Confusion on the Fluke 87V

[001]

My advice is.. get it used for half a price.

And my question is: Where?

I have pair 87V  for sale
(calibrated in Finland)
Let me know if You interested
 

[Mr. Scram]

You can also pay an awful lot of shipping+import if you live outside the USA.

Even a half-price Fluke 87V would cost more than my brand new Brymen (and be less capable).

Don’t buy in the USA then. If features were everything not a single Fluke would ever be sold.

[BravoV]

Of course if you want quality stuffs, and you want it "relatively" cheap, also you're not a criminal  , definitely this "passion" needs lots of patience, persistence and yeah, the hardest part ... luck. 

I've seen many members here in this forum had similar luck as mine on Fluke DMMs acquisition.

Scored my 287s (plural  ) in 2013, shared my adventure while ago in this forum -> Fluke 287s acquisitions

Oh, my 87V and 189 also used when I bought them, and no, I won't share the price as they're disgustingly low. 

[xmetal]

I got my 87V back in October 2017 as I wanted a newer meter than my 1988 vintage Fluke 77. I find it a good solid meter.

[joeqsmith]

You can also pay an awful lot of shipping+import if you live outside the USA.

Even a half-price Fluke 87V would cost more than my brand new Brymen (and be less capable).

Don’t buy in the USA then. If features were everything not a single Fluke would ever be sold.

Still this is the "EEVblog Electronics Community Forum", not the industrial technician or electrical workers forum.   With an interests in more modern electronics, I find the Fluke lineup to be woefully lacking.   

They follow the money, like any other company and I doubt the electronics sector offers them much in sales.   The products they offer that I have looked at have all done very well against my tests.   The same is true for Brymen and personally I still prefer the BM869s over any other handheld I have looked at so far, disregarding  cost. 

[Fungus]

The same is true for Brymen and personally I still prefer the BM869s over any other handheld I have looked at so far, disregarding  cost. 

I was also impressed when Brymen took an active interest in your meter destruction sessions, that they were confident enough to stand behind their product in public testing.

[BravoV]

Problem with Brymen is, they distribute their product only at few handful of countries.

At comparable class, importing a Brymen + import tax may close to the price of new Fluke it self, not counting there is no local official support at all as its imported.

[zelmo]

What is the Greenlee equivalent of the BM869?

[Vaiti]

Fungus posted it earlier. https://www.tequipment.net/Greenlee/DM-860A-C/Handheld-Multimeter/

That is a certified version. Here is a cheaper non certified one. https://www.tequipment.net/Greenlee/DM-860A/Multimeters/?b=y&v=7760

[frogg]

Take what everyone says with a grain of salt. Especially people who are violently, abusively upset about the "defaults to AC on the mV and current ranges".

Anyone who has such an extremist, visceral reaction to such a minor thing should not be swaying your opinion.

Just buy the 87V if you feel its specs work for you. It's an excellent meter, along with many other DMMs.

[Fungus]

Take what everyone says with a grain of salt. Especially people who are violently, abusively upset about the "defaults to AC on the mV and current ranges".

I never said I was even slightly upset about it, I just said that's where it happens (after OP asked).

I don't own a Fluke 87V but I'm fairly sure an extra button press every time I want to measure A or mA would annoy me (I measure mA quite often).

[zelmo]

Just buy the 87V if you feel its specs work for you. It's an excellent meter, along with many other DMMs.

I hear what you are saying.  I am not sold on the 87v.  There are even other Fluke models like the 117 or 179 that might fit my needs.

[Fungus]

Fungus posted it earlier. https://www.tequipment.net/Greenlee/DM-860A-C/Handheld-Multimeter/

That is a certified version. Here is a cheaper non certified one. https://www.tequipment.net/Greenlee/DM-860A/Multimeters/?b=y&v=7760

Looks like the Greenlee branded meters are much more expensive than the original Brymens.

[joeqsmith]

A %50 markup is a nice deal for them if people are willing to pay for it but I never sorted out what benefits there are for the end customer.   

Problem with Brymen is, they distribute their product only at few handful of countries.

At comparable class, importing a Brymen + import tax may close to the price of new Fluke it self, not counting there is no local official support at all as its imported.

With Fluke, I am not sure what would be my comparable product to the BM869s.  At the $230 price, if I ran into major problems I would just pick up a new one and not mess with it.   That said, from all the abuse I put these two through, at least in my hands I suspect they will continue to have a long and useful life.   Unlike my UNI-T current clamp that started to have switch problems after a year of service.     

Push a higher end meters switch to  50,000 cycles and you can get a pretty good idea how they are going to hold up.
https://youtu.be/dQPcAs0EEqY?t=2180

https://youtu.be/bs5n3a__Yq0?list=PLZSS2ajxhiQBK3lIiozNmw2TfLVCG1Rxu&t=591

[frogg]

I never said I was even slightly upset about it, I just said that's where it happens (after OP asked).

Sorry Fungus, I wasn't talking about you my friend You are a gentle fellow who just stated a valid point. It's other people that latched onto your valid point and turned it into a hateful diatribe totally disproportionate to reality that might turn people away from a decent meter. The EEVblog forums are no stranger to damaging hyperbole.

