Alternative DMMs to Fluke?
in [Design]
|
Prev: 555 monostable circuit design
Next: current source
From: Joel Kolstad on 6 Apr 2006 19:37 "DaveC" <me(a)privacy.net> wrote in message news:0001HW.C05AC578004727E8F04075B0(a)news.readfreenews.net... > Portable use, true RMS, V-O-A, would like C & L but not necessary. Rugged > build would be nice. "Meterman" (http://www.metermantesttools.com/mmusen/home/default.htm) is Fluke, I mean Philips, I mean... whoever owns them these day's own line of inexpensive meters. I bought one for my brother, and it seems pretty nice. I've had lots of cheap meters and a few Flukes, and so far the only one I ever had die was a cheapie that lived in the trunk of a car for years on end. The others have always been in heated indoor "lab" type environments, so I'd suggest that in such situations you might as well shop by features & price more so than a brand's reputation for ruggedness. What I'm really trying to say here is that I don't think Fluke's are necessarily a rip-off, just that for me I'm perfectly happy with something that costs less. This reminds me of an article in some woodworking magazine I read where a production cabinetry shop purchased a bunch of "prosumer" level routers (Dewalt, Bosch, Makita, etc. from the likes of Home Depot) and tested them to see how long they held up in a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week continuous-use production capacity. The answer... not long! (Something like a few months!) The experiment was to convince themselves that -- given their particular situation -- the really high-priced routers they'd been purchasing were indeed worth the premiums. I own a Tektronix TX1 that seems pretty indestructable; I like it (although I wish it would remember whether you were last measuring AC or DC when you change it from voltage to, e.g., ohms and back -- it always defaults back to AC!). I used to own a Fluke 87 and was annoyed that it suffered from the then-common problem of the zebra strip separating from the LCD, thereby causes various LCD segments to fail. A quick trip through a Panavise fixed it for good... or at least until I sold it some time later. ---Joel Kolstad P.S. -- Another pretty common question on here is what college students should get for meters, and my response to them is also not to bother with a premium brand until they're really figured out what features they like in a meter and just how abusive they are with them. :-) P.P.S. -- They're really pretty awful, but you can buy a *lot* of those $2.99 Harbor Freight meters for the price of a Fluke...!
From: Jim Thompson on 6 Apr 2006 19:43 On Thu, 6 Apr 2006 16:37:20 -0700, "Joel Kolstad" <JKolstad71HatesSpam(a)yahoo.com> wrote: [snip] > >I own a Tektronix TX1 that seems pretty indestructable; I like it (although I >wish it would remember whether you were last measuring AC or DC when you >change it from voltage to, e.g., ohms and back -- it always defaults back to >AC!). I used to own a Fluke 87 and was annoyed that it suffered from the >then-common problem of the zebra strip separating from the LCD, thereby causes >various LCD segments to fail. A quick trip through a Panavise fixed it for >good... or at least until I sold it some time later. > >---Joel Kolstad > >P.S. -- Another pretty common question on here is what college students should >get for meters, and my response to them is also not to bother with a premium >brand until they're really figured out what features they like in a meter and >just how abusive they are with them. :-) > >P.P.S. -- They're really pretty awful, but you can buy a *lot* of those $2.99 >Harbor Freight meters for the price of a Fluke...! > I have a Micronta that's served me well for I can't remember how many years... maybe 20 or more. ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
From: Joel Kolstad on 6 Apr 2006 19:46 (Following up to myself here) > P.P.S. -- They're really pretty awful, but you can buy a *lot* of those > $2.99 Harbor Freight meters for the price of a Fluke...! Speaking of these... If anyone wants it, I have a spare one (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90899) that I'll send, completely free of charge, to the first person who e-mails me (remove "hatesspam" at the end of my e-mail address). I would prefer that it goes to someone who can't readily visit Harbor Freight themselves, is low on disposable income, a student, etc. (i.e., if you own a BMW or a Lexus, please let it go to someone else). ---Joel (who presently drives a Honda Civic...)
From: whyzard on 6 Apr 2006 21:16 DaveC wrote: > Not that there's anything wrong with Flukes, inherently, but I like having > choices. > > Are there other brands that are considered as good quality as Fluke? > > Thanks, > -- > DaveC > me(a)privacy.net > This is an invalid return address > Please reply in the news group a used Fluke might be as good qaulity as a Fluke! just kidding. I don't know the answer. I bought a cheapy ($30) Right Tech 2323552 or something like that from Marvac.com cause it had min max and i wanted to test auto sensors. Then i found out that it didn't have min max AND average the way fluke had it setup. Even worse min max was manual and limited to voltage!!! Absuloute junk!. Well, a fluke is about 300 dollars or so. Now i have a junk fluke wannabe so my inevitable Fluke is now gonna cost 30 dollars more (to include my cheap shortcut). Paying for more is worth it only when you pay for the best. The best is always priceless. The only problem is that all of us have paid for the best and have only gotten the bwerst. Please tell us what your research finds! Although i have given up and am saving money for that fluke 80 series already. Still doesn't hurt to imagine that someone out there would be willing to give more than they take like is prevalent with all these freeware software folks on the net.
From: jclause on 6 Apr 2006 21:22
In article <0001HW.C05AB65500439BB9F04075B0(a)news.readfreenews.net>, me(a)privacy.net says... > > >Are there other brands that are considered as good quality as Fluke? > >Thanks, >-- >DaveC --------------------- We use a lot of meters here. The following might be of interest, where we checked them out a few months back on low AC voltage.. meter reading Fluke 8600A 1.500 volts bench type maybe 10 years old Fluke 189 1.4975 about 1 year old Fluke 83 III 1.497 new " 1.497 new " 1.497 new HP 8060A 1.497 about 5 years old HP 8060A 1.499 " HP 3465A 1.497 bench type about 10 years old Simpson 360A 1.499 bench type about 25 years old Triplett 9015A 1.498 2 years old Triplett 9015A 1.501 " Valhalla 2101 1.500 6 months old. This measures power, current, and voltage. Of the above, only the Simpson 360A and the Fluke 8600A have been recalibrated since leaving the factory. jc the elder |