DMM for Ham Radio

This presentation was developed for the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society (NOARS) Meeting on October 16, 2023.
A good multimeter for hobby electronic projects should be able to measure millivolts, volts, microamps, milliamps, amps, ohms, nanofarads and microfarads.
If you want to measure picofarads, nanohenry, microhenry or reactance you will need a LCR meters. I cover the two LCR meters I own in a future review.
I am not a professional, I am a hobbyist. This presentation is not sponsored; I bought all the multimeter with my own money. I only used and tested these multimeters in CAT I and CAT II environments. I do not have a way to review or test the safety of these meters. I leave the CAT III and CAT IV environments to trained and licensed professionals. There may be unintended mistakes and/or errors in this review.

[@JohnUsp]

Excellent explanation. Thank you.

[@jwong19]

It was just another great review. I really enjoyed it. I greatly appreciate the time, care, and effort you put in each one. My respects and thanks from PR. God bless you and your family as well.

[@N8FDY]

Thanks.

[@janiceemery2008]

Excellent video, this is very helpful information for the beginner. I love that you presented this DMM information. Thank you so very much.

[@mrpetit2]

Interesting to see that the Brymen BM896S met all it's accuracy specifications, whereas the rebranded Greenlee DM-860A in your testvideo missed a few specs.
I wonder if this was a variance per example or that Greenlee maybe does their own calibrations.
Too bad there is no point of sale in the US; Greenlee probably worked out an exclusivity deal with Brymen in the past.
Here in Europe, for warranty matters, we just send the meter back to the store we bought it from, and let them handle it.
Are you sure you can't do that too? (send it back to Welectron instead of the factory in Taiwan. I don't know if that makes a difference postage wise).
BTW, the price you list for the BM869S is for the "+" edition, which includes a carrying case, whereas the price you list for the EEVblog 121GW is without carrying case.
The BM869S without carrying case costs ~$8 less, so it's actually a little bit cheaper than the 121GW if you compare apples to apples.
Plus you get better probes with the BM869S (the 121GW used to come with the goldplated Brymen probes that also include a very handy 4mm adapter, but they changed that to standard nickel plated ones, which are, for electronics use, not so good)

[@N8FDY]

Thanks for you comment. I heard that the EU has stronger consumer protection rules that make the store more responsible, in the US most stores offer an extra cost protection plan and if you don't take it after a very short time (from one week to 1 month) and strict condition (good condition with all accessories and original box) they will take the defective item back, sometimes with a restocking fee. After that you must deal with the manufacture for support.
Good catch on the price of the BM669S, I did order the + version, I would have ordered the 121GW with the case but the case was out of stock.

[@firasgh871]

Thanks

[@mikeadler434]

👍👍

[@GeorgeFL]

Thank you

[@shodanxx]

Your list is missing the 30$ vc97 which is functionally equivalent for most purposes to all the rest

[@N8FDY]

Thanks for you comment. This presentation only featured meters I recommend and as stated under safety I don't recommend any meters that are not third party safety tested. I review meters that are not third party safety tested but I don't ever recommend them, that is up to each person to decide if they want to risk using one. The VC97 I own does not show any markings and the manual does not state that it is third party safety tested. Also the VC97 is a 4,000 count meter. A more equivalent model would be the VC99 for $37.95 that is a 6,000 count meter. I will eventually get to the reviews and comparison of all my < $100 meters.

[@nicks4597]

boring only charts and pictures i thought youll actually use it