Episode: 2769
Title: HPR2769: Quick Review of the AstroAI WH5000A Multimeter
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2769/hpr2769.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-19 16:36:37

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This is HBR episode 2007-169 entitled Quick Review of the Astro AIWU H5000A Multimeter.
It is hosted by NYWIL and is about 24 minutes long and carries a clean flag.
The summary is Enable Reviews yet another inexpensive multimeter.
This episode of HBR is brought to you by archive.org.
To port universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org forward slash donate.
Hello, this is NYWIL and well I did something I said I wasn't going to do anymore while I kind of did it twice.
I bought another multimeter. I don't know what it is with me.
This is a similar to guitars with me. Every time I buy a guitar I say this is the last one.
You have enough guitars and somewhere something is a good deal or I just want it.
I guess multimeters and it's a bit of an addiction.
I was on Amazon. This is how it always starts. It's either Amazon or eBay or sometimes Banggood.
I was looking for a set of probes. I need a set of probes for another multimeter I have.
I took a set to work and I just want to replace. I didn't need very good probes.
I went around here somewhere. I got a...
They say my COS-MICSOA.
I don't know how you should pronounce that. Test leads and kit.
It was inexpensive. You got your test leads and then a whole bunch of connectors that go in the front of it like regular probes, alligator clips.
I suppose I can just take a picture of that.
What I really liked about this is it has really fine needle tips you can put in it.
If you're doing surface mount stuff, that's what you need. They're basically pins.
Like hat pin size. No. Like a sewing pin size.
I'm going to have to cut out all these taking pictures moments.
There's the cheap lead set. I'll write in the comments or something after I use them if I like them.
But that's neither here nor there.
The reason I said two multimeters. I was on Amazon again. I was doing something.
What was I getting?
A fluke network tracer.
I don't know. The network probe.
You hook it on one end of like say a cat fiver or a phone line or something that's going to go in and you can just get a tone on the other end with a wand.
I had a cheap one that I've had for like 20 years.
But it takes a special battery. I don't know what these batteries are called. They're like a...
They're in between the size of an AA and an AA. But they're short.
Sometimes I see these used in cameras, camera batteries.
But they're hard to find. And when you do find them, they're expensive.
I got sick of looking for these silly little batteries for this other probe.
So I bought a nice fluke set. I really like that one.
This isn't a review about that either. But it has a filter on it.
So a lot of times when I was probing for wires in a noisy environment, you can hear all that noise.
With the fluke one, you press a button and all that noise goes away and you get a nice clean signal.
The other cool thing with that...
Ken's going to say, why didn't you review the probe thing?
Maybe I will. I'll shut up about that.
Because that's just something I use at work. It's not something I geek out with here on the bench.
So when that fluke thing came up right underneath it, or near it on Amazon, was a fluke 27.2.
So this is a rugged multimeter. You can throw it in a...
You can throw it in water. Dust can't get into it. They are usually $499.
And someone either... I don't know what they did. They figured it in and they had it for $299.
And I just... I clicked by. Because I know someone's...
It's $200 cheaper than it should be. That like within two hours, it was back to $499.
So now if my 87.5 ever goes missing or dies, this is my next...
This is my next work meter, 27.2. They're huge though.
So if you want, if you get one of these...
I trust fluke for work, for touch and high voltage stuff.
I know this... I've seen this. These are big multimeters.
You think the 87.5 is big, or the 289. That's a big fat thing.
So here is the multimeter that I said I wouldn't buy. It's another inexpensive one.
I swear some manufacturer in China is listening to my HPRs when I say,
Oh, this is a good inexpensive multimeter, but it doesn't have this. Or it doesn't have that.
So way back when I did a review of the Unity 61E,
I still really like that multimeter. I have two of them.
One of them I modded for some of the reasons I'm going to talk about in this multimeter I purchased.
One of them I have just... I left stock. I forget why I bought two.
I think it was to check voltage and current at the same time.
Anyways, they're so inexpensive I bought two way back when.
No, I was carrying one in my... in the blue bag that goes to the lug and I was leaving one on my bench.
