Review Fully Featured Multimeter for Electronics hobbyist

There are many companies providing a range of multimeters starting from very cheap to some thousand. I think it depends on the need, work and level of accuracy needed in circuit design. Here I will cover some features and price to performance ratio difference of simple and high end multimeters. Usually a multimeter is used to measure current, voltage and wire continuity. But there are many other features which comes in digital multimeters. The advancement in technology is too fast, a single chip offers lot more features.

Features In high end multimeters:

• Big display with led light
• Better protection circuitry with CAT certified rating
• Better battery utilization and auto power off
• Auto scale adjustment
• NCV (non-contact voltage) detection
• Capacitor and inductor measurement feature
• Built quality
• Precision and accuracy
• Number of counts (Resolution- high)

Now if I want all these features in a multimeter with industry grade accuracy and resolution then the cost is very high and usually the big companies like Fluke and Keysight do follow a minimal design with less features. Because they want to archive high accuracy in low feature system. Other companies make a fully featured product but lacks accuracy. This is all about hand held multimeter system. There are other version like bench top multimeter which comes fully equipped with all features, accuracy and protection circuit.

My multimeter:

For hobbyist like me, we do not need too much accuracy because the sensors and modules we use here, have a good voltage margin between high and low level. Instead of that if a multimeter provides different functions like NCV, capacitor, current, voltage and continuity is very good for us. It will be very helpful if we can do all of the measurements using a single meter.

Some time ago I ordered this ZTW890D multimeter from PCBWAY store which is 2000 count multimeter, comes with a lot of features. It can measure low amplitude AC voltages also. It runs of 2AA batteries, and I am using this for 5 months still the battery is working okay. Buy the ZTY890D (Newer version) meter from PCBWAY shop.

Features:

• AC/DC current and Voltage with different ranges
• Resistance measurement up to 100Mega ohms
• Diode and continuity tester
• Frequency measurement
• Capacitor measurement up to 60mF
• hFe (Beta factor measurement of transistor)
• Led Light in big display
• 2000 counts display
• Hold and range select
• NCV(non-contact voltage)
• Auto off mode (battery saving)

Capacitor testing:

It can measure a capacitance value up to 60mF (60000uf) which is very much enough for a multimeter setup. Because most of the capacitors in electronics either in pf or some filtration capacitor ranges up to 4700uf (4.7mf).

Current measurement:

There are two different modes for AC and DC and in these modes, there are two different ranges. You can switch the probes according to that. For lower current mA(1-200 milli ampere) measurement is chosen. And for high ampere measurement we can use 20A terminal. There are fuses according to the ampere settings inside the meter to protect it from accidental high current.

NCV testing:

Non-contact voltage measurement is very common but this option is very helpful in troubleshooting electrical wirings. Sometimes it saves the lot of efforts by determining the voltage situation at any point in a wire. Through this we can predict the damages and cuts in wires without even removing insulated layer.

Protection features:

Our multimeter also features double ceramic explosion-proof fuses with intelligent anti-burn and overload protection, ensuring maximum safety and reliability during use. The high-precision circuit board further enhances performance, with fast fusing and intelligent protection.

And for outer body protection against accidental damage, the multimeter includes an industrial rubber protective sleeve that is anti-fall, anti-wear, dustproof, and waterproof. The sleeve even includes a watch pen storage slot at the back, making it a versatile tool for professionals and hobbyists alike.

Teardown:

As mentioned in the specifications it has high voltage fuses and current protection fuses. It is required to avoid any damage from overcurrent or overvoltage. Internally it has a small piezo buzzer for continuity testing. The build quality is really very good and in this range this meter offers you best. But before buying make sure that you are not dealing with super high precision circuitry. Then I suggest you to go for 6000 counts meter and with a better accuracy meter.

You can buy this meter from PCBway Shop directly. PCBWAY is the China-based PCB manufacturer deals in prototyping products like PCBA, SMT assembly, stencil, 3d printing and Metal CNC. You can explore more with by visiting PCBWAY, Get free coupons on first sign-up to PCBWAY.