Fluke 87V - any reason not to buy?
in [Design]
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From: ehsjr on 1 Dec 2009 23:34 Joerg wrote: > Jim Thompson wrote: > >> On Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:10:53 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >> wrote: >> >>> Jim Thompson wrote: >>> >>>> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:02:55 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> krw wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:55:00 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> ehsjr wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Joerg wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> ehsjr wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> My old Fluke has a bleeding LCD, so time to buy a >>>>>>>>>> replacement. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Any reason(s) not to buy the 87V ? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Fluke is a good company. But last time I opted for a Chinese >>>>>>>>> meter which turned out to be rather precise. Of course, if you >>>>>>>>> need 4-1/2 digits or the ATEX rating you almost have to buy the >>>>>>>>> Fluke. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hi Joerg, I'd have to say it's rare that I _need_ 4 1/2 digits >>>>>>>> in a handheld DMM. Nice to have, of course. :-) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yeah, it's like those 200+ horses under the hood of a car :-) >>>>>> >>>>>> 200? Wimp. ;-) >>>>> >>>>> You should have seen my first car. 16 horsies: >>>>> >>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Export_67.jpg >>>> >>>> I was always more into higher horsepower cars... '61 Renault Dauphine >>>> ;-) >>>> >>> Started out with 19 horses but there was a "racing version" with 37hp: >>> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Dauphine >> >> >> I had the 32hp version. >> > > Mine had 16 horses. In the following model year (1970) Citroen upped > that to 23hp. They were still called the ugly duckling or duck. Then a > 2CV6 came out, I think also around 30hp and that one was called the > "Power Gander". Of course none of these names were officially recongized > by Citroen. > > 1970 they also went to a push-button operated starter with, tada, > innovation, a solenoid that engaged its gear. Mine still had a steel > rope under the dash which you had to pull. Of course, since I was > tooling around sans battery I had to use the crank. Chugga, chugga, > poof, chugga ... ka-clunkah ... *POOF* ... vrooom. > Did the 2cv (early '60s) have the air suspension like the big sedan? I seem to recall it was fairly harsh - at least as compared to the sedan's suspension - so I suspect it didn't, but don't know. Ed
From: Joerg on 2 Dec 2009 13:20 ehsjr wrote: > Joerg wrote: >> Jim Thompson wrote: >> >>> On Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:10:53 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Jim Thompson wrote: >>>> >>>>> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:02:55 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> krw wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:55:00 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> ehsjr wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Joerg wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> ehsjr wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> My old Fluke has a bleeding LCD, so time to buy a >>>>>>>>>>> replacement. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Any reason(s) not to buy the 87V ? >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Fluke is a good company. But last time I opted for a Chinese >>>>>>>>>> meter which turned out to be rather precise. Of course, if you >>>>>>>>>> need 4-1/2 digits or the ATEX rating you almost have to buy >>>>>>>>>> the Fluke. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hi Joerg, I'd have to say it's rare that I _need_ 4 1/2 digits >>>>>>>>> in a handheld DMM. Nice to have, of course. :-) >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Yeah, it's like those 200+ horses under the hood of a car :-) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> 200? Wimp. ;-) >>>>>> >>>>>> You should have seen my first car. 16 horsies: >>>>>> >>>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Export_67.jpg >>>>> >>>>> I was always more into higher horsepower cars... '61 Renault Dauphine >>>>> ;-) >>>>> >>>> Started out with 19 horses but there was a "racing version" with 37hp: >>>> >>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Dauphine >>> >>> >>> I had the 32hp version. >>> >> >> Mine had 16 horses. In the following model year (1970) Citroen upped >> that to 23hp. They were still called the ugly duckling or duck. Then a >> 2CV6 came out, I think also around 30hp and that one was called the >> "Power Gander". Of course none of these names were officially >> recongized by Citroen. >> >> 1970 they also went to a push-button operated starter with, tada, >> innovation, a solenoid that engaged its gear. Mine still had a steel >> rope under the dash which you had to pull. Of course, since I was >> tooling around sans battery I had to use the crank. Chugga, chugga, >> poof, chugga ... ka-clunkah ... *POOF* ... vrooom. >> > > Did the 2cv (early '60s) have the air suspension like the > big sedan? I seem to recall it was fairly harsh - at least > as compared to the sedan's suspension - so I suspect it > didn't, but don't know. > No, it had a very unique non-air method: Long arms and adjustable (!) springs in their pivots, on all four wheels and independent. The shock absorbers were disks in those pivots and could also be adjusted. The ride was extremely smooth. You could barrel across a rough RR crossing at 50mph and the car would gently and slowly rock, many yards later. Do the same in a "normal" car and stuff goes flying or it might get uncomfortably close to a loss of control situation. In that respect the 2CV was amazing. Once my 2CV was the only car that succeeded to get heavy equipment across a muddy field for a ham radio contest. It had rained for days. Several guys lifted the front, all the way out, while I slid a piece of wood under the front wheel arms and fastened it. Now the car pointed upward almost like an aircraft on rotation. The undercarriage was completely smooth so I didn't bother to do the same in back, I just let that slide around on the mud a bit and we got there. Heck, you could barely walk that field, on every step the boots would make a slurping sound. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Palinurus on 5 Dec 2009 22:13 Joerg wrote: > ehsjr wrote: >> Joerg wrote: >>> ehsjr wrote: >>> >>>> My old Fluke has a bleeding LCD, so time to buy a >>>> replacement. >>>> >>>> Any reason(s) not to buy the 87V ? >>>> >>> >>> Fluke is a good company. But last time I opted for a Chinese meter >>> which turned out to be rather precise. Of course, if you need 4-1/2 >>> digits or the ATEX rating you almost have to buy the Fluke. >>> >> - The 87V is a good meter. I work in a metrology shop, and I've seen a lot of them go by. They tend to hold calibration, and will survive a fair amount of abuse, and sometimes that extra digit is necessary. You will occasionally see a 5 1/2 digit handheld, but that last digit is largely bogus, just noise. The main thing that may be urged against the 87V is the price.
