Re: good inexpensive DC clamp ammeter?
AC clamp meters are cheap because AC can be measured with a 2 piece ferrite core. DC can be measured by the deflection of a magnet it must be very close and a magnet doesn't lend well to electronic meters. A handheld alternator starter amp meter like the Milton 1230 is placed on the wire and isn't very accurate as even a small amount of field from a nearby alternator makes the reading wildly inaccurate. To duplicate the ease of use, outside field rejection, and accuracy of an AC clamp probe an AC/DC clamp probe is constructed with a hall effect sensor. The probes look the same but the AC/DC clamp probe costs more than an AC only clamp probe.
Wikipedia, Current clamp, Types of current clamp
I bought the Uni-Trend UT204 AC/DC clamp meter with TrueRMS.
AC clamp meters are cheap because AC can be measured with a 2 piece ferrite core. DC can be measured by the deflection of a magnet it must be very close and a magnet doesn't lend well to electronic meters. A handheld alternator starter amp meter like the Milton 1230 is placed on the wire and isn't very accurate as even a small amount of field from a nearby alternator makes the reading wildly inaccurate. To duplicate the ease of use, outside field rejection, and accuracy of an AC clamp probe an AC/DC clamp probe is constructed with a hall effect sensor. The probes look the same but the AC/DC clamp probe costs more than an AC only clamp probe.
Wikipedia, Current clamp, Types of current clamp
I bought the Uni-Trend UT204 AC/DC clamp meter with TrueRMS.
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