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DMM

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Bob DeHaney

DMM

There are a lot of used Flukes on EBay, maybe not the latest model, but for
us perfect. That's where I bought mine, the price is right too.

VY 73 de Bob DJ0RD/WU5T

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Vic Rosenthal

Re: DMM

I have used numerous cheap meters (now I am playing with a pen-type
meter I got from China for $23). They work, are usually relatively
accurate, and have more features than most of us will use. But one thing
I've noticed is that they take a longer time to take a measurement than
the Fluke 79III that has served me well since time immemorial.

I worked as a mechanic for a while, and the difference between good
tools and almost-good tools may be subtle. But when you have a wrench in
your hand all day, you understand why the astronomical prices of (for
example) Snap-On tools are totally justified. The same goes for meters.

73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
On 20 Mar 2018 00:46, Bob DeHaney wrote:
> There are a lot of used Flukes on EBay, maybe not the latest model, but for
> us perfect. That's where I bought mine, the price is right too.
>
> VY 73 de Bob DJ0RD/WU5T
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K7TV

Re: DMM

In reply to this post by Bob DeHaney

Generally I agree with the idea that it is best to buy quality and only pay
once. If you work with the item all the time, there is no doubt at all.
However, for amateur use the same often applies only if one views the deal
over many years. One should ask oneself whether the high-priced "quality"
item is really built to be used for decades. One risk is technical
obsolescence. If the item is all about the latest hot technology, that is a
significant issue. Someone may consider a Bird 43 to be obsolete, but
personally I don't. Another risk is whether the item might deteriorate
physically over decades. Maybe a Fluke will not, and we have seen some
testimonials of old Fluke meters aging well. But consider my own
precautionary tale:
Over 40 years ago, my professional experience told me that Keithley made
very accurate, quality equipment. For personal use I bought a new Keithley
128 DMM, which indeed worked very well for a long time. However, about a
decade ago the latch broke on the little door for adjustment access.
Apparently, the plastic had aged and become brittle. The battery door latch
looks similar, and I figured it could break anytime. Or some other plastic
part could break. Now the Keithley sits mostly unused and is supposedly
there only for when I want to confirm a reading taken by my $30 DMM. Never
mind the fact that battery replacements will be needed, threatening plastic
breakage, if I want to use the meter at all. Hmm... I think I haven't used
it for about 3 years... and then I had to change the battery... OK, I got 30
years of reliable use for the high initial investment, so it was still a
good deal. But where plastic is involved, buying top quality is not a given.
Certainly, my Birds with their metal construction make the Keithley look
bad.

73,
Erik K7TV

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> On
Behalf Of Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2018 9:26 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] DMM

I have used numerous cheap meters (now I am playing with a pen-type meter I
got from China for $23). They work, are usually relatively accurate, and
have more features than most of us will use. But one thing I've noticed is
that they take a longer time to take a measurement than the Fluke 79III that
has served me well since time immemorial.

I worked as a mechanic for a while, and the difference between good tools
and almost-good tools may be subtle. But when you have a wrench in your hand
all day, you understand why the astronomical prices of (for
example) Snap-On tools are totally justified. The same goes for meters.

73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
On 20 Mar 2018 00:46, Bob DeHaney wrote:
> There are a lot of used Flukes on EBay, maybe not the latest model,
> but for us perfect. That's where I bought mine, the price is right too.
>
> VY 73 de Bob DJ0RD/WU5T
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ae5ka

Re: DMM

Many years ago I bought a Fluke 8060A DMM. It was indeed a fine instrument,
and still sought after today by some for a couple of its unique features.
However some 8 years later the LCD slowly faded to uselessness. I had a
Fluke 39 power quality meter that suffered the same fate. And a Fluke
Scopemeter 123 that for no apparent reason decided not to ever trigger
again. All of these would have cost more than they were worth on the used
market to send in to Fluke for repair. The point is, Fluke isn't fail-safe.
I still have Fluke gear that I rely on. For regular and frequent use, you
won't go wrong with them. However, for the hobby bench, where something may
see far less use and abuse, and on non-lethal circuits, DMMs and other
instruments that cost small fractions of the big name prices and often beat
them on features make a lot of sense to me. They can be a crap shoot, but
online reviews will usually weed out the bad stuff for you. Don't have the
time to research but do have the money? Then go with Fluke et al, you won't
go wrong.

