Author Topic: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?  (Read 33338 times)

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Offline BorisB

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #25 on: March 30, 2024, 04:50:34 pm »
@Antonio90 Not sure where you saw the 1,999 € excl. VAT for 34465A? AFAIK it is currently available for far less, e.g. 1,701.68 € excl. VAT from Germany.

It is a moot point, however, since it is not an option for hobbyists and freelance consultants in the EU.

Cheers!
 

Online voltsandjolts

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #26 on: March 30, 2024, 05:01:51 pm »
For anyone in the UK, Farnell have a promotion on 34461A at £978 + VAT, cheaper than the 60A.

https://uk.farnell.com/keysight-technologies/34461a-promo/digital-multimeter-6-5-digit-1kv/dp/4294711?st=34461a
 

Offline Electro Fan

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #27 on: March 30, 2024, 06:38:19 pm »
+1 for 34465A; it is a joy to use.

The 6500 is likely also very good but I think it will have the strongest appeal to users who are adept with or enjoy software scripting.

On the KS if you can take advantage of a promotion it might help close the gap between the 61 and 65.
 

Online Messtechniker

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #28 on: March 30, 2024, 06:46:23 pm »
Note: Capacitance is specced at 1.0 nF to 100.0 μF  :palm: in practice up to 1000 μF.
To me this is the only weak hardware related point of the 34465A I have been using
for just under 10 years now. The other is its Benchvue software :--. But that's another story.
Agilent 34465A, Siglent SDG 2042X, Hameg HMO1022, R&S HMC 8043, Peaktech 2025A, Voltcraft VC 940, M-Audio Audiophile 192, R&S Psophometer UPGR, 3 Transistor Testers, DL4JAL Transistor Curve Tracer, UT622E LCR meter, UT216C AC/DC Clamp Meter
 

Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #29 on: March 30, 2024, 10:58:48 pm »
they should never put capacitance's checks in bench dmm ... and surely for theses low values ..  OR

since we have highly integrated chipsets  like the ones in DEER lcrs  etc ... a 2x IC's  combination,  why don't they add it properly ?

just add an real cap discharge load  before the measurements
 

Online nctnico

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #30 on: March 30, 2024, 11:53:04 pm »
they should never put capacitance's checks in bench dmm ... and surely for theses low values ..  OR
Having a capacitance measurement in a bench DMM is fantastic. I wound't want a bench DMM without capacitor measurement. It saves needing another instrument on an already crowded bench if you just want to check whether the right capacitor has been put on a board. OR you are not mistaken putting a capacitor back which is next to 5 other capacitors you removed from a board earlier on.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Online Messtechniker

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #31 on: March 31, 2024, 06:05:25 am »
Having a capacitance measurement in a bench DMM is fantastic. I wound't want a bench DMM without capacitor measurement. It saves needing another instrument on an already crowded bench if you just want to check whether the right capacitor has been put on a board. OR you are not mistaken putting a capacitor back which is next to 5 other capacitors you removed from a board earlier on.

I agree. Which makes 2 now. :)
Agilent 34465A, Siglent SDG 2042X, Hameg HMO1022, R&S HMC 8043, Peaktech 2025A, Voltcraft VC 940, M-Audio Audiophile 192, R&S Psophometer UPGR, 3 Transistor Testers, DL4JAL Transistor Curve Tracer, UT622E LCR meter, UT216C AC/DC Clamp Meter
 

Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #32 on: March 31, 2024, 06:51:09 am »
and you people forget they are time constant measurements to give you the capacitance,  not frequency related ...   not dcr esr  blah blah  ...   :palm:

man  my 189 do 50,000 uf
my gossen 30,000 uf ...         and i still don't thrust a part of it because of time constant,  maybe and removed cap could be measured, but in circuit  it's a no go

save yourself 100 buck and buy an de-5000, or even buy theses "avr based component testers" for 10-30$, they do a better job at it
 

Offline Kleinstein

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #33 on: March 31, 2024, 09:35:22 am »
In circuit capacitance measurements are always tricky. The only exception is an ESR test, when also doing a DC resistance test first.
There is relatively little extra effort to add the capacitance function - much if it reusues the ohms part. This way the protection for the ohms part is also active. In this respect the capacitance function on DMMs is often better protected than many dedicated LCR meters.
 