So this one is as inexpensive as the Unites.
This is a... how are we going to say this?
An Astro AI digital multimeter. It's true RMS. That's always a plus.
It is $32.39.
It's auto-ranging, but here's what I always found lacking in the Unity.
It has a backlight and it has auto-power-off.
So those are two big pluses in my book.
All the time with Unity, I would forget that I left the dial in some position because I'm used to my Flux.
Flux shut off after a time and you go back and just touch anything and they'll come back.
They go to sleep, basically.
Unites, I would kill 9 volts. I probably went through like 8 or 10 of them before I did a mod.
If you want to look it up, it's another HPR I did way back when where I modified the Unity 61E to have a backlight and an auto timer.
Auto shut off.
That one's still around. It's behind me.
The other one is here. I got one sad thing to report.
The Unites haven't failed me at all. I use them all the time.
However, I had one in the basement.
This is the one that does not have auto shut off. I don't know if this has anything to do with it or not.
But I left it in a function.
And when I went back down two weeks later, the battery was dead and some of the screen up on the top, the screen, the LCD, is leaking or something.
I don't know if I can get a shot of that.
It doesn't really interfere with the...
It still works just fine.
But that was kind of...
I hadn't had any problems with the Unites until that.
See if I... I don't know if it'll come up on camera.
Well, so if you see that picture up at the top left in right hand corner, you can see like the LCD bleeding.
So, some of the crystal or maybe when it got real low powered, I don't have no idea.
Some of these overheated or broke.
Anyways, I'll put that aside.
I also decided not to clean my bench for this one.
So, if you see any of these photos, this is what it usually looks like.
There's crap all over it.
It's because none of you ever come and clean it.
So, alright, here's the...
Let's take a look at this...
Astro AI.
I mean, I don't think it has any artificial intelligence, but, you know, buzzwords.
I'll take a picture of the box here.
I don't know what you get with it case wise or anything.
And I'll open it right up.
We'll look at the board and see if it's good quality.
Oh, I forgot it was red.
It's red.
It's big like a...
It's kind of getting to the size of a Fluke 87 size.
It's lighter.
You get... let's see.
You get a set of probes.
They're better than some of the cheaper ones I've seen.
I mean, they'll do in a pinch.
Oh, but the tips?
Nope, they don't.
The tips have a protector on them.
It would be nice if when you push this protector in, it just exposes a bit of the tip up front.
Maybe I'm just going to file some... file these or clip them off.
So, that would be good to...
So, you don't shorten anything out.
You also get a thermal couple.
And one of those little doohickeys for testing, you know, capacitors and sticking transistors in.
That is there.
The thing this has, which...
It's a 6,000 count, which...
For electronics, I like more resolution behind the decimal.
Like, you got 6.
I don't know, 8, 5, 3, 2, bolts.
Instead of the resolution kind of being in the front where you just have 1, 0 behind the decimal.
Anyways, for work, that's fine.
6,000 count is fine.
I'm working with, you know, line voltage, 120 volt, 240, 277.
This comes with...
This makes me feel like it's for use out in the field.
My fluke, I bought an accessory and it's a little Velcro thing that snaps on the top.
And it has some neodymium magnets and a hook.
So, anytime I open a panel, I just slap that magnet up there and it holds the meter right at eye level.
This inexpensive meter has copied it.
I'm just going to take a picture of the...
It's out of the box now.
Up top, you can see it's like two neodymium magnets on the...
They're copying that fluke, which is a very handy thing.
And then it snaps in the back here and it retains.
Just a bezel, let's me see.
Kind of...
It's not going to stay up on its own...
Well, it's going to stay up on its own, this bezel, but you're not going to...
Yeah, I suppose you can...
I mean, it feels like wobbly, like it wants to tip over.
It has often both directions.
I like that.
And it defaults to DC.
So...
Oh, it's a nice big display.
That's a really nice large.
It has range relative hertz, midmax.
And here's the backlight.
I always think this is a plus.
Let me see what this looks like.
Hang on, that wasn't a backlight.
Oh, you have the long hold for the light.
Oh, ooh, it's blue.
I like it.