One other thing that I think might be important to state is this: Benchtop DMMs might be a better choice depending on the application. I think far too often people start with expensive handheld DMM's when they should be starting with low-cost handheld DMM's and really think about purchasing an oscilloscope or a benchtop DMM.

This is especially obvious when people start thinking they want 0.02% DC accuracy and real 600V CAT IV ratings in a little box. Not to say that those things don't exist, but if it ends up living on the bench all the time anyways...

[Fungus]

Sorry Fungus, I wasn't talking about you my friend You are a gentle fellow who just stated a valid point.

I'm fairly sure it would annoy me though. If I had one.

It was difficult to jump around modes and work out what sub mode it was in because it remembered the last sub mode for that mode. With the Flukes they reset the sub mode whenever you change primary mode. You always know where you are and don’t have to interpret what mode it is in from the display

On the dual display Brymens you can just set it to display both and it will remember that setting.

[2N3055]

Take what everyone says with a grain of salt. Especially people who are violently, abusively upset about the "defaults to AC on the mV and current ranges".

Anyone who has such an extremist, visceral reaction to such a minor thing should not be swaying your opinion.

Just buy the 87V if you feel its specs work for you. It's an excellent meter, along with many other DMMs.

I grew up with Fluke being best meters you could buy, both handheld and benchtop. They were answer to the question "What is the best meter?".
They are not anymore. They are very good quality, and too expensive for capabilities.
In last 10 years other manufacturers are going forward and Fluke discontinued  best meters they had and just kept making those that have great profit margins.
Fluke is not in the business of making best meters, it's in the business of making money from Fluke impeccable reputation.
Danaher Corporation is milking the brand, that's all.

If by chance 87V fulfills all your needs (feature wise), and you're willing to pay (if you can't find a deal and have to pay retail), you will get excellent basic meter with good precision and long term stability, electrically and mechanically robust, that will last for many years..

OTOH, BM869S is pretty much more comparable to F289 without graphing capability (unfortunately even the size is comparable to F289). For 250€ in EU.
It is also very robust (electrically even all the more so), and very stable. And very good screens on Brymen. Stupid backlight though, not that I care.
To me it's a 75% of F289 capabilities for 250€ in EU. 
That is waay better deal than 450€ for F87V

Brymen also has BM839 that is more directly comparable to F87V and is 150€.
That's 3 for 1.  I'm going to give one to my son, one to his friend that is going to school with him, and with the one I keep I will measure all the same as I would with F87V.

That's all.. Those are simple facts and aren't meant to hurt somebody's feelings..

[bd139]

Sorry Fungus, I wasn't talking about you my friend You are a gentle fellow who just stated a valid point.

I'm fairly sure it would annoy me though. If I had one.

It was difficult to jump around modes and work out what sub mode it was in because it remembered the last sub mode for that mode. With the Flukes they reset the sub mode whenever you change primary mode. You always know where you are and don’t have to interpret what mode it is in from the display

On the dual display Brymens you can just set it to display both and it will remember that setting.

It is painfully slow in dual display mode.

[Vaiti]

It has a 1.25/s update in dual doesn't? So yeah it is a bit sluggish. But it's there and you can get a quick overview without fussing with anything. If you need the 5/s mode at that point just turn the nob. But yeah this entire argument is about pressing a button so I hear you.

[2N3055]

Sorry Fungus, I wasn't talking about you my friend You are a gentle fellow who just stated a valid point.

I'm fairly sure it would annoy me though. If I had one.

It was difficult to jump around modes and work out what sub mode it was in because it remembered the last sub mode for that mode. With the Flukes they reset the sub mode whenever you change primary mode. You always know where you are and don’t have to interpret what mode it is in from the display

On the dual display Brymens you can just set it to display both and it will remember that setting.

It is painfully slow in dual display mode.

Only AC+DC RMS modes, in which case alternative on F87V is make AC measurement, note it down, enter it in calculator, move switch to DC, make measurement, note it down, enter that in calculator, and then get result. I'll take BM969 way anytime.
But you are correct, for instance UT-181 has all three on display and is faster. It is better in that way.

[bd139]

With the Fluke 87V I use an 87 and an 87V at the same time for that. And when those run out there’s an 8050A, 8012A still, plus all the meters on my 4 bench supplies 

[2N3055]

With the Fluke 87V I use an 87 and an 87V at the same time for that. And when those run out there’s an 8050A, 8012A still, plus all the meters on my 4 bench supplies 

LOL... You win...
Well that actually works even better with Brymen because you can buy 2-3 for the same money, and just do that...
And again, I think we have too many meters.... 
Naahh, few more would be nice....

Where are the ping machines ? 

[bd139]

I’m considering another one at the moment as well 

[2N3055]

Nope, her majesty would simply kill me..
I could get rid of something and replace it with something nicer, but she's clever, she knows what scope is, what siggen is, what meter is and why there are handheld and benchtop ones.
She never said anything if I buy something new that enables me to do stuff I couldn't before. She knows I make money with that equipment.
But if she takes a whiff that I might be COLLECTING stuff, 'cause, you know, TEA, well then "all bets are off".. "Bullet-Tooth" Tony comes to mind....

And now I have to see Snatch again... 

[bd139]

I've learned the trick is to have so much stuff going in and out all of the time that the items that stick tend to not get noticed

Plus also my spend is net zero from buying broken shit, fixing it and shifting it so there's no arguments!