Trying to choose a multimeter

Thread Starter

JonathanJol

Joined Oct 3, 2017
3
Well guys, I'm new so if this thread is in the wrong section, please tell me.
I need to get a multimeter, a very cheap one, economy in my country is cancer right now and I can't even buy a 20$ multimeter, so I need know which models I can get for let's say 5-10 $ for a EE student, I know this sounds kind of silly but I would really appreciate the help.
 

dendad

Joined Feb 20, 2016
4,452
For that price, just look on Ebay and pick one.

But this one is real good value, even though it is about $20 ($25AU), above your limit.
Ebay search for AN8008

And I'd recommend one of these too...

Good test gear is important.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
...economy in my country is cancer right now ...
What country are we talking about?

Here in the U.S., you can find the cheap Cen-Tech meter and in fact we have a hardware store that gives them away with a coupon. I have a half dozen of them. They're far better than you would expect and more than adequate for many purposes.
 

ian field

Joined Oct 27, 2012
6,536
Well guys, I'm new so if this thread is in the wrong section, please tell me.
I need to get a multimeter, a very cheap one, economy in my country is cancer right now and I can't even buy a 20$ multimeter, so I need know which models I can get for let's say 5-10 $ for a EE student, I know this sounds kind of silly but I would really appreciate the help.
Right now; the UK has both inflation and shrinkflation because of Brexit.

It used to be easy to find an adequate basic multimeter for about £5 - the last one I saw was £12.

Hardware stores usually have something good enough for the DIY electrician, the one I saw was in the hardware section of a more general discount store.

Have a look round the shops, the internet isn't always cheaper. I needed some hydro-active colloid healing gel -= I only found one pharmacy that stocked it. Having already looked online - the cheapest on eBay was priced about 3x as much.
 

Thread Starter

JonathanJol

Joined Oct 3, 2017
3
What country are we talking about?

Here in the U.S., you can find the cheap Cen-Tech meter and in fact we have a hardware store that gives them away with a coupon. I have a half dozen of them. They're far better than you would expect and more than adequate for many purposes.
I'm in Venezuela, I'll check on those, thanks.
 

Thread Starter

JonathanJol

Joined Oct 3, 2017
3
For that price, just look on Ebay and pick one.

But this one is real good value, even though it is about $20 ($25AU), above your limit.
Ebay search for AN8008

And I'd recommend one of these too...

Good test gear is important.
I already got a really cheap one that a friend told me about, it does the work and that's the important thing, but I will surely look for one of this in the future, thanks.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
I have bought several cheap DVMs over the years, and most of them were pretty good, with voltage measurement accuracy never being a problem.

Don't worry about the fancy features such as capacitor, inductor, transistor measurement, and frequency measurement. A temperature measurement feature can come in handy but should only be a secondary consideration. The same for a "buzzer" for continuity check.

You will probably want the meter to measure AC Volts, DC Volts, DC ma, Ohms up to 10 Meg or higher, have a diode test function, and an input resistance of 10 Meg Ohms or more (there are some very cheap ones out there with only a 1 Meg Ohm input resistance -avoid them at all cost).

Accuracy of ±1% and ±2 counts is more than good enough for most of the DC measurments you will measure in your lifetime. Accept lower accuracy for AC measurements until you have more to spend.

An aside: If you can get one that is powered by AAA cells instead of 9V batteries you will be way ahead in terms of convenience and operating cost.

In my book, UNI-T makes the best low-cost meters that I have seen.
 

shteii01

Joined Feb 19, 2010
4,644
Yeah, as EE student you are not going to do anything dangerous, no high voltage stuff, you don't need anything that is actually a safe multimeter like Fluke/Keysight/etc.
Therefore, something in 3-6 USD range from Aliexpress should work just fine.
 
Top