73
Chip
AE5KA

On Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 3:09 PM, Erik Basilier <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Generally I agree with the idea that it is best to buy quality and only pay
> once. If you work with the item all the time, there is no doubt at all.
> However, for amateur use the same often applies only if one views the deal
> over many years. One should ask oneself whether the high-priced "quality"
> item is really built to be used for decades. One risk is technical
> obsolescence. If the item is all about the latest hot technology, that is a
> significant issue. Someone may consider a Bird 43 to be obsolete, but
> personally I don't. Another risk is whether the item might deteriorate
> physically over decades. Maybe a Fluke will not, and we have seen some
> testimonials of old Fluke meters aging well. But consider my own
> precautionary tale:
> Over 40 years ago, my professional experience told me that Keithley made
> very accurate, quality equipment. For personal use I bought a new Keithley
> 128 DMM, which indeed worked very well for a long time. However, about a
> decade ago the latch broke on the little door for adjustment access.
> Apparently, the plastic had aged and become brittle. The battery door latch
> looks similar, and I figured it could break anytime. Or some other plastic
> part could break. Now the Keithley sits mostly unused and is supposedly
> there only for when I want to confirm a reading taken by my $30 DMM. Never
> mind the fact that battery replacements will be needed, threatening plastic
> breakage, if I want to use the meter at all. Hmm... I think I haven't used
> it for about 3 years... and then I had to change the battery... OK, I got
> 30
> years of reliable use for the high initial investment, so it was still a
> good deal. But where plastic is involved, buying top quality is not a
> given.
> Certainly, my Birds with their metal construction make the Keithley look
> bad.
>
> 73,
> Erik K7TV
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
> On
> Behalf Of Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP
> Sent: Monday, March 19, 2018 9:26 PM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] DMM
>
>
> I have used numerous cheap meters (now I am playing with a pen-type meter I
> got from China for $23). They work, are usually relatively accurate, and
> have more features than most of us will use. But one thing I've noticed is
> that they take a longer time to take a measurement than the Fluke 79III
> that
> has served me well since time immemorial.
>
> I worked as a mechanic for a while, and the difference between good tools
> and almost-good tools may be subtle. But when you have a wrench in your
> hand
> all day, you understand why the astronomical prices of (for
> example) Snap-On tools are totally justified. The same goes for meters.
>
> 73,
> Victor, 4X6GP
> Rehovot, Israel
> Formerly K2VCO
> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
> On 20 Mar 2018 00:46, Bob DeHaney wrote:
> > There are a lot of used Flukes on EBay, maybe not the latest model,
> > but for us perfect. That's where I bought mine, the price is right too.
> >
> > VY 73 de Bob DJ0RD/WU5T
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message
> delivered to [hidden email]
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

ke9uw

Re: DMM

We had a Fluke 8060A at the lab also. The display faded away and we got a kit to replace the display components. I don't remember if it cost us or if it was sort of a recall. Anyway they recognized the problem and provided a fix. It worked well after that.

Chuck Hawley
[hidden email]

Amateur Radio, KE9UW
aka Jack, BMW Motorcycles
________________________________________
From: [hidden email] [[hidden email]] on behalf of Chip Stratton [[hidden email]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2018 2:51 PM
Cc: Elecraft Reflector
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] DMM

Many years ago I bought a Fluke 8060A DMM. It was indeed a fine instrument,
and still sought after today by some for a couple of its unique features.
However some 8 years later the LCD slowly faded to uselessness. I had a
Fluke 39 power quality meter that suffered the same fate. And a Fluke
Scopemeter 123 that for no apparent reason decided not to ever trigger
again. All of these would have cost more than they were worth on the used
market to send in to Fluke for repair. The point is, Fluke isn't fail-safe.
I still have Fluke gear that I rely on. For regular and frequent use, you
won't go wrong with them. However, for the hobby bench, where something may
see far less use and abuse, and on non-lethal circuits, DMMs and other
instruments that cost small fractions of the big name prices and often beat
them on features make a lot of sense to me. They can be a crap shoot, but
online reviews will usually weed out the bad stuff for you. Don't have the
time to research but do have the money? Then go with Fluke et al, you won't
go wrong.

73
Chip
AE5KA

On Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 3:09 PM, Erik Basilier <[hidden email]> wrote:

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Chuck, KE9UW

Jim Brown-10

Re: DMM

In reply to this post by ae5ka

On 3/20/2018 12:51 PM, Chip Stratton wrote:
> Many years ago I bought a Fluke 8060A DMM. It was indeed a fine instrument,
> and still sought after today by some for a couple of its unique features.
> However some 8 years later the LCD slowly faded to uselessness.

I have two of them, and both had that problem. A friend who's better on
the bench than I took them apart and cleaned them up. Both are like
new. I bought both used about 20 years ago.

> And a Fluke Scopemeter 123

Have a top of the line Scopemeter for which I paid $2k about 20 years
ago. it ate batteries if you didn't use it a lot, and I didn't use it a
lot (but it was indispensible for a very important project for which I
used it). Fluke charged a lot to replace them. Then it fell, not very
hard, and broke the power connector. Simple thing, right? It hasn't
worked since, two friends have attempted to get it going, without
success. So it's now a paperweight.

73, Jim K9YC
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