Jeff Thies wrote in
:

On 3/16/2011 10:39 PM, David Nebenzahl wrote:
I'm on my, oh, third el-cheapo (~$3) DMM (digital multimeter) from HF.
Guess this one'll keep working fine if I can keep it dry and not stomp
on it.

I have no experience with HF multi meters but I bought a number of $3 MM
from an outlet store. The electronics are fine, the test leads won't
last and I am not surprised the transistor tester has bad contacts.
Electronics are cheap, mechanicals is not.

I never cared what the gain of any of my transistors was. Just whether
they worked and weren't leaky. A x10 scale measure from base to
collector or emitter (both ways) was sufficient to sort the good from
the bad.

Jeff


note that the HF DMM input impedance is One megohm. most DMMS are 10 MegR.
another weak point is the soldered-on banana jacks,the joints crack and you
get intermittents.
also,the first HF DMM I bought read terribly high,had to return it for one
that was more accurate.
that's one thing I miss about mercury cells,they were a nice DMM check.
you could count on them to be 1.35 volts.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com