placing "keywords" like Fluke,etc.. in an ebay post does NOT mean its a Fluke.. Its just a method to direct people that might be searching for Fluke to these other products.

 

For work, I bought an Extech EX530

http://www.amazon.com/Extech-EX530-Heavy-Industrial-MultiMeter/dp/B000EWW2T6

It spends most of it's time on the bench, so I liked the accuracy. However, it is also rugged enough I don't worry when I need to do some work outside and it gets a splash of water or mud on it.

I'm probably being VERY critical, but one negative is the continuity buzzer is not "instantaneous" (I put that in quotes because the nerd count is high around here). This is actually a real peeve of mine. I almost like keeping a cheapo around just for the fast continuity checker.

Second, I find these autorangers sometimes seem to have a mind of their own. I have found myself turning them off then back on once in a while when a reading seems weird.

It does come with the thermocouple and other goodies. I use mine a lot for and use about every function on the thing with very few issues.

I didn't like the price of the flukes with similar features.

 

I have no idea about today's meters (and probably don't want to know), but I have two Micronta (Radio Shack) DMMs. I got the first one back in the early 1980's and it is still my favorite. I got a second one with more features (and because often like to measure two things at once) in the late 1980's. Both still work great despite a few rounds of significant abuse. So if you can find one of the old Microntas on E-Bay or CraigsList, you might consider that.

In general, I think Fluke is worth the price, but it is very possible that your needs don't justify the price. But one way to think of it is this way -- would you be willing to rent a Fluke (or other good meter) for $10/yr? If so, then consider that a $200 meter that lasts for 25 years is only costing you $8/yr.

 

ok I think I'll be forgetting about the Vichy one, had fluke in description, and I know some fluke stuff is actually a subdivision, like my IR thermometer is a raytek witch is a division of fluke.
did some looking at some higher end meters, that have things like cable trackers, etc. there are some, but only limited measurement abilities on them. doesn't even appear fluke has a meter like that. this kind of surprised me, because a lot of functions I'd want are either basic or I think would be quite handy for troubleshooting computers, networks. one of my friends is an electrician, teacher so may ask him next week if he knows if any meters have all the features I'm unable to find in one device.

 

Fluke 87 is very hard to beat. The 87 to 87-III are on eBay used at reasonable costs, and the 87-V have a few extra features for a bit more.

With the manual (free download), a user can do the calibration, it uses sand fuses, and is very hardy.

I'd take a used Fluke 87-x over a new clone any day.

 

What is your budget? And what features are "must have" vs "nice to have"

 

I forgot to add: skip the ones with the transistor tester, that's an add on to pad away the otherwise poor quality.

The M3 Semiconductor Analyzer gives you a lot more for what used to be a low price, I can't seem to find where the kits are sold now, though.

 

Klein tools.

 

was hoping for one with HFE, but have an old one that died and only ohm, HFE, diode still work. I have a kit I built that you can put a transistor in and tells they type and status (shorted, etc.). never exactly understood HFE, but think is similar. that's what I was seeing a lot have stuff I want, but even fewer add HFE.
price wise probably around <$75. have working DMM right now, but only very basic function, and not portable. looking for AC\DC volts, AC\DC Amp preferably at least 10A max, ohms prefer one go to 20-40M ohm. capacitor, diode measurement.
prefer have continuity buzzer also, and maybe HFE though think could live with out.
hoping to find one that also had a cable tracer function and probe, possibly network cable tester. the only one with these last features I have found only does basic V,A,ohm.

thanks thatoneguy. that's sort of similar to my kit, but like that it will identify leads, mid you have to guess, and it has started to give me some isues. considering looking for a DMM with no HFE now and just getting one of those also.

just looking at that, can't even find where to order one. MFG site links on 2 pages error out. found 1 on amozon similar, but like $100 hoping for something <75 preferably 50. lot of others are just LED based think LCD would be batter. also seeing these things http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-DT100K...57921953&sr=1-2&keywords=Semiconductor+Tester but look only a bit better than my other tester, but not sure. the more it can do the better, hoping find one with auto lead detection, and to other transistor like parts.

 

I would go with this http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...-Capacitance-Inductance/708669_645816739.html or this http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...Temp-Capacitance-Tester/708669_645840575.html if you want autoranging.

 

also been seeing some testers that have capacitance testers. the max range seems to vary quite a bit. 0.1 pF to 20 mF to some that do up to like 400UF. kind of getting confused I thought MF and UF were same thing, but why 2 names for 1 thing. probably don't need anything that high ranging since would most likely be labeled guessing cap testers would be more for ceramics, etc. since most electrolytic have a visible fault if not working probably a low range would be ok I would think. or am I wrong?

 

I use the cap meter very rarely, typically when you have a buch of smd caps and need to sort them, so like twice a year. What is a bit more useful is an ESR meter, but multimeters rarely have this feature.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-MM200-Ranging-Multimeter/dp/B003LCITWA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_3

Can't be beat for the price if you don't need TRMS. Few people do need it. Search the MM2000 model if you do need TRMS but those meters will all be outside of your $75 budget new.

Also look for frequency counter and duty cycle percent.
Auto power off is a must if you use a battery powered unit - especially if you are used to a bench top model.

Finally, low amperage readings (micro-amps capability is very nice to have).

 

ok. auto power off isn't a big deal, always turn off the bench unit anyway and that takes batteries. I saw some with frequency, and duty cycle, but not sure what I'd need frequency for and not sure what duty cycle is used for.

 

Frequency and dutycycle can sometimes be useful, but if you got an oscilloscope I doubt you will use them very often.

 

thanks thatoneguy. that's sort of similar to my kit, but like that it will identify leads, mid you have to guess, and it has started to give me some isues. considering looking for a DMM with no HFE now and just getting one of those also.

It does more than identify leads. It identifies component (Diode, BJT, FET, SCR, etc), shows Hfe if applicable, forward current and voltage at low current, forward current and voltage at high current, and reverse leakage down to 1 uA. 3 different screens of info it cycles through once a component is connected. It also shows the pinout.