From: Joerg on 6 Dec 2009 11:27 Palinurus wrote: > Joerg wrote: >> ehsjr wrote: >>> Joerg wrote: >>>> ehsjr wrote: >>>> >>>>> My old Fluke has a bleeding LCD, so time to buy a >>>>> replacement. >>>>> >>>>> Any reason(s) not to buy the 87V ? >>>>> >>>> >>>> Fluke is a good company. But last time I opted for a Chinese meter >>>> which turned out to be rather precise. Of course, if you need 4-1/2 >>>> digits or the ATEX rating you almost have to buy the Fluke. >>>> >>> > - > The 87V is a good meter. I work in a metrology shop, and I've seen a > lot of them go by. They tend to hold calibration, and will survive a > fair amount of abuse, and sometimes that extra digit is necessary. You > will occasionally see a 5 1/2 digit handheld, but that last digit is > largely bogus, just noise. The main thing that may be urged against the > 87V is the price. Fluke stuff is good but they better get their hands around the pricing issue, and soon. I've got several Chinese meters here that aren't bad at all. With scopes it sort of happened already: The Taiwanese DSO here in my lab runs circles around similarly priced stuff from Tek. The only thing I don't like with Chinese meters is the red color of the holster. Maybe the politburo mandated they'd have to be red ;-) -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: ehsjr on 6 Dec 2009 15:23
Joerg wrote: > Palinurus wrote: > >> Joerg wrote: >> >>> ehsjr wrote: >>> >>>> Joerg wrote: >>>> >>>>> ehsjr wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> My old Fluke has a bleeding LCD, so time to buy a >>>>>> replacement. >>>>>> >>>>>> Any reason(s) not to buy the 87V ? >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Fluke is a good company. But last time I opted for a Chinese meter >>>>> which turned out to be rather precise. Of course, if you need 4-1/2 >>>>> digits or the ATEX rating you almost have to buy the Fluke. >>>>> >>>> >> - >> The 87V is a good meter. I work in a metrology shop, and I've seen >> a lot of them go by. They tend to hold calibration, and will survive a >> fair amount of abuse, and sometimes that extra digit is necessary. You >> will occasionally see a 5 1/2 digit handheld, but that last digit is >> largely bogus, just noise. The main thing that may be urged against >> the 87V is the price. > > > > Fluke stuff is good but they better get their hands around the pricing > issue, and soon. I've got several Chinese meters here that aren't bad at > all. With scopes it sort of happened already: The Taiwanese DSO here in > my lab runs circles around similarly priced stuff from Tek. > > The only thing I don't like with Chinese meters is the red color of the > holster. Maybe the politburo mandated they'd have to be red ;-) > I've been very pleased with Chinese meters, but it is exactly as Dave indicated in his blog. My confidence in the cheaper meters was based on comparison with the Fluke's readings. When I needed relatively exact measurements, I'd use the Fluke. Most of the time, ballpark is good enough. Comparable Chinese stuff was as accurate as the Fluke, but the confidence was always with Fluke. In one case I needed to monitor dual Iout & Vout and single Iin & Vin on a supply design. No need to use six Flukes! I just had to watch for variation on the output as input was varied, so the Fluke just became the "calibration standard" for the other meters. That said, when the old Fluke died, it justified buying a new one - which arrived yesterday. :-) The manual that came with it is in 15 languages. Fifteen!! Does that mean I need to run to Berlitz & sign up for lessons before I can figure out all the features? :-) Ed |