Online nctnico

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #34 on: March 31, 2024, 10:33:19 am »
and you people forget they are time constant measurements to give you the capacitance,  not frequency related ...   not dcr esr  blah blah  ...   :palm:
99.9% of the times that doesn't interest me. I just want an indication of the value. 99.99% of the capacitors I use are ceramic.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline tooki

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #35 on: March 31, 2024, 01:07:38 pm »
I chose the DMM6500 at work (I’ve used the 34465A and don’t care for the UI), and I’m quite happy with it. It does have some UI quirks, but it’s fast and powerful, and incredibly flexible. I haven’t used this feature yet, but one thing you can do in it is write your own apps, so you can make it do things it was never designed to do. One of the demo apps is a fully parametric thermistor readout, so you can make it work with any imaginable NTC thermistor.
 

Offline bson

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #36 on: March 31, 2024, 08:13:52 pm »
they should never put capacitance's checks in bench dmm ... and surely for theses low values ..  OR
Having a capacitance measurement in a bench DMM is fantastic. I wound't want a bench DMM without capacitor measurement. It saves needing another instrument on an already crowded bench if you just want to check whether the right capacitor has been put on a board. OR you are not mistaken putting a capacitor back which is next to 5 other capacitors you removed from a board earlier on.
Or you picked out 25 0.1µF 0402 decoupling caps and want to quickly make sure you didn't mix anything else in.  The auto hold, tabular capacitance measurements are super handy for something like this.  Just quickly measure them all, moving on at the beep, no need to look up at the instrument, and then eyeball the table to verify.
 

Offline Caliaxy

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #37 on: March 31, 2024, 09:06:57 pm »
they should never put capacitance's checks in bench dmm ... and surely for theses low values ..  OR
Having a capacitance measurement in a bench DMM is fantastic. I wound't want a bench DMM without capacitor measurement. It saves needing another instrument on an already crowded bench if you just want to check whether the right capacitor has been put on a board. OR you are not mistaken putting a capacitor back which is next to 5 other capacitors you removed from a board earlier on.

Have you tried one of those “smart” LCR tweezers? Not only that they don’t take any precious space on your bench, they could also be more precise. They are so tiny that, if your bench is as crowded and messy as mine, you’ll actually have a hard time find them when you need them. Case in which, indeed, a large, easy to locate bench DMM with capacitance capabilities comes in handy.
 

Online nctnico

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #38 on: March 31, 2024, 09:27:44 pm »
they should never put capacitance's checks in bench dmm ... and surely for theses low values ..  OR
Having a capacitance measurement in a bench DMM is fantastic. I wound't want a bench DMM without capacitor measurement. It saves needing another instrument on an already crowded bench if you just want to check whether the right capacitor has been put on a board. OR you are not mistaken putting a capacitor back which is next to 5 other capacitors you removed from a board earlier on.

Have you tried one of those “smart” LCR tweezers? Not only that they don’t take any precious space on your bench, they could also be more precise. They are so tiny that, if your bench is as crowded and messy as mine, you’ll actually have a hard time find them when you need them. Case in which, indeed, a large, easy to locate bench DMM with capacitance capabilities comes in handy.
I have read about those but have not really considered buying them so far. A quick Google shows that these things are rather expensive at between $300 to $400. At that price it doesn't really make sense for me to purchase. I see some lower cost ones but no idea whether these are worth buying. Anything needing a replaceable battery is a hard pass though.

There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Online tautech

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Re: Buying Keysight 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench DMM - Opinions?
« Reply #39 on: March 31, 2024, 10:33:36 pm »
I have read about those but have not really considered buying them so far. A quick Google shows that these things are rather expensive at between $300 to $400. At that price it doesn't really make sense for me to purchase. I see some lower cost ones but no idea whether these are worth buying. Anything needing a replaceable battery is a hard pass though.
Once they were but things are changing.
Having used SMD tweezers for 15+ years and an early convert to them I endorse Caliaxy's comments except for losing them amongst bench clutter as here they a valued tool.

Shannon's ST42 SMD smart tweezer has changed the landscape and my now old ST3 tweezers have been retired.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/design-a-new-precision-lcr-tweezers/
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Some stuff seen @ Siglent HQ cannot be shared.
 
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