28-07-2016, 10:37 PM
The RS14 and Bside ADM02 are pretty good for the money - a lot better than the £5 cheap jobs. For those who buy the £5 meters, I hoped my reviews would help to convince them to spend just a little bit more to get better functionality, accuracy and safety. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by those meters, notwithstanding their minor problems.
The trouble is the sheer amount of choice that you have. There are countless brands and models out there, and some of them are pretty good; others are terrible. A lot of them are re-badged, so it's hard to be sure what you're buying. Some manufacturers have excellent and terrible models in the same product range, so you can't always buy on brand (unless you go for one of the big names like Fluke). So, not an easy question. Perhaps come up with a shortlist and we'll take a look.
I've got a handful of Flukes (slight understatement!). You can see some here: http://www.markhennessy.co.uk/dvm_reference/#postscript - note the range in ages and price, yet note how they are all bang-on. None of them have been adjusted in the time I've had them (most were second-hand). Flukes hold their calibration for decades, and are very well made and rugged (both mechanically and electrically). Sure, they are expensive, but you get what you pay for. If you're patient, bargains can be found. But generally, the s/h prices are strong, and that's for good reason...
If you can stretch your budget to about £120, I'd recommend the EEVBlog BM235 (I plan to write a review soon, but there's plenty of info out there if you search). It's a re-badged Bryman, and a similar model can be had directly from them, but Brymen products aren't always easy to find. They are made in Taiwan to a really good standard, but they seem to have very poor marketing and distribution. For Dave Jones to get behind them and put his "brand" on them is recommendation enough. If you're not aware of Dave Jones and the EEVBlog, check him out - everything you need to know about multimeters can be found in his videos and on the forum. Not everyone likes Dave's style, but he talks sense and has a lot of industry experience.
The feature set of the BM235 is pretty good for the money - it includes true RMS, uA, contactless detection, capacitance, temperature, frequency, lo-Z, VFD. It's Cat-IV rated, with proper HRC fuses and has been independently tested (unlike a lot of meters). It has "input alert", which beeps at you if you have a probe in a current socket when you are not in a current mode - to get that on a Fluke you need to spend 4 times the amount! The probes are uprated compared to the standard model, and are really excellent. Best of all, it's really compact - less than an inch taller than the BSide or RS meter. It's not perfect - no meter is - but for the money, it's hard to beat.
Hope this helps,
Mark
The trouble is the sheer amount of choice that you have. There are countless brands and models out there, and some of them are pretty good; others are terrible. A lot of them are re-badged, so it's hard to be sure what you're buying. Some manufacturers have excellent and terrible models in the same product range, so you can't always buy on brand (unless you go for one of the big names like Fluke). So, not an easy question. Perhaps come up with a shortlist and we'll take a look.
I've got a handful of Flukes (slight understatement!). You can see some here: http://www.markhennessy.co.uk/dvm_reference/#postscript - note the range in ages and price, yet note how they are all bang-on. None of them have been adjusted in the time I've had them (most were second-hand). Flukes hold their calibration for decades, and are very well made and rugged (both mechanically and electrically). Sure, they are expensive, but you get what you pay for. If you're patient, bargains can be found. But generally, the s/h prices are strong, and that's for good reason...
If you can stretch your budget to about £120, I'd recommend the EEVBlog BM235 (I plan to write a review soon, but there's plenty of info out there if you search). It's a re-badged Bryman, and a similar model can be had directly from them, but Brymen products aren't always easy to find. They are made in Taiwan to a really good standard, but they seem to have very poor marketing and distribution. For Dave Jones to get behind them and put his "brand" on them is recommendation enough. If you're not aware of Dave Jones and the EEVBlog, check him out - everything you need to know about multimeters can be found in his videos and on the forum. Not everyone likes Dave's style, but he talks sense and has a lot of industry experience.
The feature set of the BM235 is pretty good for the money - it includes true RMS, uA, contactless detection, capacitance, temperature, frequency, lo-Z, VFD. It's Cat-IV rated, with proper HRC fuses and has been independently tested (unlike a lot of meters). It has "input alert", which beeps at you if you have a probe in a current socket when you are not in a current mode - to get that on a Fluke you need to spend 4 times the amount! The probes are uprated compared to the standard model, and are really excellent. Best of all, it's really compact - less than an inch taller than the BSide or RS meter. It's not perfect - no meter is - but for the money, it's hard to beat.
Hope this helps,
Mark
