Author Topic: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?  (Read 19460 times)

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Offline alank2Topic starter

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Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« on: November 19, 2015, 07:35:06 pm »
Zoro is running 25% off today and they have a Fluke 8845A for $1080-25%=$810 shipped.  I've looked at the Agilent meters they have, but I don't think they have a 6.5 digit one.  For the money these days, what is the best bang for the buck?  I've never had a bench meter, so this will be a step up from the mostly handhelds I use.
 

Offline dr.diesel

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2015, 07:48:21 pm »
The 8845A/8846As are superb meters with a good history and very mature.  I would not hesitate myself even though they are a bit old.

IIRC an additional digit of resolution is available via serial, don't recall if mostly noise, Robrenz has a thread about it.


Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2015, 08:46:55 pm »
Thanks guys, that spreadsheet is impressive.
 

Offline XFDDesign

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2015, 12:45:53 am »
I'm biased towards Fluke. That you have the option to get one at that price is wild.
 

Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2015, 12:47:18 am »
I'm biased towards Fluke. That you have the option to get one at that price is wild.

Anyone can!

http://zoro.com has the coupon on their main page today.  25% off until the end of today.
 

Offline georges80

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2015, 12:58:02 am »
I have an 8845A, nice bench meter. Fortunately in my case I scored it for free from a consulting/contracting gig (plus other TE when they shutdown the company).

I have invested in a nice 4 wire (in 2 leads) probe set to make use of it's low resistance measuring capability. Even when front panel 'off' (standby) it still is internally on (unless you also turn the rear switch off) since I presume it keeps the reference circuitry etc powered up so you don't have to wait for it to warm up each time.

cheers,
george.
 

Offline AlphZeta

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2015, 07:11:52 pm »
How about a Keithley 196? It can be had for less than $200 and is a great meter to have :-+
 

Offline saturation

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2015, 02:47:50 pm »
Bang for buck non-professional use DVM, i.e., no current range, is an HP 3456a.
Best Wishes,

 Saturation
 

Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2015, 04:31:32 pm »
I ordered the 8845A - it will be my first ever bench meter.
 

Offline krivx

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2015, 04:47:10 pm »
How about a Keithley 196? It can be had for less than $200 and is a great meter to have :-+

If you are going cheapest then some of the Solartron 6.5 digit meters regularly go for less than $100
 

Online nctnico

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2015, 05:11:18 pm »
Zoro is running 25% off today and they have a Fluke 8845A for $1080-25%=$810 shipped.  I've looked at the Agilent meters they have, but I don't think they have a 6.5 digit one.  For the money these days, what is the best bang for the buck?  I've never had a bench meter, so this will be a step up from the mostly handhelds I use.
Maybe too late but I'd probably choosen a newer Keysight model because of the additional features. 6.5 digits sounds great but to measure using the full accuracy of a 6.5 digit meter you'll have to look at the probing solution very seriously.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline cncjerry

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #12 on: November 21, 2015, 09:36:01 pm »
Used 3456a is a great, stable, easy to fix meter for less than $200.  For slightly more money, you can get the predecessor to the 3458a, the 3457a.

Both meters need good, shielded, probes to perform to their best.  Also, the added advantage of the 3457a is the 7.5 digits available from the HIRES register.

I have a keithley 196 and that is a great meter as well.
 

Offline Gandalf_Sr

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #13 on: November 22, 2015, 01:17:44 am »
How about the Agilent 34461A? They are offering free Labvue Pro software too https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/free-benchvue-dmmfgdaq-pro/msg795758/#msg795758 and it costs $1086 from tequipment.net http://www.tequipment.net/Agilent/34461A/?readReview=1765b#tab-reviews plus you should be able to get 5% off with the EEVBlog discount.
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer
 

Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2015, 01:17:21 pm »
Well, the 8845a arrived and I am pretty disappointed.  It will be going back.

I think the display is its Achilles' heel.  It isn't very bright even on its brightest setting - they probably have tweaked this in the firmware over the years in an attempt to make it last longer, but the display quality really is terrible.  Even on its bootup message there are obvious pixels and rows that are brighter than others.  I've never been a huge fan of graphic VFD's, but I am less so now.  I get the feeling that VFD is much better suited to segments than it is dots.

I am also disappointed with the way they implemented the display in firmware.  The main display has nice large digits, but anytime you get to any specialized display you end up with the same sized characters laid out in monospace font.  A good example might be how good the min/max/avg looks in my Fluke 289 vs. how terrible it looks on the 8845A.  Also, the flickery blinking is the result of poor screen implementation code in the firmware.  There is no reason for an instrument of this class with a super fast VFD to clear the screen and repaint it with such a delay that the user sees it flickering when going between functions.

The display is my biggest gripe honestly, but it runs pretty warm when on for awhile and I hear an odd 1 Hz ticking sort of sound coming from it as well.

