Author Topic: Best handheld dmm, at any price?  (Read 42140 times)

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Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Best handheld dmm, at any price?
« Reply #175 on: December 22, 2022, 09:17:55 am »
I have the gossen 28 and 29,  they are my top end meters, but have a slow refresh speed  maybe 2-2.5 sec,  i wish they could be faster, Their latest series are not appealing for me
Complaint : They are very expensive to be calibrated, they cost more than my 34401a  lolll,    and yes no parts, no schematics ... nada   EOL

And these 2 pups with their rs232 and usb interface costed me  lots of cash, and i mean a lot ... If i would do it again ............ NO


Hypotically second     Would be a Metrix 3292-3293    100,000 count,  wich is very costly in Canada, but i hate so much the probes location

Third                        My most favorites are the Fluke 189,  totally hated the 289 ( slow and very bulky)

Fourth :                    All other 50,000, 60,000 counts dmm,   Brymen, Amprobe, Greenlee   etc ..... Keysight, Hioki   etc ....  Mostly availability is the key factor ....


To sum it up
My guideline now is :  Fuses accessibility and calibration costs vs  reliability /  reputation / stability  etc ... you get some surprises


And sorry  the EEvblog meters  for me are a no go,  sure they have their quirks, and do receive upgrades but .... nah



And the list :  https://lygte-info.dk/info/DMMHigh-end%20UK.html

Is it fair :  NO
 

Offline KrzysztofB

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Re: Best handheld dmm, at any price?
« Reply #176 on: December 22, 2022, 10:43:49 am »
Third                        My most favorites are the Fluke 189,  totally hated the 289 ( slow and very bulky)
100% agree...
289 is bleh....
189 love it... and easy to implement bluetooth module
 

Offline HKJ

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Re: Best handheld dmm, at any price?
« Reply #177 on: December 22, 2022, 11:39:32 am »
And the list :  https://lygte-info.dk/info/DMMHigh-end%20UK.html

Is it fair :  NO

What do you mean by "NO", the list shows the meters, list their functions, but do not rate them.
 

Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Best handheld dmm, at any price?
« Reply #178 on: December 22, 2022, 12:08:32 pm »
They put  somme Appa clones  or vice versa  rebranded  loll "cough" meters   loll

The 121gw is an unfinished meter, sorry  with all it's goodness it's kinda good  but, there was hardware errors (some fixed) and fw quircks, better hope with the 786,

Sure it's getting better as i said,   but  not for me  i dont want to be a guinea pig

But i would go with the 869 or the 789 models, but they wiggle a bit on the bench,  the 859s  is better   loll

And  i hate some meter who doesn't start in voltage right after the OFF position,  it could be desastrous if your probes where connected to something like a battery or a power source,  yeah   some tech does that  loll  me too (not the auto power off)


The 87V series are good BUT,  i hate the fact they start in AC mode instead of DC, had a few at my job and tossed them away, i love older series without this annoying function, BUT it is safer if you do some mistakes  loll

85 and 87 series III where the best,  but as i said   intense usage has it's quirks with them too,  the dial contacts have to be cleaned and lubbed.

I had some meter beeping for nothing  loll, and the power off sometimes was not totally off   lolll  some ghosts in them  loll

Thats why an handheld DMM is easily replaced by a bench model,  i have 3x venerable 34401a, and slowly im replacing them / sell them  to end with an 34410a with a brand new VFD. That's another story

With intense usages your taste will differ,  i take tons of voltages measurements,  and some of theses meter get annoying to use (auto range speed, and the time they take to display the value) ,  really depend of the usage, i had to purchase  old era tds 2000 "B"series of scope with their autorange modes, a real time saviour in my case, and hard to beat.


The Gossens are a special niche,  you have the auto mode who is marvelous,  auto AC-DC-Ohms ... Wow never had any problems with that function,  display speed kill the fun  loll

I think Fluke tried to copy that on some meters, i was not impressed, but worked okay,  now some cheap brands whant to copy this  loll

The esoteric M30S is one of a kind ....

