This page is written to assist in the selection of a gaussmeter for home or office use. For more technical applications please refer to the information on each meter. If you already own a voltmeter or multimeter you can get the MC95 Sensor and use it as a single-axis gaussmeter with your own multimeter. For a car see Magnetic Fields measured in a Honda Prius and Ford Focus.
Most of our gaussmeters can measure Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (also sometimes called 'EMF's), caused by home wiring and appliances, computer monitors, TVs, power lines, substations, transformers etc. The gaussmeter displays the magnetic field strength on a little screen like reading a calculator.
For general home or office use we recommend the Bell-4180 since it is a 3-axis gaussmeters and hence is fast and easy to use, yet accurate at ELF. You just turn it on, hold it at the location you wish to measure, and read the maximum magnetic field in milligauss. The Bell-4190 is a professional version of the Bell-4180 with additional features.
The MSI-95 is a single-axis gaussmeter so takes longer to use since you must turn the probe in different directions for each measurement until the reading reaches a maximum value. It also requires the use of both hands since it has 2 parts: you hold the meter in one hand and the probe in the other hand. However, The MSI-95 offers the following unique features not available with the other gaussmeters:
Our gaussmeters are highly regarded by experts and ours are not "frequency weighted", so they are more accurate. Frequency weighted meters are cheaper to make and not as accurate. Our meters are designed and calibrated to give you the correct magnetic field reading over a range of frequencies: from 50 Hz to at least 2000 Hz. "Frequency weighted" gaussmeters (which we do not sell) are only accurate at 60 Hz and they give the wrong readings at all other frequencies, so as a result they are often inaccurate near TVs, computer monitors, fluorescent lights, and dimmer switches. So we do not recommend nor sell "frequency weighted" meters, which is a shortcut method to save manufacturing costs and results in a much less accurate meter at most frequencies.
We also don't offer a single axis gaussmeter without a separate moveable probe because you would need a rubber-neck to read it as you turn the probe.
The MAGSTICK TRACER does not display the magnetic field strength as a number. Instead it produces an audible tone whenever the end of the magstick is in an ELF magnetic field. It is useful for tracing hard-to-reach sources of magnetic fields.
For more information:
can be used with the MSI-95.
* The MSI-95 can read much stronger fields, up to about 50,000 mG.
* The frequency bandwidth of the MSI-95 is much wider so it is more accurate up to several kHz
* The detachable probe lets you connect the probe to your own digital multimeter, oscilloscope,
spectrum analyzer, or other equipment.
* The MSI-95 includes a multi-purpose digital multimeter which you can also use for measuring
AC and DC voltages, currents, and resistance.
* The MSI-95 avoids inaccuracies which can occur with 3-axis sequential sampling of elliptical
or circularly polarized fields.
