CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER40,000 count display The display has five digits, which is quite a lot. The high number of digits in
the display suggests this meter is capable of higher accuracy and precision
than lower-end meters.
DCV accuracy 0.03% This is an order of magnitude more accurate than the least-expensive
multimeter in this chapter, which was 0.5%. However, since the tolerance of
most robot circuits is fairly rough and wide, the increased accuracy is really
only necessary for professional designers.
True RMS Accurately measures the voltage of alternating current even if the signal
shape is a little odd. Not of much value in DC circuits unless it’s going to be
used to measure some input or output signal. In that case, an oscilloscope
would be better.
50 segment bar display I’m not sure this is valuable. I never use it.
Backlight It has a beautiful bluish-white backlight. Although I rarely use a meter in the
dark, it is nice to know that this meter has that capability should I need it.
9 V battery The diode test lights up blue and white LEDs.
Stand-alone power button You don’t need to turn the dial to another mode to turn off the meter. I can set
up the meter, power it off when I want to take a break, and then power it back
on when I return without having to reselect the correct measurement mode.
Figure 4-18. Higher-end digital multimeter
(continued)