Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought this primarily to get an LCR (inductance, capacitance, resistance) meter for hobby purposes, and it fits the bill very well.Inductance meters are hard to come by for any price.Since I'm experimenting with coils, an L meter is a huge asset.
The unit looks great with a removable outer rubbery grip cover.It has a heavy solid feel.However, time will tell how it stands up - for the price, one crosses one's fingers.
I can't comment on absolute accuracy without comparing against expensive lab equipment, but it seems well accurate enough for hobby projects within its ranges.Precision is 3 1/2 digits, typical.
I was impressed that it came with a couple of accessories at this price.It comes with a thermocouple probe for measuring temperature.It also has a little jig (multifunction plug) that is a small block that plugs into the probe sockets instead of the probes and provides easy access for rapidly testing capacitors, inductors, resistors, transistors.Actually, the plug is necessary for testing transistors, and the small holes for the leads will limit you to small transistors with wire leads (as opposed to big power transistors with pins.You could probably rig your own alligator clips to test other transistors).
A disappointment is the AC voltage measurement.The range is OK, but it only measures signals in the 40hz to 400hz range - I guess mainly for power applications.Forget measuring audio signals.My old B&K multimeter only measure to 5Khz, so I guess wide band AC voltage measurement is not well supported in low end units.
Frequency measurement goes only to 20Khz, which is only marginally useful also.
Capacitance ranges are from 2 nano to 20 micro.I consider that OK, although you won't get much accuracy or precision in the pico range, but enough to live with.Capacitors over 20 micro are usually pretty well marked anyway.I don't see any special instructions for electrolytics.
Inductance ranges are from 2 mH to 20H.In my book, I'm grateful for any inductance measurement, and these ranges are reasonably useful.However, for RF work like Ham Radio, I expect you would want to measure smaller inductors.
Resistance ranges are from 200 ohms to 20 Megohms, which is certainly useful.
There is a logic level test function, a transistor check, diode check, and temperature measurement, certainly handy functions.The temp functions could be very handy if you are into chemistry.
A hold button allows you to lock a reading into the display, and a backlight button lights up the display in dark environments.Given the power is a 9v battery, I'm not inclined to use the backlight much.A low battery warning tells you when to change the battery.
A nice touch is the unit comes with battery installed.The shipping was very prompt.
I think this meter is a great deal, especially because of the Inductance measurement.If it holds up to use (we'll see), you can't go wrong for the price.
8/9/08 Update
Capacitance
I have noticed with the Capacitance range at the minimum (2n) and no probes attached, the reading has a fluctuation of about +- .015 nF.In other words, the numbers of the least two digits are changing, essentially limiting the accuracy to around +- .015 nF, or 15 pico farads.
I called the vendor (Kaito) and got the warehouse and an extremely helpful person who opened another unit and checked the same reading.His showed a fluctuation of about +- .004 nf (4 pF).I tried taking my unit outside to see if RF interference might be the problem and got inconclusive results.At one point the fluctuation went down to +- .004 nF and stayed there as I brought the unit back inside.But later it was back up to about +- .017, so I don't know what really is affecting it.
Depending on how you interpret the accuracy specs, perhaps +- .015 nF is as advertised.The 20 nF range seems to fluctuate +- .02 nF, in other words, only the least significant digit is changing +- 2.In the higher capacitance ranges, the least significant digit will change +- 1.So the lowest range has a much higher measurement noise involving two digits.
Measurement noise is a more annoying kind of inaccuracy than calibration inaccuracy.With calibration inaccuracy, as long as the measurement is repeatable, you can use the tool effectively to match capacitors closely, even if the absolute measurement is off.Often matching values is more important than the actual value.Also with repeatable calibration error, you can test precision components and estimate the error, etc.
Inductance
On the smallest inductance range, 2m (2 millihenry), if I short the inputs (without the probes, using the shortest wire possible), I get a steady measurement of -.026 mH.On the next range, 20m, it reads .02 mH, with and occasional jitter to .01 mH.On the higher ranges, it reads minus zero with an occasional jitter of 1 in the least significant digit (staying minus).
Like with capacitance, the lowest range shows significant error to deal with.However, the measurement is rock steady, so perhaps it can be used as a reference point.To test that, I wound a 20 turn coil on a 3.1 cm diameter form using approx 30 gauge enameled wire.The coil length was approx .45 cm.
