CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER
3¾ Digit This meter can display numbers up to 3999.
Large display and units Easier to read, particularly if the meter is off to the side of your work area. This
meter also shows the units adjacent to the value on the display (mV, V, mA, A,
mF, Ω, and so on) to indicate the mode and range. Nice touch.
Autoranging This is an especially useful feature for resistance and capacitance if you’re
sorting a pile of components. I strongly recommend that you obtain an
autoranging meter. They aren’t that much more expensive than most manual-
dial meters. This is the very best reason to step-up from the low-end meter.
Temperature measurement
probe (-40°C to +1000°C)
included
Some devices don’t include the temperature probe, which could be difficult
to obtain later. The temperature range is wonderfully broad, as is true with
almost all meters that support temperature measurement.Frequency/Duty Cycle An important feature to have, especially if you’re tuning object-detection
circuits. The manufacturer says the meter can measure up to 30 MHz, which
is much higher than most meters.
Capacitance The meter tops out at 200 mF, which is a little lower than desired for
electrolytic capacitors, but is perfectly acceptable for most capacitors.
Auto power off This saves plenty of batteries.
500 mA low-current mode This is a much more reasonable limit than the 200 mA limit in the previously
discussed meter.
Continuity test Beeps when a connection is made. This is very useful as it allows you to
concentrate on examining the circuit you’re probing, rather than constantly
looking away at the multimeter display.
Rubber boot Helps protect against breakage if you drop it.
The advertisement for this meter includes the amusing specification “Strong antimagnetic and anti-
jamming performance.” I have no idea what that means, but those sound like features I definitely want in my
meter.
In person, I found this meter to be well made and enjoyable to use. The test probes are higher quality
than most. There are a number of features and modes that I haven’t mentioned that are accessible via the
soft buttons under the display. One quibble is that it doesn’t have an off button. Instead, the dial must be
turned to “off,” which is located on the end of the dial rather than the middle.
The meter uses a pair of AAA batteries. Many meters are moving away from 9 V batteries to AA or AAA.
This has an unfortunate consequence: those meters are unable to test blue and white LEDs in their diode
test mode because over 3 V is required to do so.
Understanding the Features of a Higher-End Multimeter
The VA38 meter is shown in Figure 4-18. It has all of the features of both of the previously described
multimeters and some additional plusses.