Annoyed with the Fluke 289

[joeqsmith]

A friend of mine has the 289 and loaned it to me to try out.  They really like the meter.   Personally, I would take that 189 you show over the 289.  IMO, that 189 is just a nice all around meter.   

+1, as I own these three, 189 is my 1st choice, no contest here.

Imo, 87V is more a technician's DMM hence limited features, while 287/9 is more like a miniaturized full features bench DMM with all the bells & whistles, the 189 has the sweet spot and also boot instantly like 87V does, and almost has all the 287/9 features except graphical chart, also the dot matrix LCD at 287/9 is sux compared to solid dark and sharp LCD segments, believe most people are with me here on the display part. And 189 uses AA cells. 

I agree on the 87V and never understood the continued hype surrounding it.  Their primary market is techs and electricians so I guess it makes some sense.  I would consider it a very high end meter for these groups. 

UNI-T made what I consider to be a clone of the 289.  I felt they had made some improvements over the 289's UI.   Overall I like how the UT181A drives.  Menus on both meters are easy to navigate without picking up a manual (unlike my Gossen).  UNI-T could make a few changes to that 181A that I feel would go a long way to improve it.   I don't see Fortive changing the direction Fluke and others.   

I think there is room for a modern, high quality version of that meter.  Maybe Brymen will take a shot at a 289 clone.  They already have what I consider decent replacement for the 189. 

[coromonadalix]

I think the 289 should be reworked redesigned ....


Have you seen the 189 look a like copy ?  VICTOR VC98A or the VICTOR VC98A+ ?

To me the 187 and 189  where the best ones from Fluke, the 287 / 289 is over designed  overhyped ... Maybe Uni-t will up their game ?

[joeqsmith]

Have you seen the 189 look a like copy ?  VICTOR VC98A or the VICTOR VC98A+ ?

To me the 187 and 189  where the best ones from Fluke, the 287 / 289 is over designed  overhyped ... Maybe Uni-t will up their game ?

Does look like a copy.  I couldn't find any pictures of the internals.  There was one video where a guy shows a meter from them but just blabs about it for a half hour and never even takes it apart.   

I ran a Victor branded pocket meter that didn't hold up very well.  Not that this VC98A wouldn't do better.   I picked up a beat up, non-working Fluke 189 to have some fun with.  Even as old as it is and how badly it had been abused, there are few meters that I've looked at that could take this sort of punishment.  It may be fun to see how well the Victor clone holds up.   

https://youtu.be/fHIPGIyLJ3M   

[bc888]

Wow, near dead nutz on. I thought Fluke sued Tek (before they were bought be Danaher) for using that yellow cover scheme? Didn't Sparkfun also just have a bunch of yellow meters repoed by customs at Flukes direction as they were yellow and violated the Fluke look or some such? Victor copied the near exact layout of the buttons it appears. Put the Memory selection on the dial is all.

[bc888]

I have a Fluke 189 II. Popped it open last night and checked the Supercap to see if it's leaking and it looked brand new. Can anyone advise what kind of time frame (if any) or how many hours of use until I can expect the brown goo to appear?

[BFX]

Nothing is perfect, therefore I decided to have perfect combination (289, 189, 117) 

[coromonadalix]

have you seen this one ?  Victor VC 189A   55000 count dmm   strange ressemblance once again ..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/55000-Count-Multimeter-Accuracy-0-025-1ms-Peak-Sampling-True-RMS-TC-RTD-Log-USB/273547731456

[joeqsmith]

Saw this one the other day.  May make a decent meter for someone depending how high it goes.     

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fluke-189-Digital-Logging-Multimeter-16173/113372028783?epid=1183286963&hash=item1a657fdf6f:g:B2oAAOSwE95b634H:rk:48:pf:0

[joeqsmith]

If its working, $150 seems like a good price.

[blacksheeplogic]

I picked up a beat up, non-working Fluke 189 to have some fun with.  Even as old as it is and how badly it had been abused, there are few meters that I've looked at that could take this sort of punishment

As I recall (been a long time since I last used my 189) it went though batteries. My 289 is a big battery eater as well. I like my 117 but I've switched back to the 87V because of AutoHOLD.

[joeqsmith]

Manual for the 189 shows it around 70 hours.    The manual for my GMW Ultra shows 200.  Turn on the BT option, it can't make it a day.  This is the only handheld meter I have with a connector for an external battery pack.   The Fluke 97 scope meter has the shortest battery life of anything I have.  You get about a work day with it.  It can run from the external power supply but I bought it for portable use. 

The UNI-T UT181A is basically useless once the battery is dead.  You have to plug it in and charge it which takes overnight.

[M0UKD]

I kind of agree. I too have a 289 and find myself using the 87-V more, unless I really need the extra features of the 289.
The meter I use most is the 83-V as it lives in my toolbox. Great value second hand, if you don't need true RMS.

[HKJ]

As I recall (been a long time since I last used my 189) it went though batteries. My 289 is a big battery eater as well. I like my 117 but I've switched back to the 87V because of AutoHOLD.

I have never seen the 189 as a battery eater and I have used it a lot for logging with a computer.

[coromonadalix]

the 189  with the bp189 battery pack is around 440 hrs  loll   managed to get 3 of them ...   i only miss the ir189 kit