Fluke 87V - any reason not to buy?
in [Design]
|
From: krw on 8 Dec 2009 18:50 On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >JosephKK wrote: >> On Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:27:26 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >> wrote: >> >>> ehsjr wrote: >>>> 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? :-) >>>> >>> Even Asian gear has that now. My Instek scope came with lots of language >>> options for the on-screen menu. With many of them I had trouble finding >>> out what they were because the language setup identifies them in their >>> native character set. The written manual is English-only though. I find >>> it sad when companies print a 2" thick stack knowing that 90% of it will >>> either never be read or thrown away because everyone uses English >>> anyhow. They should give me those trees instead, cuz it's friggin' cold >>> and I can use the firewood :-) >> >> I'll second that. Throwing on extra blankies and turning up the >> thermostat for the last couple of nights. At this rate my energy >> bills are going to be out of sight this season. > > >Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >wouldn't be advised for next winter. I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. >Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what oil cost. Dunno here, yet.
From: Jim Thompson on 8 Dec 2009 19:14 On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:50:55 -0600, krw <krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: >On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >wrote: > >>JosephKK wrote: >>> On Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:27:26 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>> wrote: >>> >>> >>> I'll second that. Throwing on extra blankies and turning up the >>> thermostat for the last couple of nights. At this rate my energy >>> bills are going to be out of sight this season. >> >> >>Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >>Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >>with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >>4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >>wouldn't be advised for next winter. > >I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. > >>Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? > >Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what >oil cost. Dunno here, yet. I turned on one of the heat pumps last night ;-) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | In wine there is wisdom, In beer there is freedom, In water there is bacteria - Benjamin Franklin
From: Joerg on 8 Dec 2009 20:36 krw wrote: > On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > [...] >> Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >> Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >> with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >> 4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >> wouldn't be advised for next winter. > > I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. > >> Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? > > Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what > oil cost. Dunno here, yet. It's way more than gasoline out here in CA even though it has less BTU. So we thumbed our noses at the oil companies and went to wood heat. But I wish we had a bigger stove, with all this cooling trend. Despite what experts say I now think that bigger is better. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: JosephKK on 9 Dec 2009 01:26 On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:36:50 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >krw wrote: >> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >> wrote: >> > >[...] > >>> Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >>> Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >>> with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >>> 4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >>> wouldn't be advised for next winter. >> >> I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. >> >>> Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? >> >> Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what >> oil cost. Dunno here, yet. > > >It's way more than gasoline out here in CA even though it has less BTU. >So we thumbed our noses at the oil companies and went to wood heat. But >I wish we had a bigger stove, with all this cooling trend. Despite what >experts say I now think that bigger is better. I would certainly pay attention to how efficient it was over its heating power working range.
From: Joerg on 9 Dec 2009 11:51
JosephKK wrote: > On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:36:50 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > >> krw wrote: >>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>> wrote: >>> >> [...] >> >>>> Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >>>> Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >>>> with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >>>> 4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >>>> wouldn't be advised for next winter. >>> I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. >>> >>>> Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? >>> Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what >>> oil cost. Dunno here, yet. >> >> It's way more than gasoline out here in CA even though it has less BTU. >> So we thumbed our noses at the oil companies and went to wood heat. But >> I wish we had a bigger stove, with all this cooling trend. Despite what >> experts say I now think that bigger is better. > > I would certainly pay attention to how efficient it was over its > heating power working range. Well, that's just it. At the 20% to 50% level it's supposedly around 78%. But California seems to get colder every year. So, more and more we find ourselves running it close to full bore and that's where the efficiency drops off. Still a clean burn, no smoke, but lots more heat escapes through the chimney. Modern wood stoves can operate quite well at the lower burn settings but not when you run them with primary plus secondary air fully open. Probably because they don't have much of a baffle system like older stoves do. Then they start eating wood as if it was popcorn. At this rate I am not sure our 4 cords will last through winter :-( This morning it happened for the first time that we needed wood stove + pellet stove + central heat to get the house warm. Here in the office it was 58F at 7:00am even though wood and pellet stoves ran all night. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM. |