Iso-tech 207 DMM

[Mr Eastwood]

Hi Martin, many thanks for such a great review of the IDM 207,  i recently bought a IDM 305 and I'm very pleased with it, the 305 is very simliar to the 207 and shares pretty much all the same features. One interesting feature of the 300 series I think is "auto calibration"; i'm not sure entirely how that works; I just wondered if you had heard of that before in DMM?

Btw.
I really like your blogs. I like the Arduino stuff too, although I started in PICs the Tutorials are still relevant.

[MJLorton]

Hi Martin, many thanks for such a great review of the IDM 207,  i recently bought a IDM 305 and I'm very pleased with it, the 305 is very simliar to the 207 and shares pretty much all the same features. One interesting feature of the 300 series I think is "auto calibration"; i'm not sure entirely how that works; I just wondered if you had heard of that before in DMM?

Btw.
I really like your blogs. I like the Arduino stuff too, although I started in PICs the Tutorials are still relevant.

Thanks very much for the post. You're the first person I know that has ISO-Tech kit as it does not seem to be that well know.
I actually considered getting the IDM 305 as well so I think you have made a very good choice.

Now...you have me intrigued about the "auto calibration". I know that some of the top end lab kit can do this but I'll investigate this a little further as soon as I have a moment.

I'm about to post a few more Arduino videos this week....so thanks for the feedback.

Cheers,
Martin.

[SeanB]

Iso Tech is the RS house brand instrument, nice enough and low cost units. Last one i bought was an ICM-A9 on clearance from RS. A nice clamp meter mostly aimed at electricians, as it has a range of 400A AC and an AC/DC range of 600V, with autoswitching between AC, Dc or resistance on the range, so no way to oops and blow it up, no voltage it goes to continuity, over around 2V it does AC or DC depending on what it sees and it has a low impedance input ( 30 seconds max for voltage mode) and if it detects over 0.6A in the jaw it changes to A. One button on the front panel, power and hold depending on how long you hold it down. All in all not bad for the price and quite me proof.

[Mr Eastwood]

Hi, I came across the 305 by chance, an Ebay seller was selling off quite a few of these brand new units as buy-it-now for £90 (UK), I did some research and I saw it on the RS online for £259; so I had to get one.

RS Online
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/digital-multimeters/6974020/

The 305 comes from these guys at APPA
http://www.appatech.com/appa_product_home.php?pdid=20051219052439826951&&kindid=2005081003113623241

APPA's flagship DMM, appears to be the 500
http://www.appatech.com/appa_product_home.php?pdid=2009091810044515198&&kindid=2005081003113623241

I've been building a digital kiln controller in my spare time for a couple of years now, but the 305 has been perfect for thermocouple work.

j.

[Kiriakos GR]

About those APPA personally I have a major dislike.

They all have this overcrowded display,  plus low cost exterior plastic body.
Those units looks to have become popular in Russia due their tremendously cheap pricing.

But as long they sacrifice quality so to gain a cheap price, I just do not wish even to touch them. 

[Mr Eastwood]

About those APPA personally I have a major dislike.

They all have this overcrowded display,  plus low cost exterior plastic body.
Those units looks to have become popular in Russia due their tremendously cheap pricing.

But as long they sacrifice quality so to gain a cheap price, I just do not wish even to touch them.

Hi,  you have a perfectly valid argument against them,  but for my application and very conservative indoor usage it was a perfect choice, especially at the reduced price;  My only regret was I should have bought two!

[Kiriakos GR]

No worries mate, when I buy from eBay  a complete panel meter as  digital thermometer with half meter K type cable sensor for 3$, I always get two too.

[Mr Eastwood]

No worries mate, when I buy from eBay  a complete panel meter as  digital thermometer with half meter K type cable sensor for 3$, I always get two too.

ah right a joke about Appa?

[Kiriakos GR]

ah right a joke about Appa?

Something like that. 

I have see true diamonds in quality, as multimeters coming from Taiwan, for example Brymen & DER EE.
APPA uses another route, simple as that.

[Mr Eastwood]

I have see true diamonds in quality, as multimeters coming from Taiwan, for example Brymen & DER EE.

Cool!, I will keep my eye out for one of those.

[MJLorton]

ah right a joke about Appa?

Something like that. 

I have see true diamonds in quality, as multimeters coming from Taiwan, for example Brymen & DER EE.
APPA uses another route, simple as that.

Kiriakos, I keep on getting requests from folks viewing my Brymen 867 video on where they can buy them....there is an agent here but I don't think they ship internationally. Do you know of  a site folks can buy from based in the USA / Europe?

Cheers,
Martin.

[Mr Eastwood]

maybe from these guys?
http://www.tme.eu/en/details/bm867/portable-digital-multimeters/brymen/

[retiredcaps]

Kiriakos, I keep on getting requests from folks viewing my Brymen 867 video on where they can buy them....there is an agent here but I don't think they ship internationally. Do you know of  a site folks can buy from based in the USA / Europe?

See Greenlee DM-860A.

http://www.greenlee.com/products/DMM-500K-COUNTS-(DM%2540d860A).html?product_id=19551

Click on documents and download the user manual for a better picture of the meter.

Notice the resemblance?

Amazon has the DM-860 and DM-860C and the DM-860A is "currently unavailable".  The first two sell for $451 and $481 respectively.

[Kiriakos GR]

Greenlee acts the opposite of the Robin hood.
They are stealing from the poor. 

About those in tme.eu , they do not love to reply in emails, this opinion is made by personal experience.

Its best to contact BRYMEM directly by email, and ask for a list of European distributors. 
They are very friendly people, and they will do their best.

[runem]

People from Scandinavia interested in Brymen meters should contact Elma Instruments in respective countries.
http://www.elma-instruments.no
http://www.elma-instruments.se
http://www.elma.dk