So, looking at buying a ~$100 bench multimeter (used).
At this point, it's pretty much 3 options I can see based on really 1 need: 5.5 digit (or better).
I was at first thinking an Fluke 8810a, but they only do volts and ohms, no current. =/ Guess that isn't THAT big a deal, but figured I'd try for the "big three" measurements.
So at this point, it's pretty much the:
Fluke 8840a/8842a
HP 3468a/3478a
Keithley 199
The Fluke and the Keithley are both Made in the US (a nicety, but not mandatory), all three do the measurements I'm after. And for this instance, let's assume all 3 do TRMS, as well as have GPIB (though I realize the 3468a does not).
Seems the biggest difference is the displays. The Fluke is a VFD, the HP is a non-backlit LCD, and the Keithley is a LED. At this point I'm leaning heavily toward the Keithley. The HP display seems like it just sucks unless you hack it for a backlight. The Fluke and the Keithley are both highly legible in bad/no lighting.
Can anyone enlighten as to the repairability of any of these? I think I've found Service Manuals for them all (the Keithley and Fluke both have their service manuals included in the instruction manual, I'm not sure about the HP). The Keithley is actually the most recent of the 3 as both the Fluke and HP seem to have been mid-eighties to early nineties models. And at least the Keithley provides front panel (or remote) calibration. I can't recall if this is the case with the Fluke and/or HP.
Are there others to consider? Are there any showstoppers? I've heard/read that some of the more modern Keithley's are a bit, dodgy. I also don't overly like the whole battery backed calibration data on the HPs. I get the impression the Fluke and Keithley both store this info in some type of non-volatile way?
Thoughts? Help?