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Best handheld dmm, at any price?
Neomys Sapiens:
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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