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| GW Instek GDM-8034 bench DMM: looking for schematic or calibration notes |
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| J-R:
OK, it seems you just like these older DMMs. It's fine... Is the older 4.5 digit Fluke handheld you mentioned in the first post the 8060A? To counter some of the points raised, there are higher count budget Brymen handhelds above the BM235, such as the BM785 or BM867s, and I think it's money well spent compared to the vintage stuff. Why have three (or four?) old DMMs when you could have one newer one for similar total money? (Excluding sentimental/collector reasons.) Many Brymens have the optional IR interface for short-term logging. Psychologically it's true that the auto power off and battery life on the handhelds can be a concern, but in practice you're typically talking 15-30 minutes of complete inactivity before APO and 100-300 hours of battery life. And you said you only use a bench DMM once a month? (Is it an all day session?) Also, on many Brymen models using the Min/Max function disables APO and specifically the BM86x has a dedicated APO-disable mode you can use by holding down Select during power on. The Fluke 45 and 8840A do come up for sale regularly for closer to $100. At the upper end of the price range, I bought essentially a new open box Fluke 45 recently for $150 delivered as a test to see how much it had drifted from new based on a discussion in another thread (it was just out of spec on a couple functions). For eBay you definitely have to be willing to search and wait at least a little bit for something good to come up for sale. |
| dmmartindale:
I will admit that I do like to keep old electronics in service, including test equipment. The "older Fluke meter" I mentioned is the 8600A, a LED-display bench meter. The only Fluke handheld I own is the Fluke 113, which is probably the least accurate DMM I have (2% spec). But it cost $0, and the 6000-count display and low-Z ohms are sometimes useful. The 8600A cost me C$50. I recently added a Fluke 8050A which adds true RMS, relative measurements, and dB. It cost me C$45. In comparison, the BM325 is C$157 (plus shipping) on the EEVblog store, which seems quite reasonable. However, no one in Canada seems to sell it. On Amazon.ca, the lowest price is C$285, and all the sellers are US-based. They import the meter into the USA, mark it up, then ship it to Canada where additional taxes and duty are likely to be added. So the cost of a new BM325 is about 2 or 3 times the cost of both of the older Flukes depending on where I purchase it. One example of where auto power off is annoying: I sometimes charge a lead-acid battery using a bench power supply, configuring it for constant-current output initially and constant-voltage later. This takes 4-8 hours to the point where I want to switch to float voltage. Sometimes I record battery voltage and charge amps every 15 or 30 min so I can graph them later, and calculate Ah needed to recharge. A bench meter will just stay powered on. The Brymen ability to disable auto power off is a nice touch, but I don't think my handhelds have that feature. I know people recommend the Fluke 45 and 8840A, as well as HP 3468A, as good value for used 5.5 digit meters. Maybe someday I will want something better than the 8600/8050. But right now, the 4.5 digit Flukes are significantly better than all the handhelds I have, and I'm happy with them at the moment. |
| floobydust:
Would not go near Brymen due to the lack of support in North America. This is my preference right now. Sorry fanboys. I have many older DMM's, some have weaknesses, some have features that beat other DMM's - so I have fun keeping them going instead of the "buy new" mentality. Newer is not always better and lately Made in USA multimeters I kinda like the quality. My Taiwan-build multimeters constantly need repair, a step above the mainland for quality but still disappointing. |
| J-R:
Welectron is the go-to place to buy Brymen DMMs in my opinion. They have 9.99 EUR DHL shipping. The Brymen-edition BM235 is 127.84CAD ($92.59 USD) delivered, for example. Brymen resellers do provide a limited amount of support, but it's typically only 1 year. Given that fact and the price point, I consider all my Brymen DMMs disposable. It's just how it is. Dave's blue-baby-buggy-bumper stuff is cute and unique, but the price is going to be a bit higher of course. He does sell the BM235 on Amazon, but the price is $150 USD. It's fine; in a way you're buying "merch". Greenlee has the license to rebrand Brymen here in the US and they offer lifetime warranties. But essentially you are paying almost double for that. So it's not really worth it for a hobbyist in most cases. The buy used vs. buy new is a huge conversation of course. I have quite a selection of 4.5/5.5/6.5 DMMs (and a Keithley 2010). I could have just bought a used calibrated 34470A from the start for less money. |
| dmmartindale:
(Warning: this message is veering away from DMM technical info and into DMM buying economics) That's very interesting. Welectron is currently out of stock on the regular BM235, but they also sell the blue EEVblog version for EUR 91.60 (without VAT). Add EUR 10 shipping makes it EUR 101.60 and C$151.38. Then there's probably C$20 in tax due on top of that, making the total around C$170. Amazon.com sells the EEVblog-branded BM235 for US$150. Amazon will charge an additional US$27.51 for shipping and estimated import duties. So it should arrive at my door for US$177.51, or about C$245. That's more convenient than Welectron, but about $75 more expensive. Meanwhile, on Amazon.ca, the EEVblog BM235 is being offered at C$283, C$295, and C$305, by 3 companies that all have ~60% positive ratings (which is pretty bad). The lowest-price seller ships from the USA, so there are likely to be additional duties and taxes added on delivery. The other two don't say where they will ship from. One says that their price includes duties and taxes, but the buyer has to pay them initially and then send the receipt to the seller to be reimbursed. The third doesn't have a stated policy. Total cost is likely to be about C$300 - if I get the item I ordered at all. This is riskier, less convenient, AND $50 more expensive than Amazon.com. (This is why I commented that the BM235 is "stupidly expensive" on Amazon.ca) All 3 of these should be exactly the same meter, and probably the same package of accessories, but the price variation is amazing. |
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