Recommend to a Friend

Good for the money

4.0

It's good but still not as good as my old Fluke 89 IV. Here's my gripes about the 830A... - A 9V battery, seriously? How about AA's so I get some decent runtime? - The backlight is terribly uneven and only runs for 30s. I would expect this quality of backlight out of a $50 meter. There should be a way to make the backlight stay on. - There's no way to enable the Low Z function on the normal ranges. It only works in AutoCheck mode. - The AutoCheck position bugs me. I like it so that turning the dial all the way CCW is off. Instead of off, AutoCheck is the last function. - The leads seem kind of cheesy/flimsy. I do like the protective shrouds but I know it's only a matter of time before they get lost. -The stand is a bit of a pain to stow. It's not part of the meter, it's part of the case. It doesn't just snap closed, you have to fidget with a couple little rubber nubs to secure it. - Changing the battery requires removing the protective case and using a screwdriver. Because it's a 9V, you're going to be doing this more often than you'd like. -Display refresh rate is a bit disappointing. Manual said 5Hz for the display and 60Hz for the bargraph. To me, that means that the bargraph should be perfectly fluid. It isn't. It's chunky. -The meter itself is big. I wish it were about 3/4" thinner. -The case only has straps to hold the meter and leads. I'd prefer pockets. Futzing with straps gets old real fast. The positives: You can see the display from 50' away. OK, maybe not that far but the main digits are HUGE. The upper digits are also pretty big. Has Low Z function to eliminate ghost voltage readings. Has a dBm mode. Needs a RF probe. Comes with a temperature probe and can use two probes at once. Electrical field detection is kind of handy especially since you can use just one probe to do it. Other thoughts: The manual says that it can measure up to 20A for 30s, but the meter only has an 11A fuse. Considering the fuses are $5 each, I'm not willing to test it. Meter's bandwidth is 10kHz for analog, 1MHz for digital. My 20y/o Fluke 89 IV is 100kHz/1MHz. Aren't things supposed to be cheaper and better now? The serial/USB connection is expensive. I wish it had Bluetooth so that it didn't need a special cable. But that'll never happen with only a lowly 9V battery. BTW, this is a re-branded Brymen BM829S. Greenlee changed the colors to make it theirs. Brymen makes good meters but they are only available in Europe.

Verified Purchase ButtonPuncher on Jun 22, 2018 I found this helpful (4)