Multimeters

[Garth Wilson]

Quote:Budget wise, I'm in the UK but roughly converting I'd say like $50 or less ideally, but up to $150 if it's really really worth it.

$50 is kind of the threshold for anything I would recommend.

Quote:Also a side note, any advice on soldering irons would also be handy as I've previously used my grandfathers but I now live many hundreds of miles away - same deal with this also, willing to pay extra for something that'll last.

I've soldered probably tens of thousands of joints, and I'm not impressed by the high-priced temperature-controlled ones that are usually not hot enough to do a good job. It was a case where higher price does not equal better. It was a surprise to our production people when I showed that soldering a plastic switch years ago resulted in less melting and damage if they would use a hotter soldering iron so as to be able to complete the job so quickly there wasn't time for the heat to reach the plastic before everything was cooling again. I go for the Weller irons where you buy the separate handle, heating unit (33W), and tip (usually a chisel shape). I think a set comes to something like $50-$60, and you provide the base separately, even if home-made. One thing I don't like now though is that the tips they're selling are RoHS and they don't last like the non-RoHS ones did years ago.

If you really wanted a vintage meter, you could get a mechanical one with the needle and all the scales.