Vici / Vichy VC8145 Bench Multimeter Review - Part 2

[@richards6845]

Thank you Martin. A great video series. I own one of these and the reason is that it is almost uniquely good for audio measurements. When reviewing meters, many people focus on the range and precision of the dc voltages which in a lot of applications is of course what you need. The other element which often gets comment is how high meters can go for ac - again a vital point and particularly for many industrial users. What commentaries often miss is low-voltage ac resolution and bandwidth. This unit has a brilliant low voltage ac range of just 80mV. Plenty of meters stop at XV and those that go lower often only reach X00mV. This 80mV range is not just sensitive, it also has the bandwidth. While many meters support true RMS, very few can measure the whole audio spectrum. I guess they are targeted at power measurements and capturing true power on 50Hz and 60Hz supplies with bandwidths of hundreds of Hz. This unit however is rated to 50kHz which is really unusual at any price. In fact, you would struggle to find any other meter that has both audio bandwidth and a low ac range in the tens of millivolts. Clearly this device was designed by an audio enthusiast, just look at that selectable impedance function for the dBm mode that you showed here. As well as everything you said, people should note that this makes a great audio-focussed bench meter.

[@CliveTrezona]

Looking forward to part 3. Thanks Martin.

[@Fezz21]

I love how informative and unbiased reviews he has. Even though it's a cheap piece of equipment, he still had a deep and unbiased view on the product. Unfortunately, Dave form the EEVblog does not have the same outlook on reviewing ethics (he would have thought it was crap just because it was cheap...).

[@electronic7979]

Good review video 👍

[@JohnDoe-ii1td]

I've checked in my meter and the auto hold works in auto range mode, you just have to keep the probes on the measuring terminals a bit longer. It will beep once, then wait some more time and, after the second beep, it will show the measurement on the display. By the way, there's an opensource software for the serial communication that runs on Win10 in this link www.26th.net/public/projects/vc8145/ and on the EEVblog forum there is a thread about the VC8145 where someone posted a simple mod to turn on the backlight when turning on the multimeter, very worthwhile.

[@JohnDoe-ii1td]

Oh, I also noted that my meter shows a 1.5mV offset when measuring a negative voltage (or current). For example, I am reading 5.0000V from my voltage reference, if I swap the leads position (COM terminal of the meter to the positive terminal of the reference) the meter will show -5.0015. This offset is constant through all ranges. Would you check that, please?

[@jamisonw.327]

I wonder how hard it would be to latch the signal going to the beeper. Not that I'd want a beeper that loud on a bench top meter going off even longer. Maybe a resistor would lower that a bit.

[@valkost7541]

Thanks Martin 🙏😊 ! This is a best present 🤠 ! Regards from Bulgaria !

[@Tracks777]

awesome content

[@pomonabill220]

The FIRST thing I would do is shoot the beeper! Actually I might attenuate it because sometimes it might be useful, or switch it.

[@SeanBZA]

Add a volume control, or at a minimum a 3 position switch on the rear panel to select regular, soft or off for it.

[@janekkivisild5326]

Next we test the diode and continuity function... and we can see 3.1 voltage there, that should give us SOME HINT what it is using for testing... This is nice voltage level for testing diodes... but in real life it is exactly 150 mV off. You didn't trust it and did connect the Fluke? So how accurate this diode test is?

[@Tracks777]

lovely stuff

[@tambotie]

Have one for +/- a year, for the money you can't beat the performance of this meter. I have better meters but mainly use my Vici on the bench. (Always on on the bench , less burn time on the expensive meters and no battery going flat) The beeper is not so bad, testing voltages in hard to reach spots let you know you have good connection. You can not get a 8K bench meter for this money and it have good accuracy also. Test probe's not the best, diode test more or less OK not great and no uA function- would be nice. ("bench meter" not a substation HIGH ENERGY compliant meter. Who work on +500V circuits on the bench anyway. Electrical shock are more dangerous than a meter up in smoke:-[ ) Thanks great video and greetings from the SA.

[@K2teknik.]

First modification would be to put a piece of scotch over the hole in the beeper, then there is a mod where you invert the light circuit so the light is on pr default and you then can turn it off if needed, if memory serve me right it is just to cut one trace on the pcb and then solder a jumper wire.

[@pagepro211]

in diode mode, if you short the leads will it beep or alert you?

[@valectron]

I bought a new VC8145 bench multimeter,I used this instrument rarely and always with right use and then after some months the display starting to losing elements,very soon the instrument was useless,I text the problem to the Vici manufacturer asking if they can supply me a new display but never I get an answer.

[@kaybhee6]

how is mv.... shows to 0.001 mv or no... is it steady

[@kaybhee6]

how to get freq adapter.... note ut61e freq claim 200Mhz

[@Flip-Flop-Rio]

Friend, this multimeter has good accuracy in dc measurements or you think it is not so good. which smallest resistor value does it measure? What about the Owon XDM1041 multimeter, it would be more accurate than this DCV addict

[@SeanBZA]

RS 232 really needs to have that board removed, and in it's place a USB socket with any of the serial interfaces on it, so that USB cables are usable, with the meter providing the isolation on the main board. Adding in a small lithium pack and charger on the free area inside the case would also be nice, there probably is enough voltage from the existing transformer to do a 2S lithium cell and protection circuit, along with the charge circuitry as well. you could also add a BT interface as well, and connect to it that way as well.

[@richardgrier4721]

I am using it with a comparatively inexpensive (Prolific chipset) EXTERNAL USB adapter - about $20. If you remove the internal optical isolation provided by the embedded board, you have lost an important feature that should be retained, IMO and "for what it is worth." Because the internal serial port isolation is powered (use DTR and RTS from the external serial port connection to power the opto's), some adapters don't work. Unless you want to do quite a bit of surgery, this isolation makes it tricky to use a Bluetooth serial adapter -- I've done it and, IMO, it isn't worth the effort. Simplest, using an appropriate USB serial adapter, seems to me to be best solution. This is "bench-top meter" so, having a wired connection should meet 99.9% of all needs. Again, IMO. BTW, the adapters that I have tested with this meter that work for me are: 1. Sewell (Prolific chipset) and Edgeport (Digi International). Ones that don't work, typically, are the least expensive Chinese designs (CH340 and FTDI, etc. chipsets). The issue is, again, their failure to provide sufficient voltage/current on the DTR and RTS lines.

[@SeanBZA]

@@richardgrier4721 The isolation is on the main meter board, the rear adaptor board is merely a way to connect 4 wires to the D connector. Plenty of internal room for a separate board containing the appropriate USB converter and the requesite circuitry, and replace that rear port with a USB type B socket for easy detachable connection.

[@richardgrier4721]

@@SeanBZAYeah, but.. No electrical isolation (unless using a Bluetooth module). A standard USB module is non-isolated, so the extra effort (again, IMO) is not worthwhile for a non-Bluetooth module. A standard USB TTL/CMOS interface connects the meter ground to PC ground, unless using an isolation transformer or equivalent.

[@elantric]

@@richardgrier4721 www.amazon.com/Plugable-Compatible-RS-232-DB9-Connector-Prolific/dp/B00425S1H8

[@andymouse]

You could time a egg with it.

[@rpdigital17]

Nothing from Vichy looks impressive to me.