I think that's...
Yeah, that's the color I put in my...
My Unity.
I just picked out some LEDs.
See, these manufacturers are listening to me.
So blue, backlight, and it says auto-power off.
I'm not going to...
Just...
I'll leave it on and make sure that works.
And I'll mention something in the comments.
Let's see what it's got here.
So defaults...
You're on the left.
It's off.
And on the right you have an off.
I will probably go to the left with an off,
because I'm used to doing that.
It defaults to DC.
Some...
Like the flukes or some others.
It'll just default to voltage AC.
And then there's a button to get the DC.
This one has both separate.
So the first selection is volts DC.
And volts AC.
Next one is transistor test ohms.
And you know, your continuity beep.
Let's see what the beep sounds like.
I'll use their own probes.
These continuity can be hit and mess with the inexpensive multimeters.
I like a very fast crisp buzzer, because...
You got your head down and you're poking around.
You're looking for something that's shorted,
or you're looking to follow a trace through a board.
You don't want it scratchy and slow.
You want to just move it to move as fast as you can move.
Okay, these...
These are the plugs that come in probes that immediately get thrown out.
The bottom here we got a...
So red input, black common.
Yeah.
Microamps and milliamps and 10 amps.
So when I open this thing up, let's see if I would trust
putting 10 amps of current through this thing.
We'll see.
So how do I get to select...
You select to get to the buzzer?
Yeah, this is the buzzer.
No, it's really slow.
So there I am.
I'm clicking the probes.
It takes...
Oh, that's disappointing.
I mean, it's a noticeable second or second and a half
before it decides it wants to beep.
Now, the fluke, the unity, let me get the unity.
This isn't a direct comparison between them,
but I was just always impressed by the unity
for being so inexpensive.
So here's the unity.
As soon as you touch it.
Or as fast as you go.
That's really good.
This one doesn't score any points there with...
It bounces all over the place and then decides it wants to beep.
Okay, there's a negative.
Next one is capacitor test.
Next one is hertz and duty cycle.
You don't see that.
Well, you do.
A little bit.
Next one is temperature.
Cell season Fahrenheit.
Next one is HFE, which has to do with transistors.
I couldn't remember what it was, so I looked it up.
So here you go.
Hybrid parameter forward current gain.
Let's just call it HFE.
It's for checking transistors.
Next one is microamps.
Okay, so microamps ACDC.
You do select when you get over here if you want AC or DC.
ACDC.
Milliamps.
Amps.
And I don't know what this is.
I'm going to have to look at its instructions.
It's a little picture of a...
I don't even know what that is.
It's right next to this.
Oh, I'll take a picture.
See if you can figure out what that is before I tell you.
Does it have a manual?
Is it in English?
That little symbol stands for external current test.
Clamp.
They must have an accessory for a current clamp.
I didn't get it.
I didn't see it listed.
Current clamp would probably be safer than running your current right through this thing.
Anyways, there we are.
Oh, here's the model number.
Astro AI WH5000A.
So if 6000 counts, it doesn't throw you off if you're going to use this for electronics.
I don't know.
You probably want some higher resolution.
If you're going to use this on the field, it's got everything you want.
It's got that magnetic holder.
That continuity beep is...
Oh, that's...
I haven't heard one that bad in quite a while.
Except for like some of them, they don't want to go.
And then when they do, they go scratchy.
Anyways, let me go to off on this side.
And let me get a screwdriver.
I'm curious to see what kind of protection this thing has inside it for $35.
I wonder what that battery is it takes, too.
Let's go.
screwdriver.
Boiding the warranty.
How does it come apart?
It seems like it has an over-molded case.
Oh, there's a...
In the top of the molding, I can see where a window could go.
So that might be either another upgraded model or in the future they're going to come up with this.
What those usually are is it'll have a piece of tinted plastic there and underneath it are...
Optocouplers.
So you put a little attachment on here and you can transmit your data to a computer.
Okay, that was just to get into the battery compartment.
The fuses are tiny fuses but they do look like high rupture.
They are.
It's not a cheap glass fuse.
It's high rupture fuse.
The battery is peak power.
