New bench DMM or older one

[bson]

Depends on what you need to it for.  Horses for courses.

[cowasaki]

Depends on what you need to it for.  Horses for courses.

Absolutely.  I did say in the post but to be honest I am teaching myself about other areas as well so something capable of lots of different things is best.  I think I have a plan though.....

[cowasaki]

OK.  Thanks for everyone's ideas and suggestions.  I think having read them all that what I really want is probably a little bit out of my price range for now but it's always handy to have more than one DMM so my plan is......

I'm going to look for a PM2525 or similar at around £100 hopefully with a IEEE488 as I quite fancy designing a IEEE488 to USB interface including an LCD/LED display, and other functionality.  Once I've done that I will save up a little more and it then opens up a few more possibilities which are just outside my current price range.  Hopefully I can get something decent around April.

So now to hunt out something like the PM2525s I've seen at a more realistic price.

[_Wim_]

On another note if you feel like selling a PM2525 let me know, especially if it has an IEEE833 interface like the one I've seen.  I actually thought the PM2525 I saw was a bit expensive.

They can both go for me, as I do not use them. I have to check for the IEEE33 interface, I do not remerber...

[cowasaki]

Thanks.  A product I manufactured has a case and layout ideal for a smart IEEE488 interface so I might well design it and just completely replace the board changing the device's entire reason for existence.  I quite fancy that hence the need for the interface if at all possible.  If it has one how much are you thinking about?

[CustomEngineerer]

It sounds like you have your mind made up that you for sure want a bench DMM, so this is probably a useless comment, but wanted to share anyways. I have no real need for a bench meter (hobby/personal learning), and have multiple handhelds that cover everything I need to do. For years I avoided even looking at bench meters because of lack of need, but when the ITT used GDM-8251As got down to $100 last year I made an impulse buy on one. I didn't need its extra resolution or additional features, but am really happy I did. It is an absolute joy to use. I pretty much turn it on (and leave it on) anytime I'm at the bench. Other than being able to leave it on for hours at a time and not having to worry about draining the batteries, I'm not sure why I prefer using it over the handhelds, there's just something about it. Recently I've even been looking at other bench meters.

[nanofrog]

Ease of reading the VFD over an LCD perhaps?

Generally speaking I do prefer handhelds (placement on the bench), but I do prefer the speed and ease I can obtain data from a VFD.

BTW, I also picked up one of the GW Instek 8251A's from the ITT liquidation.

[cowasaki]

It sounds like you have your mind made up that you for sure want a bench DMM, so this is probably a useless comment, but wanted to share anyways. I have no real need for a bench meter (hobby/personal learning), and have multiple handhelds that cover everything I need to do. For years I avoided even looking at bench meters because of lack of need, but when the ITT used GDM-8251As got down to $100 last year I made an impulse buy on one. I didn't need its extra resolution or additional features, but am really happy I did. It is an absolute joy to use. I pretty much turn it on (and leave it on) anytime I'm at the bench. Other than being able to leave it on for hours at a time and not having to worry about draining the batteries, I'm not sure why I prefer using it over the handhelds, there's just something about it. Recently I've even been looking at other bench meters.

Thats pretty much my position

[GreyWoolfe]

It sounds like you have your mind made up that you for sure want a bench DMM, so this is probably a useless comment, but wanted to share anyways. I have no real need for a bench meter (hobby/personal learning), and have multiple handhelds that cover everything I need to do. For years I avoided even looking at bench meters because of lack of need, but when the ITT used GDM-8251As got down to $100 last year I made an impulse buy on one. I didn't need its extra resolution or additional features, but am really happy I did. It is an absolute joy to use. I pretty much turn it on (and leave it on) anytime I'm at the bench. Other than being able to leave it on for hours at a time and not having to worry about draining the batteries, I'm not sure why I prefer using it over the handhelds, there's just something about it. Recently I've even been looking at other bench meters.

I got mine for about $90 shipped.  I should have bought a second one for that price.

[markce]

I've choosen an extreme option to your initial question. I am using an old one (actually 2), as bench DMM, a Philips PM2528 with GPIB.

It was cheap (around Eur 100) and fits my needs:
- 4/1/2 digits
- 4-wire measurements
- auto range
- accurate AC measurements
- easy readable: large LED display
- reliable
- easy serviceable (no special parts)
- DIY calibration

After 9 years, still happy with it. I use it as my main bench DMM, with a Fluke 175 for less critical everyday work.

[cowasaki]

I suppose I'm just going to have to wait until someone offers me a PM2525 at the right price

[james_s]

I mostly use handhelds but I do have one bench meter that is set up on my bench all the time. It's convenient to have, it's always right there, I can turn it on and leave it on for hours without it shutting off, and I like the nice big VFD and PC interface. If I could only have one meter it would be a handheld but a bench meter is certainly convenient.

[_Wim_]

I suppose I'm just going to have to wait until someone offers me a PM2525 at the right price

Ok, just did a quick check. Both do not have GPIB port, the white one definately is out of call and consider this a repair project, the brown one is much closer to my Brymen (maybe also out of cal, I did not calculate or check). Both units were just powered on, I did not wait for warm-up or anything. There "old and dusty".

Results, see pictures.

If interested, the brown one can go  for 80€, the white one for 40€ (excluding shipping which I expect will be around 20€). I hope this is a fair price, feel free to make a different offer also.

[cowasaki]

I suppose I'm just going to have to wait until someone offers me a PM2525 at the right price

Ok, just did a quick check. Both do not have GPIB port, the white one definately is out of call and consider this a repair project, the brown one is much closer to my Brymen (maybe also out of cal, I did not calculate or check). Both units were just powered on, I did not wait for warm-up or anything. There "old and dusty".

Results, see pictures.

If interested, the brown one can go  for 80€, the white one for 40€ (excluding shipping which I expect will be around 20€). I hope this is a fair price, feel free to make a different offer also.

Thanks.  That seems quite fair.  What could you do both for including postage to the UK? I'll just have to find a IEEE488 interface from somewhere.  One other thing is, would you be happy to do this next week (24th) when I've got some money coming in.  I will definitely have them but with Christmas it'll leave me a little short and I've lent out the money which I had saved to someone else who is paying me back at the end of the month too!

[_Wim_]

Both for 130€ including shipping seems ok for me. No problem to wait. I will reserve them for you, you can leave them here for another month if desired, no problem, was not planning to sell, do not need the extra space. They just did not get used any more...

[cowasaki]

Oh and if anyone has a GPIB port for a Philips PM2525 going spare.........


This is my last product design.  A photo trigger interface device to which you can plug a trigger module (sound, beam breaker, laser breaker, solenoid controller or lightning)  I've got maybe half a dozen or more left so it would make a nice handy case for the interface.  Using the same controls and display would be nice too.

[cowasaki]

Consider them both sold then.  I will pay you next Wednesday and you can send them then.  You can get them packed up if you like :-)