[Elecraft] DMM Recommendations

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I'll add one last bit to the interesting suggestions. 

I have Fluke and Bel Merit meters. Neither is what one would call "cheap".
They agree very closely on all ranges.

I ALSO have a Radio Shack DMM - One that ran me about 70 bucks on sale a
couple of years ago. It does all the things the Fluke does AND tests
transistor, measures lower frequencies (<1 MHz I think) and capacitance.

It also agrees with the Fluke on all ranges that the Fluke covers. The
frequency display is also very accurate, as is the capacitance range,
testing known good 5% caps.  

What is DIFFERENT is the time it takes to display a reading. The RS meter
takes two or three seconds to show a readout, where the Fluke and Bel Merit
are almost instantaneous.

That agrees with everything that I've read about modern DMMs. While the
packaging may vary, the "guts" the chip inside that determines what it does
and how it works has very high tolerances for almost all applications. But
the more expensive chips that go in the more expensive meters are faster.
The cheaper chips take substantially longer to produce a display. 

Speed of display and, possibly, ruggedness of the case are the biggest
differences in most DMMs today from my experience and what I read on the
subject.

Ron AC7AC