BSide ADM01 Multimeter

The BSide ADM01 is an autoranging multimeter manufactured in China. It is capable of measuring AC and DC voltages, DC current, resistance, and frequency. It has a continuity testing buzzer and can measure the forward voltage of ordinary rectifier diodes. More information on the range functions, and accuracy can be found in the manual.

Review

I bought this meter due to its frequency measuring capability because I often need to measure frequency from multiple sources and was running out of meters with this function. I needed something very cheap and capable of this function and this meter was the cheapest I could find.

The meter I tested had the MS8233D PCB Revision 1.3. Unlike other cheap meters, this one has some advantages such as protection fuses, which could somewhat help to protect it from overload conditions. The specification states that it is also equipped with a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) fuse circuitry. This involves the use of special resistors that increase their resistance in overload conditions.

For the most part, resistance, voltage, and current, readings are accurate enough for non-critical general hobby use. On the downside, this meter does not have a transistor testing function, nor can it measure capacitance. Ordinary rectifier diode measurements were fairly accurate however it could not measure the forward voltage of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The manual states the diode test voltage to be 1.48 V, and current to be 1 mA, hence this will not be sufficient for most LEDs. The frequency measurement was very accurate, which was very impressive for a meter as cheap as this. The continuity buzzer had a feeble sound, but it is good enough for basic work. On the positive side, the bright back-lit display is very clear to read and there are plenty of symbols to convey information. The automatic power OFF function is also very useful as I am always forgetting to switch OFF meters.

With chip-on-board (COB) packages, electronic fabrication of these printed circuit boards is very low-cost.

Price/eBay

I bought the ADM01 meter on eBay for approximately five pounds including postage, and my impression was that it was probably an introductory price because it seems like a fairly new design. It has some good features and functions that are good value considering it cost the same price as a cup of coffee. This same model sells elsewhere online for much more, hence it was a good call to keep an eye out for something cheap and affordable. If the functions it has is what you need, then it can be a great bargain!

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