Multimeter Digitech QM1551

Solid Midrange Multimeter – My old meter had died and I had decided on the QM1323 as a replacement offering capacitance and frequency measurement at a reasonable ($40) price. However when I went to my local Jaycar store they were out of stock and offered me the QM1551 instead at $60. It looked identical and the only difference I could see was true RMS measurement instead of average which I didn't need so I said no thanks to the 50% increase in price. The manager then offered it to me for $50 with a spare set of leads so I accepted and am happy with my purchase although at list prices the QM1323 offers far better value for my purpose.

I don't have a problem with the reported 1mA current draw after auto power off, I am using the meter at least every couple of days and usually manage to turn it off properly, the auto power off is only a backup for me and I am thankful for it when I do forget to switch it off. Likewise with the auto-ranging, it is easy to select the desired range if you don't want to wait for the meter to do it for you and this meter is certainly faster to auto-range than some others I have used anyway.

The one function that does mystify me and it also seems to appear on some other meters as well is a red LED above the display. It just seems to flash randomly without any regard for mode, function or range and there is no reference to it in the instructions.

In summary the QM1551 is solidly built, easy to operate and read, comes with quality leads and has been proven in the marketplace for a number of years so I would recommend it (and its sibling the QM1323) to anyone looking for a midrange digital multimeter.

Misreprented auto power off and slow autoranging – One of the easiest things to do with a multimeter is to forget to turn it off, meaning that the battery runs down. To overcome this, multimeters often come with an auto power-off feature, and this is claimed for this model. Unfortunately, it appears that all that's actually turned off is the screen. Measurements show that this device can continue to draw more than one milliamp while in its auto-off state. This is enough to run a battery down in a few weeks. Circuitry that draws less than a microamp in the auto-off state is trivial to implement, so there is no excuse. The auto ranging feature is annoyingly slow, such that a measurement can take several seconds (may not seem long, but it is when you're using it).