12-07-2017, 09:43 PM
More cheap multimeters...
Here are 3 multimeters from Aneng. I believe the OEM is Zotek, whoever they are. Versions of these are available with either Aneng or Zotek branding - I've ended up with Aneng...
They all share several characteristics, so it makes sense to mention these in one post.
First, they are true RMS. Of course, this is astonishing at this price point. The RMS conversion appears to be digitally implemented inside the chipset, which is unusual as most multimeters today continue to use the "analogue computer" approach. But, once you've done the basic design, it's cheap to mass produce.
The chipset in question seems to be the DTM0660 - datasheet here: http://www.kerrywong.com/2016/04/03/dtm0...ranslated/ - if you search around, there's a lot of chatter about this chipset. It can be hacked to improve/alter the functionality of meters equipped with it, it seems. I've not tried anything like that as yet.
The calibration is done using NVRAM rather than pre-sets. That's like a proper meter! It does have the drawback that you can't easily recalibrate it should the divider resistors drift with time, so it'll be interesting to see how they hold their calibration. Needless to say, at this price point, there's no fancy thick-film networks! But right now, they all seem to be bang-on. They all meet their spec with ease, and agree with my existing Flukes within a couple of counts.
Two of them are 6000-count (the third is 9999-count). All meters in this thread so far have only been 2000-count!
They all run from 3V, so a pair of AAA or AA cells. All have display backlights (with annoyingly short time-outs, like the others reviewed above), they all have displays with excellent viewing angles, they all measure frequency and duty cycle and capacitance, they all have pretty fast continuity response. I wouldn't recommend any of them for high energy use, but they should be fine on the electronics workbench. Some testing has been done - e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcxnbkkhYg - and they're not at all bad for their price.
They don't suffer the over-shoot issue that I highlighted earlier. The auto-ranging isn't quite as quick as the earlier meters, but the settling time is consistently short.
Even the manuals are OK. But very small print!
In short, much as I still like the Bside ADM02, I'd recommend any of these over that now. There is just so much more functionality for hardly any more money.
I'll review these in the order I purchased them in the next posts...
Here are 3 multimeters from Aneng. I believe the OEM is Zotek, whoever they are. Versions of these are available with either Aneng or Zotek branding - I've ended up with Aneng...
They all share several characteristics, so it makes sense to mention these in one post.
First, they are true RMS. Of course, this is astonishing at this price point. The RMS conversion appears to be digitally implemented inside the chipset, which is unusual as most multimeters today continue to use the "analogue computer" approach. But, once you've done the basic design, it's cheap to mass produce.
The chipset in question seems to be the DTM0660 - datasheet here: http://www.kerrywong.com/2016/04/03/dtm0...ranslated/ - if you search around, there's a lot of chatter about this chipset. It can be hacked to improve/alter the functionality of meters equipped with it, it seems. I've not tried anything like that as yet.
The calibration is done using NVRAM rather than pre-sets. That's like a proper meter! It does have the drawback that you can't easily recalibrate it should the divider resistors drift with time, so it'll be interesting to see how they hold their calibration. Needless to say, at this price point, there's no fancy thick-film networks! But right now, they all seem to be bang-on. They all meet their spec with ease, and agree with my existing Flukes within a couple of counts.
Two of them are 6000-count (the third is 9999-count). All meters in this thread so far have only been 2000-count!
They all run from 3V, so a pair of AAA or AA cells. All have display backlights (with annoyingly short time-outs, like the others reviewed above), they all have displays with excellent viewing angles, they all measure frequency and duty cycle and capacitance, they all have pretty fast continuity response. I wouldn't recommend any of them for high energy use, but they should be fine on the electronics workbench. Some testing has been done - e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcxnbkkhYg - and they're not at all bad for their price.
They don't suffer the over-shoot issue that I highlighted earlier. The auto-ranging isn't quite as quick as the earlier meters, but the settling time is consistently short.
Even the manuals are OK. But very small print!
In short, much as I still like the Bside ADM02, I'd recommend any of these over that now. There is just so much more functionality for hardly any more money.
I'll review these in the order I purchased them in the next posts...
