Products > Test Equipment
Fluke 8846A Discontinued. Is it worth it to pay higher prices?
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bdunham7:

--- Quote from: nctnico on June 30, 2022, 05:31:52 pm ---IMHO you got this wrong. You shouldn't see Fluke, Keithley and Tektronix as different manufacturers. They are just brands from Fortive. So the DMM6500 is just as much a Fluke as the DMMs that previously got sold under the Fluke brand. It looks like Fortive is organising the branding so Tektronix is for oscilloscopes and general test equipment, Keithley for the high accuracy electrical equipment and Fluke for calibration (which goes far beyond electrical).

--- End quote ---

I don't know what is going on internally at Fluke or Fortive, but I doubt that the majority of their customers would accept that nor do I think it is consistent with their overall marketing strategy.  Just being owned or even managed doesn't automatically make the products of subsidiaries interchangeable.  Sometimes they can even compete.  Trying to switch people to the DMM6500 doesn't seem all that great of an idea since corporate customers that buy maintenance agreements and aren't worried that Keysight won't answer their calls can simply opt for the more conventional 34461A or 34465A. Of course, the bench meters not in the Datron/Wavetek-based line are a bit of a product island--not really related to anything else--so perhaps they have abandoned them, either purposefully or due to current circumstances.


--- Quote ---And some equipment is hard to improve.

--- End quote ---

True, and that is why many customers prefer long product cycles.  IMO the 8846A could use additional current shunts and USB, but beyond that I'd think that the only changes needed are those required to make it manufacturable for another decade or so.  The DMM6500 is a different product.
nomead:
I wonder how much Flukes are used in ATE environment. Their bench meters are provided with HPAK compatibility modes, so lazy test engineer quite likely just swaps 8846A with 34461A emulating 34401A.
Arhigos:

--- Quote from: bdunham7 on July 01, 2022, 05:25:07 pm ---
--- Quote from: nctnico on June 30, 2022, 05:31:52 pm ---IMHO you got this wrong. You shouldn't see Fluke, Keithley and Tektronix as different manufacturers. They are just brands from Fortive. So the DMM6500 is just as much a Fluke as the DMMs that previously got sold under the Fluke brand. It looks like Fortive is organising the branding so Tektronix is for oscilloscopes and general test equipment, Keithley for the high accuracy electrical equipment and Fluke for calibration (which goes far beyond electrical).

--- End quote ---

I don't know what is going on internally at Fluke or Fortive, but I doubt that the majority of their customers would accept that nor do I think it is consistent with their overall marketing strategy.  Just being owned or even managed doesn't automatically make the products of subsidiaries interchangeable.  Sometimes they can even compete.  Trying to switch people to the DMM6500 doesn't seem all that great of an idea since corporate customers that buy maintenance agreements and aren't worried that Keysight won't answer their calls can simply opt for the more conventional 34461A or 34465A. Of course, the bench meters not in the Datron/Wavetek-based line are a bit of a product island--not really related to anything else--so perhaps they have abandoned them, either purposefully or due to current circumstances.


--- Quote ---And some equipment is hard to improve.

--- End quote ---

True, and that is why many customers prefer long product cycles.  IMO the 8846A could use additional current shunts and USB, but beyond that I'd think that the only changes needed are those required to make it manufacturable for another decade or so.  The DMM6500 is a different product.

--- End quote ---

He is right. Same thing happened when fluke acquired wavetek. For example 9100 calibrators was cannibalized by 5520 calibrators when 5800 calibrators was cannibalized by 9500 calibrators.
Making two similar products with different design is not very profitable because the more volume you build the lower it will cost for you to build each unit.


About microchip shortage - the problem isn't really that bad as you think. Other fluke products that uses Cyclone V FPGA (like thermal imagers, calibrators) for example is still being sold
bdunham7:

--- Quote from: Arhigos on July 02, 2022, 12:49:02 am ---He is right. Same thing happened when fluke acquired wavetek. For example 9100 calibrators was cannibalized by 5520 calibrators when 5800 calibrators was cannibalized by 9500 calibrators.
Making two similar products with different design is not very profitable because the more volume you build the lower it will cost for you to build each unit.

--- End quote ---

Fluke acquired Wavetek with no intention of continuing its product line as a separate competing brand, so yes they consolidated.  So far, I haven't seen any evidence that Fortive is consolidating the Tek/Keithley and Fluke brands.  Maybe this is the beginning of that, but as I pointed out, the DMM6500 is a different product and I would not be at all confident that customers will accept it as a replacement for the 8846A.  Perhaps I'm wrong about that or if I'm not, perhaps they will have to learn it the hard way.  Or maybe they just don't care.


--- Quote ---About microchip shortage - the problem isn't really that bad as you think. Other fluke products that uses Cyclone V FPGA (like thermal imagers, calibrators) for example is still being sold

--- End quote ---

Cyclone V, sure.  This has Cyclone 1 from 2002 which was apparently discontinued 3 years ago.  So not a surprise to anyone at this point.  The VFD might be an issue as well.  I'm impressed that they managed to keep building them this long.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Intel-Altera/EP1C12F256C8?qs=P2rvyRAZsYhlPVU3GoXd3w%3D%3D

https://www.mouser.com/PCN/Intel_Corporation_PDN_1810_Intel_Programmable_Solutions_Group_(%E2%80%9CIntel_PSG%E2%80%9D,_formerly_Altera)_is_discontinuing_the_EPC2,_Cyclone%C2%AE,_and_Stratix%C2%AEGX_product_families.pdf
TMM:

--- Quote from: Echelon on June 29, 2022, 02:06:23 am ---Right now I am just using a $50 rebrand handheld multi-meter from a local hardware store.  It's designed for electricians, not electronics.  There is no microamps range.  The update time is slow and there no ability to manually range, further adding to this problem.  The backlight doesn't hold on, the meter automatically shuts down while I am tinkering with my circuits, and continuity latching is poor.
--- End quote ---
Devils advocate here - do you need need a bench multimeter?

I used to think I needed one and owned all sorts of meters over the years. Ultimately I found that the meter I used the most was a Fluke 87V and I never needed any datalogging capability for the work I do. Now the only meters I own are two 87Vs and a Fluke 233 because they were by far the quickest and easiest to use - sold all the rest. In my work, a handheld meter is a huge plus because you can bring the meter to the work, rather than bringing the work to the meter or needing super long leads.
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