Unitrend UT61E (pictures included)

[mariushm]

So i mentioned that I've bought this multimeter in another thread and I've finally got it in my hands.

What to say... nice box, generic for the UT61 series so the picture on the cover is probably UT61C... the top lid has the right multimeter marked.
Inside in a plastic tray is
* the multimeter,
* the probes,
* the serial cable with the optical sensor at the other end and
* a plastic device with terminations/metal contacts for pnp, npn, bce, capacitors and resistance
After I removed the plastic tray from the box, I was actually surprised to find a nice orange ball point pen from the seller and a mini CD which probably contains the manual and the drivers.
At first I assumed what the probably assumed, that the CD was missing, but at a more careful look I noticed that inside, the back of the box actually had a cardboard extension designed so that a seller could pull it out and bend it in two and use it to hang to box on shelves (not sure I explain it well, the cardboard has that classic ear style the plastic wrap boxes have to hang them on a nail)
So the actual CD was stuck under that cardboard extension, so everything that was supposed to be actually is.

The multimeter feels nice to the touch, it's much heavier than the junk 3-5$ multimeters and I particularly like the feel of the wheel... It's... "springy"... it needs a bit of pressure when you try to switch from one value to another and as that amount is reached it just clicks on the next setting. If I were to make an analogy, the first thing that comes to mind is the button of a ball point pen.

On the cheap multimeter, once I started to change from one position to another, it didn't have much resistance so with this one, you can reliable count the clicks (it also beeps when you change) and know where you are without even looking at the meter.

The plastic part that you can pull out to keep the meter vertical feels strong and the meter doesn't fall down or slip on the desk when pushing buttons.

The battery is 9v, it stays in a compartment on the plastic back which has a rubber type of material that makes the battery stay in place - when you actually put the back cover and screw it, the terminals inside further push on the battery so it stays really tight inside.

The probes are very nice in my opinion, they have caps to protect the contacts that go in the multimeter and the other ends are sharp and the meter detects connectivity instantly. It's not so perfect when touching the sides of the probes against each other but it could be just dirt or grease from my fingers - I didn't clean them with alcohol or anything.

Compared to UT61D reviewed in the 100$ multimeter shootout (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3WGa...feature=relmfu) the autoranging seems much faster and so is the connectivity test, it beeps almost instantly when you touch the probes.

Didn't test the software yet, basically writing this as I opened the box.

I'm a bit puzzled by the plastic device with the terminals for transistors and c/r because the ends are spaced in such a way you can only put one of the plugs inside COM if the other goes into the 10A plug... so that should mean measuring capacitance and resistance is not possible.
I have to check the manual later.

Overall I paid $50.9 and 14 dollars in shipping costs - now the same item is available for $65.9 with free shipping from the same seller.

The item on eBay is here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/260733900740...84.m1497.l2649

I'm happy with it. It has a good feel on my hand, heavy, seems well built, not making any noise when pressing on it... simply put doesn't feel cheap.

large pictures attached (and a second post with pictures will follow)

[mariushm]

Re: Unitrend UT61E (pictures included)

More pictures.

Last one is an "artistic" picture, made it just when switching it on, to show all the digits and icons on the meter.

The processor in this one has potential and also has features that are not enabled .. as the Polish review mentions: http://flodins.info/moim-zdaniem/81-...tr-uni-t-ut61e


Oh.. forgot to mention.

I unscrewed the meter, it's only three screws. But I really couldn't see a way to open the case and I really didn't want to use blades or other violent ways to open it. So sorry, but no pictures of the insides. It's a red pcb so it's probably like the one in the Polish review inside.

[kahlenberg]

Re: Unitrend UT61E (pictures included)

I have a question. Is it possible to measure hFE of a trasnsistor with the UT61E? I know it is possible with other models but UT61E does not have any hFE measurement option. How can we measure hFE even there is no hFE measurement on it?

[mariushm]

Re: Unitrend UT61E (pictures included)

Wow... reviving my thread from 2011.

The Uni-T UT61E has that dark gray adapter which has hFe on it, so I can understand why someone would think it may measure hFe.
However, with UT61E you can only measure resistors and capacitors with that adapter. The multimeter chip used on UT61E can not measure hFe.

Uni-T uses the same case and the same display and the same adapter for other multimeters.. for example UT61C has temperature measurement but it has only 6000 counts and 0.5% accuracy instead of 22000 count and 0.1% accuracy like UT61E because it uses another multimeter chip inside.

If you want to learn more about UT61E, there's a huge thread about it on eevblog:

Discussion thread: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgea...705/?topicseen

The discussion thread also has some auto power off and backlight mods presented and explained.

Auto power off mod: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/ut...-modification/

Mod that replaces internal voltage reference with a much better (and more expensive one) to reduce drift in time and small variations due to vibrations and big temperature changes:

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgea...recalibration/


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hFe is very simple to measure, and usually you can tell that a multimeter is cheap if it has hFe function. A very easy way to determine the hFe is to send an exact amount of current on the base of a transistor and measure the current coming out with a mA meter (you can use the ut61e on mA range for that).

For example, get a stable 5v, and get a resistor that will allow 1mA into the base. V = I x R => 5 = 0.001 x R = > R = 5000 -> get two 10k resistors 1% accuracy and put them in parallel and tie the leads.





As you push 1mA into the base, on the mA meter you will see a number which is basically the hFe value. A transistor with hFe 100 will let 100mA flow with 1mA of current on base.

If you want something more versatile, you can make the circuit here: http://sound.westhost.com/project106.htm





The DUT is short for "device under test" - that's where you put the transistor, then close the switch for the amount of base current you want to test with (one of the switches at the top)