The positives are that it seems to go up to 1 Mhz frequency even though it was supposed to only go to 300 kHz, given the sheet that arrived with it, it seems to be calibrated very well, the trendplot is cool, and it looks like its management features are very solid though I did not test them.  It does come with the cable (rs232-usb) which surprised me as I thought only the SU version came with that.

I'm going to save my $$$ and get a 34461A some day instead.
 

Offline MadTux

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2015, 01:56:51 pm »
Well, the 8845a arrived and I am pretty disappointed.  It will be going back.
You must be right handed. I guess Fluke made that thing to satisfy the left handed 10% of the population. Or they just screwed up and placed the inputs on the wrong side ;D ;D
 

Offline rgawron

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2015, 02:14:07 pm »
Regarding Fluke 6.5 digit bench multimeter, on the picture is what arrived to me. Note the lack of "Fluke" label on the yellow rectangle - would be hard to sell it later and convince anyone that the unit was not repaired/opened. I have replaced the device with a correct one in the online shop where I bought it and now is OK.

I have also contacted Fluke support and it seems that they really didn't care, I got email that they analyzing it and they stopped respond to my emails.

Just a tinny issue, but now I'm biased against Fluke - mainly due to their support.
 

Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2015, 02:55:00 pm »
You must be right handed. I guess Fluke made that thing to satisfy the left handed 10% of the population. Or they just screwed up and placed the inputs on the wrong side

 :-DD Well, I actually am left handed but I still like the inputs on the right too!
 

Offline XFDDesign

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2015, 03:12:55 pm »
I wonder if it isn't a dud unit. Not that the question is to dissuade the OP, they need to be happy with their buy. But I've got many Fluke units in my realm, none of which appear to exhibit this set of problems. Granted, they're all 8846a units and not the 8845a ones.
 

Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #19 on: November 25, 2015, 07:39:35 pm »
I wonder if it isn't a dud unit. Not that the question is to dissuade the OP, they need to be happy with their buy. But I've got many Fluke units in my realm, none of which appear to exhibit this set of problems. Granted, they're all 8846a units and not the 8845a ones.

It is tough to say.  This morning I turned it back on and for awhile no ticking 1 Hz noise, but then later on it was doing it again.  It seems to measure just fine.  I think I am really disappointed with the display more than anything else on it.
 

Offline XFDDesign

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #20 on: November 25, 2015, 07:43:33 pm »
It is tough to say.  This morning I turned it back on and for awhile no ticking 1 Hz noise, but then later on it was doing it again.  It seems to measure just fine.  I think I am really disappointed with the display more than anything else on it.

If it's really aesthetics of display, then return it and buy a USB based DMM. Nothing will beat the beauty of a desktop display. VFDs do their job well enough usually (though not in your case), but I was after an accurate bench meter to get readings from, the display just has to work well enough to communicate the information.
 

Offline commie

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #21 on: November 25, 2015, 08:58:48 pm »
Hi,

I bought the Fluke 8846A about 7 years ago, what a pile of stinking shit it turned out to be. :palm: The display was terrible and after awhile the display just gets dimmer and dimmer, so I flogged mine on ebay. The multimeter to have is keysight 34465A, they are top flight. The best Fluke bench meter is their 51/2 digit '8808', very nice. :-+

Well cheers
Commie
 

Offline HKJ

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #22 on: November 25, 2015, 09:48:52 pm »
I bought the Fluke 8846A about 7 years ago, what a pile of stinking shit it turned out to be. :palm: The display was terrible and after awhile the display just gets dimmer and dimmer, so I flogged mine on ebay. The multimeter to have is keysight 34465A, they are top flight. The best Fluke bench meter is their 51/2 digit '8808', very nice. :-+

There is obvious different opinions about the meter, my two 8846A are also some years old and have been used a lot, they are still very precise and I have no problem reading the displays. I do also have a 34465A, but it is much never and I have no idea if it will handle time as well as the 8846A.
 

Offline timb

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #23 on: November 26, 2015, 12:00:02 am »

Hi,

I bought the Fluke 8846A about 7 years ago, what a pile of stinking shit it turned out to be. :palm: The display was terrible and after awhile the display just gets dimmer and dimmer, so I flogged mine on ebay. The multimeter to have is keysight 34465A, they are top flight. The best Fluke bench meter is their 51/2 digit '8808', very nice. :-+

Well cheers
Commie

I've got a Tektronix DMM4020, which is a rebadged 8808A. Had it for about 2.5 years now and I absolutely love it. The VFD is super responsive, bright and fast. It boots instantly, has latching continuity, RS-232 interface, selectable speeds and the controls are very intuitive.

It's my daily use DMM. I have a 3456A for precision stuff. Had a Keithley 2000, but ended up selling it a few months back. (It needed to be calibrated, otherwise I might have kept it. My 3456A is NIST calibrated, so...)


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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic; e.g., Cheez Whiz, Hot Dogs and RF.
 

Offline alank2Topic starter

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Re: Bench 6.5 digit - most bang for the buck?
« Reply #24 on: November 26, 2015, 12:19:45 am »
If it had a segment display like the 8808A, I probably would have kept it.
 


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