Author Topic: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)  (Read 5903 times)

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Offline DaneLaw

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #25 on: January 03, 2025, 12:34:07 am »
w0nder how many of that 50pcs stack (40sold) that's been picked up by EEVlog users..  >:D
Though not for me, 460$ is still quite a chunk and a fluorescent display on a 6½ bench DMM can be a challenge.

Its a model that there is a lot of data and info about, been in play since 1992 and it's not like new 6½ bench DMMs are hanging on the trees, even the cheaper Chinese brands on their modern variants.. are up there price-wise... a Hantek 6½ unit is around 600 $ incl. EUVAT & delivery and that unit seems to be a mixed affaire.
 

Offline H.O

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #26 on: January 03, 2025, 09:19:34 am »
Yeah, come on guys, hurry up and buy them all so I can forget about it once and for all...please...
I really don't need another bench DMM, but then again it's the classic 34401A and I don't have one of those  :palm:
 

Online Sorama

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #27 on: January 03, 2025, 10:08:54 am »
Yeah, come on guys, hurry up and buy them all so I can forget about it once and for all...please...
I really don't need another bench DMM, but then again it's the classic 34401A and I don't have one of those  :palm:

admit it: you are supposed to buy one!
(how can you not)
 

Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #28 on: January 03, 2025, 11:07:10 am »
one thing people tend to forget     if theses are really new,     you will need to age the reference ....   

i had 3 of them used w some problems (x-former and a vfd)  aged for years,  recapped them,  one did get a certification, and was perfect  the others where just compared, and where still rock solid, had the rack mountable  L4411a   but at some point you do miss the front keypad :(

but man they where fast to settle and get/be ready


and grab or build an "duino" gpib interface, or lan to gpib interface  we have in some thread and be happy.

sure some says  they lack  this or that,  but they don't crash like more recent ones ... cough cough   :-+   

personally I would avoid any 3446x 34475 models,  some say okay  some have problems, but others brand have quirks too. my personal  2 cents

a 34410a  was a perfect upgrade for my oldies 34401  ...   1x  vfd later  loll     sure the vfd can or could be a problem, but now  many have been cloned for many models ...     

but at theses prices mmmm  i'm still doubting, for me a 300-350$  would have been perfect
 

Offline Traceless

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #29 on: January 03, 2025, 11:47:06 am »
I bought one, thanks again a bdunham7 for letting us know. As mentioned by Kleinstein and HighVoltage those are not common here in Germany - here is a current example of pricing for used 34401A in Germany.
 

Offline AVGresponding

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #30 on: January 03, 2025, 11:57:30 am »
one thing people tend to forget     if theses are really new,     you will need to age the reference ....

No. The LM399's in these are selected and pre-aged (or pre-aged, and then selected). One of the best features of the 34401A is the long term stability. Modern 6.5d DMMs may have fancy UI's and marginally better connectivity, but none of them will beat the general performance of a 34401A, and few will even match it.
 


but at theses prices mmmm  i'm still doubting, for me a 300-350$  would have been perfect

That's the price of an slightly-below-average-condition used one, not a NIB   :palm:
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Offline DaneLaw

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #31 on: January 03, 2025, 03:25:16 pm »
Hurry godammit...Last call as in 2 left, as Im writing this.
 

Offline bdunham7Topic starter

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #32 on: January 03, 2025, 03:39:28 pm »
No. The LM399's in these are selected and pre-aged (or pre-aged, and then selected). One of the best features of the 34401A is the long term stability. Modern 6.5d DMMs may have fancy UI's and marginally better connectivity, but none of them will beat the general performance of a 34401A, and few will even match it.

None of the cheap ones, anyway.  I just did a tempco/calibration test of the 10V range on my old v10 (circa 1996) US-made 34401A and it is still well within spec on the original 29 year old calibration.  About +0.67ppm/C tempco (noticeable but not terrible) and -2ppm @ 23C, spot-on at 25C.  There's plenty of 3458A owners out there that wish they had long-term drift that low.
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 

Offline mawyatt

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #33 on: January 03, 2025, 04:15:57 pm »
Being somewhat seasoned (OK old!!) these were and still are the standard for 6 1/2 digit DMMs. The long term stability isn't speculated or extrapolated, it's proven over multiple decades!!

Would be a fun project to see if this long term storage had any adverse effects on performance. Once a good long term burn-in (few months) to push out the humidity suspect they will be great performers for the next few decades!! 

Great opportunity for the folks in Europe, wish that deal would have shown up here in US!!

Best
Curiosity killed the cat, also depleted my wallet!
~Wyatt Labs by Mike~
 

Online Sorama

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #34 on: January 03, 2025, 05:22:33 pm »
And…sold out!
50 pieces in less than 4 days.

