FIELD TESTThe analogue meter has the three basic functions
that we’d consider essential for a multimeter – a
voltmeter, ammeter, and ohmmeter – but nothing
else. The digital multimeter also has diode and
transistor checkers.
The readings aren’t perfectly accurate on either
meter, but should be good enough for basic hobby
usage. It’ll tell you how much power is being
supplied, what value a resistor is (if you’re not sure
on your bands or are colour-blind), and whether or not
there’s a good connection between two points (using
the ohmmeter, as there’s no continuity checker on
these meters). The biggest problem on the analogue
meter is reading the display. The size of the needle
on the small display means that it’s often hard to
read it to within about 5% accuracy. That’s not the
only problem with the analogue meter, though:
it’s also got quite a low limit on the current it can
read – 500 mA. This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker
because the current limits are several times higher
than the amount of current you can use with the I/O
pins on a Raspberry Pi or Arduino, but at the same
time, they’re much lower than you’d need to drive a
motor or a large group of NeoPixels. The digital meter
has a fused input up to 200 mA, but the unfused
input claims to go up to 10 A. We tested this to our
power supply’s limit of 3 amps, and it worked without
problems, but we wouldn’t be confident pushing it to
the top of this range.
COST SENSITIVE
There’s no getting around the fact that these meters
are at the budget end. They’re both small and flimsy,
and the leads don’t give us much confidence that
they’d last years of heavy use. That said, they did
last through our tests and, if they’re not roughly
treated, they should survive home use (we wouldn’t
recommend for a heavily used workshop, though).
According to the voltage ratings, the analogue
meter can work with voltages up to 1000 volts (both
AC and DC). On the digital meter, the voltages can
go up to 1000 V DC and 750 V AC. We don’t have a
voltage supply high enough to test this, but we’re
extremely suspicious about the claimed voltage
range. If you’re working with voltages high enough
to shock you, you need equipment that’s well built
enough to protect you. These are both flimsy plastic,
with thin wires, and not devices we’d be willing to
use anywhere near this range. At the low voltages
and currents of hobbyist electronics, though, there’s
no risk here. As a basic rule of thumb – if it’s safe
enough to plug into a breadboard, it’s safe enough to
use with an untrusted multimeter.
There’s a certain charm to the analogue meter
but, ultimately, it’s just not a particularly practical
measurement tool. The world has moved to digital
meters with good reason. If you want something to
add a bit of interest to a steampunk build, then it’s got
plenty of potential, but as a measurement tool, we
can’t recommend it.
If you’re just getting started in electronics and
you’re after a cheap meter, then the digital option
here is a good choice. There are plenty of features
it’s missing – such as a capacitance meter, auto-
ranging, and continuity buzzer – but none of these are
essential and, if you’re on a budget, it might be better
to spend the extra money elsewhere. You’ll almost
certainly outgrow this meter at some point, but that’s
fine – you’ll probably outgrow your first multimeter
anyway, and at this price it feels a lot less wasteful.Above
When first starting
out, simple cost-
effective equipment is
often the best optionDIRECT FROM
(^) SHENZHEN