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What's the point of hold or auto-hold in DMMs? Ever seen a properly working one?
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RoGeorge:
I always thought that Hold function was supposed to be for when a measurement requires both hands, and full attention to the probes.  The DMM was supposed to figure out when the measured value is stable enough, than freeze the measured value for a few seconds, so to give me time to disconnect the probes then watch the display.

My Metrix mtx3283 doesn't work like that on either hold or auto-hold.  Hold only freezes the display at the moment it was pressed, while auto-hold doesn't seem to be doing anything.  It only holds the value if it differs less than +/-100 counts, on a 100_000 counts DMM.  :-//  That's an expensive DMM, it was the top model from that line.  It has No-Hold, Hold and Auto-Hold, and it was $800-$1000 new, don't recall exactly.

I remember having the same frustration with some Fluke at a former workplace.  I don't recall what model of Fluke it was, but I recall the frustration that it didn't hold the value until it was safe for me to read it.  It required two dudes, one to keep the probes, the other to voice read the display.

What's the point of having hold or auto-hold in DMMs? Ever seen a properly working one?  Does anybody uses the hold/auto-hold in practice, or hold is in fact just a useless feature, good for marketing hype only?

Why would I need Auto-Hold if I can afford to look at the display while probing?
And why would I need Hold anyways?  mtx3283 is slow, 3 measurement/second or so, it's not that the display is so fast that it can't be read.  :horse:
AVGresponding:
It works pretty well on my Metrix MX-57EX, a long press on the "HOLD" button activates auto-hold. It's not as fast as the Touch-hold on the F87V, but it's usable. Same for the Tek DMM912, and Agilent U1401B.

There are times when the probing is either so fiddly or dangerous that you really need to focus your attention on that rather than the meter display. Auto-hold is great for this.

Normal hold is only really useful if you don't have logging capacity and you need a reading at a specific time and you can't remember the reading long enough to write it down...   ::)
RoGeorge:
How did you use it?

Auto-hold in mtx3283 doesn't remember the number when you disconnect the probes, so to afford to safely turn the head sideways and read the display.
bdunham7:
I rarely use it but when I've tested it, it works fine on all 4 Fluke handhelds I have--27, 116, 189 and 289.  The one I use the most, the 27 is very simple--long press on HOLD button until it beeps to engage AUTO-HOLD, connect the probes and take a reading until it beeps (usually very prompt, less than 1 second) and then the reading will be frozen on the display until you take a new one.  I'd be surprised to see any decent meter not have this feature working properly.  I'm not familiar with your meter, but I suspect either you aren't actually engaging the autohold or perhaps it doesn't actually have it.
AVGresponding:
Press and hold the "HOLD" button until there's a second beep and the "MEM" annunciator starts flashing on the display. When it detects a stable reading, it'll beep to say it's caught a fish, and you can remove the probes.

NB: This works on the MX-57EX, I have zero experience of the MTX3283
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