Not bad.
 

Offline H.O

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #35 on: January 03, 2025, 11:28:39 pm »
Phew, I managed to resist :-) And now I regret it :-(

 :-DD

Congratulations to all forum members who got one, price was cheaper than many banged up units with faint VFD.
 

Offline Swake

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #36 on: January 04, 2025, 09:15:05 am »
and grab or build an "duino" gpib interface, or lan to gpib interface  we have in some thread and be happy.

No need, these already have a serial interface  8)
When it fits stop using the hammer
 

Offline rogerggbr

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France)
« Reply #37 on: January 04, 2025, 03:42:22 pm »
Thanks for the heads up, I got there with 9 left on Friday whilst at work, thought about it, ummed a bit, do I really need one of these? Looked back and there were 7 left, ordered one. Always wanted something like this as a master reference, too good to miss. I reckon worst case is I have to sell it again later, but realistically that is not going to happen. I have a couple of other bench meters but nothing close the performance (on paper) of these. Now I guess I have to admit to having an addiction not a hobby I CAN QUIT ANYTIME I WANT..... ;)
 

Online Sorama

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #38 on: January 06, 2025, 12:21:46 pm »
This morning, the 34401A was delivered. 
It looks like the dmm has never been used: not any dirt or traces on the rubber feet/bottom and the screen protector still on the display.
I still need to understand why the beeper works/behaves differently when in continuity or diode mode.
Completely different behaviour then its physically much smaller brother the fluke 45.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2025, 12:25:04 pm by Sorama »
 
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Offline SHF

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #39 on: January 09, 2025, 10:40:35 am »
got mine delivered 2 days ago, it is really new, calibration is top

Precision is no coincidence
 
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Offline Swake

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #40 on: January 09, 2025, 11:50:45 am »
I can see 2 of them in that picture  :-+
You can compare now
When it fits stop using the hammer
 

Offline SHF

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #41 on: January 10, 2025, 10:22:33 am »
I can see 2 of them in that picture  :-+
You can compare now
Precision is no coincidence
 
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Offline B0B45

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #42 on: January 10, 2025, 11:22:48 am »
Got mine today, too.

Guess we got a very good deal in the end.  :-DMM
 
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Offline B0B45

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #43 on: January 10, 2025, 09:32:04 pm »
Guess they renewed? the electrolytic caps :-+
edit: not so sure anymore, could be old ones. Maybe someone knows what kind of caps are used in the meter.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2025, 09:49:50 pm by B0B45 »
 

Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #44 on: January 11, 2025, 04:32:58 am »
for the caps  seems totally legit

for the blue relay  i would do compare specs  with the normal coto found in others 34401a
 

Offline Swake

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #45 on: January 11, 2025, 08:04:59 am »
Got a picture of another meter with same caps and same blue relay.

Why are they putting capton tape on those capacitors?
« Last Edit: January 11, 2025, 08:13:28 am by Swake »
When it fits stop using the hammer
 

Offline AVGresponding

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #46 on: January 11, 2025, 09:29:42 am »
Got a picture of another meter with same caps and same blue relay.

Why are they putting capton tape on those capacitors?

Meder Electronic are one of the suppliers for 0490-1914. The specs will be the same as the COTO ones.

The tape is most likely to help with HV isolation of the cans, rather than thermal issues.
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Offline pe1oxp

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #47 on: January 11, 2025, 09:57:46 am »
Received it also few day ago. Looks like new and working fine. Haven't compared it yet against other meters and standards.

Only complain is that they removed the Certificate of Calibration from the box and the internal carton box with accessories contains the shipping list of another 34401A (other serial number).
Unfortunately no response on questions i asked the seller.
 

Offline rogerggbr

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #48 on: January 11, 2025, 12:32:40 pm »
Mine arrived yesterday into UK complete with all documents. Other UK importers from Europe (like me) need to remember that VAT will be payable along with "brokerage charges" depending on the specific carrier (in this case UPS). Not complaining at all, but I had sort of forgotten that as I don't do it regularly, in my case an extra £82
 

Offline ps

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Re: Brand new Agilent 34401A in Europe (France) (all gone now)
« Reply #49 on: January 11, 2025, 08:11:14 pm »
Guess they renewed? the electrolytic caps :-+
Yes, the capacitors have been replaced. The new ones are Nippon Chemicon KMG series, the original ones were KME. So this is the same quality. The seller wrapped them into Kapton tape for additional leakage protection.

The blue Meder relay is normal for the MY- and SG-made devices. It is narrower and does not touch the surge arresters.
 


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