Once again,  what is best / good at this and that  really depend of your "real needs"   not having a Mercedes toy to play with  loll     

I too was influenced a bit  when i've bought the "old" gossens, in the end i have paid more than a 7.5 digit meter  loll    I total 3 Gossens 2x 28 and 1x 29,  not to rant,  i do regret the purchase as i said, because of the time spent, cash spent, calibrations costs,  and mostly import duties fees who spoil the fun 


And threads like this  will never end,   because each person has different needs and tastes
« Last Edit: December 22, 2022, 12:25:03 pm by coromonadalix »
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: Best handheld dmm, at any price?
« Reply #179 on: December 22, 2022, 02:03:19 pm »
If I had to choose between my  Fluke 187 and my Brymen BM857 I think I'd keep the Brymen.

The Brymen has a much more contrasty display and a better beeper. The Fluke feels a but clunky and always seems to have too many positions on the range switch.

The Fluke is better for AC (dual display) but I don't use that very often. It also has more options for setting things like auto-power-off.

Apart from that they're very similar for speed, accuracy, etc.
 

Offline Neomys Sapiens

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Re: Best handheld dmm, at any price?
« Reply #180 on: December 22, 2022, 09:58:03 pm »
Because I once posted in this thread and thereby I became aware of this rekindled discussion:
Maybe I've voiced this already, but I can only emphasize it again: I would not be able nor willing to answer this question in this way. And I take many measurements in settings from electronic and electrical appliances, to industrial power and control, RF gear, to airframes and special vehicles. Microvolts to kiloamps - literally. During commissioning, on fact-finding and troubleshooting missions and so on. (I am leaving my lab work on the side, as all those meters are just auxiliaries there, as the bench meters do their thing better. Nevertheless, even there you want to keep another signal in view or monitor a supply..)
From the fact that I was a pre-order customer on the Fluke 8060A as well as the Fluke 87 it can be deduced that I am not stingy when it comes to selecting a handheld DMM. Then I was shown the Siemens with the Timestamping of the Min/Max values (back in late 80s) - and jumped for it. And so on. I looked down on the Amprobe products until the 37xR-A got by chance into my hands and I saw that it does inductance AND duty cycle...ok, thats new - now I'm pondering whether to follow a colleague and add the 38. (but I don't consider that a priority.)
What I can say is that there are some combinations well proven to fulfill my widely varying needs. For example:
GMC M2036 (flap-lid, 4.5digit RMS, limits, peak det..) PLUS GMC Metramax12 (avg reading, Low-Z voltage, capacitance)
or
Fluke 87 (or nowadays a 89) PLUS Metravo 4H 
or
Siemens B1010 + B1012 + Multizet A1000?
or Tektronix THM565 PLUS Unigor A6e?

Is it communications? Then the fluke 8060 still rules (just for my taste), maybe I'll take the Unigor A43 along..
In other circumstances, I grabbed the still supreme Mavo30 plus a 'Metravo Electronik' (contrary to what the name suggests, a rather simple 200kOhm/V class 2.5 meter with a usable range spread).

I'm not giving in unreservedly to the CAT fetish, as handheld multimeters have been used on dangerous voltages and currents longer than even shrouded plugs did exist. I myself have to judge whether the use of a device is safe and what the remaining risk is. This does not express a disdain for safe practices, but reflects merely what I've seen, done, and got not harmed by it. As others did. When I was a teenager, I did an internship with our local traffic signals department. It was considered a perfectly safe practice to measure in combined installations for  road/streetcar signalling where you could encounter 700V DC with a Multizet S and standard test leads - you had to watch your grips and sequences. They are still alive afaik. But progress does help, of course. Just keep in mind that somewhere IS a transient that will do to your CATIII meter (and to you) with coordinated accessories the same damage that to such an 1960s instrument.

Will I have to cope with signals where I want a digital and an analogue meter to be Hi-Z and as precise as possible? Or do I select one deliberately for not being such. Is there bad light, is it clean or filthy? And which accessories might I need (not only probes, but current clamps, temperature adaptor OR thermocouple?? RF probe? In some cases , the orientation of the jacks gave the preference because 19.75mm allows adaptors.

Those instruments are our very basic sense extensions in the electrical domain. The qctopus, the eagle and the honey bee have highly developed visual systems - tailored to what and where they need to perceive. I take that as a hint to tailor my multimeter usage in a similar way.
 


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