12-07-2017, 10:21 PM
The AN860B+ (aka Zotek VC17B+). About £17 delivered.
This is a much bigger meter. It's nearly the size of a Fluke 87V (see picture for scale). It has all the functionality of the AN8002, but with some nice additions:
This is still a 6000-count meter. In terms of resolution, it's the same as the AN8002 apart from uA.
Note there's no dedicated Hz position. To get decent sensitivity, you go for mV, press "Select" to change to AC, then press "Hz %" to switch to frequency. It's not as good as the AN8002. Certainly, 100kHz at -20dBm was no problem, and 1MHz is feasible at the same level, but it starts to roll away (5MHz needed -15dBm and 10MHz was tricky at the levels available on this generator).
BTW, I haven't tested the AC volts extensively, but the -3dB point of all of these is in the low kHz region. More later.
The probes are the same as the AN8002. Better probes work, but still stick out from the front panel (I might've thought they'd go in further as it's a larger case). It's worth saying that this meter gets a separate rubber holster, and it's pretty nice. Still the same sickly shade of blue - the thing I like least about both these meters, frankly. Like the Bside (and many others), the holster has space to store or operate the probes in the rear. This meter runs on a pair of AAs (the AN8002 uses AAAs). The viewing angle isn't quite as good as the AN8002, but is really quite OK unless it's laying on its back at the rear of the bench (much better than the RS14).
Inside, it's even less exciting.
Note that they've used the more usual form of SM resistors rather than the MELF type. The main input resistor is formed from 7 1.5M types. As before, there is limited protection (just a PTC). The fuses are 20mm, but glass. Luckily the case is strong, with good overlap between the two halves, so hopefully all the glass fragments will be contained should the worst happen. The sockets are the same cheap type as the AN8002 (and the Bside).
Here, the PCB is layed out for a QFN packages as well as the COB, which would make life easier for those who wish to hack it. I didn't take a picture of the front, as there's nothing to see, plus I couldn't be bothered to desolder the backlight LED.
In summary, this is a great meter for the price, but as I already have a Fluke 87V, that's what I'll use! If you don't have one, I'd recommend this for bench work (low voltage, low energy only). Safety aside, it has much of the functionality of the Fluke, and it's really quite nice to use.
This is a much bigger meter. It's nearly the size of a Fluke 87V (see picture for scale). It has all the functionality of the AN8002, but with some nice additions:
- Separate jacks for current.
- 20A rather than 10A
- Micro-amps range (100nA resolution)
- Manual ranging
- Relative mode
- Max/min
This is still a 6000-count meter. In terms of resolution, it's the same as the AN8002 apart from uA.
Note there's no dedicated Hz position. To get decent sensitivity, you go for mV, press "Select" to change to AC, then press "Hz %" to switch to frequency. It's not as good as the AN8002. Certainly, 100kHz at -20dBm was no problem, and 1MHz is feasible at the same level, but it starts to roll away (5MHz needed -15dBm and 10MHz was tricky at the levels available on this generator).
BTW, I haven't tested the AC volts extensively, but the -3dB point of all of these is in the low kHz region. More later.
The probes are the same as the AN8002. Better probes work, but still stick out from the front panel (I might've thought they'd go in further as it's a larger case). It's worth saying that this meter gets a separate rubber holster, and it's pretty nice. Still the same sickly shade of blue - the thing I like least about both these meters, frankly. Like the Bside (and many others), the holster has space to store or operate the probes in the rear. This meter runs on a pair of AAs (the AN8002 uses AAAs). The viewing angle isn't quite as good as the AN8002, but is really quite OK unless it's laying on its back at the rear of the bench (much better than the RS14).
Inside, it's even less exciting.
Note that they've used the more usual form of SM resistors rather than the MELF type. The main input resistor is formed from 7 1.5M types. As before, there is limited protection (just a PTC). The fuses are 20mm, but glass. Luckily the case is strong, with good overlap between the two halves, so hopefully all the glass fragments will be contained should the worst happen. The sockets are the same cheap type as the AN8002 (and the Bside).
Here, the PCB is layed out for a QFN packages as well as the COB, which would make life easier for those who wish to hack it. I didn't take a picture of the front, as there's nothing to see, plus I couldn't be bothered to desolder the backlight LED.
In summary, this is a great meter for the price, but as I already have a Fluke 87V, that's what I'll use! If you don't have one, I'd recommend this for bench work (low voltage, low energy only). Safety aside, it has much of the functionality of the Fluke, and it's really quite nice to use.