Okay, I need a smaller screwdriver.
I need a light.
Okay, I can...
There's two more screws behind the battery door.
Does that do it?
The magnet is stuck to the battery.
Still not coming apart.
Oh, this is a over-molded case it is.
So the red part comes off.
The whole bezel comes off.
I'm dropping screws.
They are just cheap screws that thread into plastic which...
But you won't be opening this meter ever.
I'm doing it for science.
So there the red molding comes off.
Now let's see if it opens.
No, still not opening.
Is there more screws?
Yes, I'm missing two more screws at the bottom.
And now it's opening the fuse is popped out.
Now I've got to measure these to see which one goes where.
It doesn't tell you.
Yep, and that window just popped out.
The one that I said where IR can go.
An infrared coupler.
Boy, this is the way these...
This is the way these are coming these days.
There's nothing in here.
It's probably the same multimeter chipset, you know, the CPU, the brains of it,
that I'm getting in all these inexpensive.
It's 3-8s by 3-8s flat quad-pack.
There is a beefy shunt in here.
So that's good.
They do isolate...
Okay, they're doing some isolation on the inputs in case this does blow up.
The probes are just...
They're nothing to write home about.
The probe...
What do you want to call it?
The receptacle, the part that accepts the probe.
It's just the same old thin little piece of...
I'll just take a picture of this.
It's not like a beefy piece of metal that's bolted right to the PCB.
So if you wiggle your probe or you're in the socket,
you're not going to break it off the PCB, these ones.
If you're wiggled enough...
Alright, here's how to put these...
I still don't know which of these fuses go where, but I'm doing this to stage it.
So there's the two high rupture fuses.
The big shunt on the bottom.
It's like a piece of 12 gauge wire.
That's probably for the 10 amps or no.
What were these fuses before then?
What was on the front?
The fuses would be for micramps and milliamps.
And the 10 amp would be this...
Well, it's about a piece of 14 gauge wire.
That would have to blow up.
Alright, here's a picture of the fuses and the...
I don't know what to call these.
The probe holder thingies.
They are just soldered weekly to the board.
Here's this shot of the whole inside of the board.
And now that I'm looking at it up top,
where I was talking about this window, where a...
Optocouplica go, I can see the traces come out of this main chip
and the pads are up here.
There's nothing's populated in there.
It's probably going to be an upgrade for these units.
They're going to come out with one that does...
like, opto-isolation or can connect to your computer.
Okay, there we go.
Once again, now I don't know which screws go where.
There's different size screws.
It's different size screws.
I should call...
I should call the whole episode that.
Different size screws.
Inexpensive meter.
It's going to do in a pinch.
It's not too robustly built.
It's kind of lightweight.
Don't know if I...
The other day,
I had to take a different vehicle for work to go to this one job.
So I didn't have any of my tools.
And the guy goes, oh, while you're here, can you check this?
And I needed to run about 10 amps of current through a meter.
But my meter was in my other truck.
I go, do you guys have a shop meter?
And they came out with one of those Harbor Freight things.
Those little cheap.
I don't know if you've ever seen one.
But if you buy, like, 10 bucks and stuff at Harbor Freight,
they will give you one of these free.
And he put it in my hand and I'm like, no.
I'm not touching the bus bars with this thing, man.
I drove all the way back and I got a fluke.
This one...
I don't know if I want to touch...
I voltage stuff.
I'll let you know after I use it for a while, but it's...
I mean, it's a decent enough build for 35 bucks.
You get quite a few features.
Oh, there's a relative button here.
Did I mention that earlier?
That's always handy.
If you're touching something and you're getting 0.03 volts or something,
it's just kind of some kind of ghost voltage there.
Hit relative.
Everything goes to zero and then take your measurement.
So, there you go.
The Astro AI WH5000A.
I will use it for a while.
I'll keep it here on the bench.
I'll test the auto shut off.
Make sure everything's going and if you want to talk about it,
we can talk in the comment section and I'll leave some comments as well
after I make sure that auto power goes off.
Okay, until next time when I do not buy a multimeter,
next time will be something else.
See you later.
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