Using a web-based inductance calculater (how accurate?) found here: (http://www.66pacific.com/calculators/coil_calc.aspx), the coil inductance should be approx 20.5 microhenry, or .0205 mH.
Measured with the Mastech 8201H on the 2mh range using the Multi-function socket (not the probes), the inductance measured -.004 mH.That means the inductance, relative to a short circuit, is (-.004) - (-.026) = .022 mH.In other words, my coil moved the inductance reading .022 mH higher than the short circuit reading, and this corresponds very well with the calculated .0205 value.
Base on that one test, my conclusion is that the lowest inductance range, although having a relatively large error offset, is still very usable to measure inductances to maybe +- 2 microhenry or better.This gives you ability to measure inductance to 10 microhenry +- 20%.
The capacitance lowest range however has a measurement noise of about .015 nF that cannot be easily worked around and limits the precision and accuracy to +- .015 to .02 nF (20 pf), which means you can't reliably measure capacitors much less than 100 picofarad (+- 20%).
I'm going to follow up with Mastech and Kaito in case my unit is not representative, and report back if any additional findings.
Update 9/24/08
I called Hisonic/Kaito and the very helpful warehouse person checked some other units and found some with less noise in the capacitance reading.I arranged an exchange, which cost me about $6 shipping.
The new unit was much improved, capacitance measurement noise in the +- 2 to 4 least digit range, acceptable.However, soon I discovered a problem in the 200K resistor range -- it would not read infinity when the unit turned on, and was unreliable.
I returned the unit once more ($6 shipping).I decided maybe it was best to get a more expensive unit with more resolution so the measurement noise issue would not matter.After some negotiation with Hisonic/Kaito, I arranged a store credit and decided on a slightly better unit from Knight Kit, their K-240C which has not arrived yet.In the meantime I was unable to find any product other than test equipment at Hisonic/Kaito worth getting and sought a refund instead.
A mixup occurred and Hisonic/Kaito shipped me another MS8201H.To make a long story short, I was able to come to a satisfactory, though not ideal, resolution with Hisonic/Kaito.
I give Hisonic/Kaito good marks for trying to deliver satisfaction -- especially the warehouse staff even though I would have preferred a better resolution.
I still think the MS8201H is an excellent value if you don't need to measure capacitance precisely in the low picofarad range.I would like to see a 200 Megohm range, better frequency range, more frequency range on the AC voltage/current measurement, and the diode function to measure zener reverse voltage in addition to the forward drop voltage.I can't really draw conclusions on quality control based on two units other than to report my story.If you get one and all functions are OK, I think you'll be very happy with it.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
Mastech Digital Multimeter and LCR Meter with TTL logic Test, MS8201HProduct Description: The Mastech MS8201H is a professional fully featured digital multimeter as well as a LCR meter, you can use it to measure AC/DC voltage and current, resistance, capacitance, inductance, frequency andtemperature both in fahrenheit and celsius. This meter comes with all the accessories and 1 year manufacturer's warranty.SPECIFICATIONS: (click for detailed specs) *DCV:200m/2/20/200V±0.5%, 1000V±0.8% *ACV:200mV±1.2%,2/20/200V±1.0%,700V±1.2% *DCA: 2m/20mA±1.0%,200mA±1.5%,10A±3.0% *ACA: 2m/20mA±1.2%,200mA±2.0%,10A±3.0% *Resistance:200/2K/20K/200K/2M/20M Ohm ±1.0%*Capacitance:2n/20n/200n/2u/20uF ±4.0% *Inductance:2mH/20mH/200mH/2H/20H ±4.0% *Temperature:-20 C-1000C ±3.0% *Frequency:20KHz ±1.5% *Transistor: hFE 1000 *Audible Continuity <50 Ohm *TTL Logic Test *Diode TestFeatures: *Date hold*Back light*Tilt back-stand*Low battery indication*Polarity indication*Over range indicationAccessories:*Test leads*Thermo probe*Multi-functional socket*9V battery (installed)*User Manual Accessories:*A pair of test leads* 9V battery (installed) *K-Type Thermo probe *User manual
Get 44% OFF
Want to buy Mastech Digital Multimeter and LCR Meter with TTL logic Test, MS8201H at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:
