Looking for a basic, sturdy, reliable VOM

[jayemm]

Looks like my Amazon Extech.

Extech made some of the Craftsman meters so it would be reasonable for a resemblance.

 

[rd65]

I have several multimeters including an expensive Keithley and a Fluke.
The meter I grab most often is my $30 Craftsman multimeter. It's small, and the built-in 1.5V and 9V battery test is handy.

I had one of those until the batteries let loose and made a mess of things.

 

[engineer2]

Extech made some of the Craftsman meters so it would be reasonable for a resemblance.

I used to have a lot of business dealings with Jerry Blakeley, the founder of Extech. He was one of the early importers of Taiwanese and Chinese electronics who would put his company name on the products. Eventually sales volume got high enough for them to have custom products made.
He always had a lot of interesting stories to tell. He would visit factories over there and one week they would be making gym shoes and a week later the same plant would be building TV's.

 

[cvairwerks]

I run both digital and analog meters. Both have their pros and cons. For an analog, any of the Simpson 260's are great, just watch as one or two of the versions use reverse type probe ends and will have to order those.
You can pick up later versions of the 260 for under 100$ all day.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Extech made some of the Craftsman meters so it would be reasonable for a resemblance.

More accurately, CEM made/makes both.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The Fluke 101 is under $50, @Davefr has a good link above.

No question it is a good meter, but does the average DIYer need that accuracy?

There are decent ones for 1/2 the cost.

 

[MovingAlong]

No question it is a good meter, but does the average DIYer need that accuracy?

There are decent ones for 1/2 the cost.

For 99% of home & auto work you only "need" two lightbulbs and a couple of wires... one for 110vac and one for 12vdc.

There is so much more to a DVM than just accuracy: durability, usability, simplicity, reliability, repeatability, readability, style, etc...

We live in an era of abundance, in a land of abundance. Trying to justify something on "need" is just silly - and thankfully we just don't have to do that.

 

[Steve_P]

I have three Flukes, including the 101, and an Astro AI. The Astro is fine for the $. If you want compact, the 101 is nice.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have FLUKE and OTC and one other from Amazon. I use the Fluke for a base line, cross check of the the others. They read the same.

I looked in my Amazon account and I did buy my OTC from Amazon. So far, great.