Poll

How many cycles will the KeySight U1281A's detent spring last?

0-2000
7 (17.9%)
2k-4k
5 (12.8%)
4k-8k
14 (35.9%)
8k-16k
7 (17.9%)
>16k (most rubust meter ever made)
6 (15.4%)

Total Members Voted: 36

Author Topic: Handheld meter robustness testing  (Read 1149311 times)

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Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2625 on: July 19, 2018, 01:35:16 pm »
Hi there

Is this the same  MICSIG DP10013  model  ?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Micsig-Oscilloscope-1300V100MHz-High-Voltage-Differential-Probe-Kit-High-Quality-/123239228604?roken=cUgayN&soutkn=EvpMYC

But off course you get the risk of getting stuck..
If one can make knowledge flow than it will go from negative to positve , for real
 

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2626 on: July 19, 2018, 02:31:28 pm »
Hi there

Is this the same  MICSIG DP10013  model  ?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Micsig-Oscilloscope-1300V100MHz-High-Voltage-Differential-Probe-Kit-High-Quality-/123239228604?roken=cUgayN&soutkn=EvpMYC

But off course you get the risk of getting stuck..
Hmm.. 161 listings with much better than avg prices, but only 32 feedback's? My nose is telling me :bullshit:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/dannuer/m.html?_trksid=p3692
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2627 on: July 19, 2018, 02:39:49 pm »
Hi there

Is this the same  MICSIG DP10013  model  ?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Micsig-Oscilloscope-1300V100MHz-High-Voltage-Differential-Probe-Kit-High-Quality-/123239228604?roken=cUgayN&soutkn=EvpMYC

But off course you get the risk of getting stuck..

Yes, but consider its $200 for shipping plus the price of the probe.   They will not sell very many like this.

Looks like it's $140 to $160 on eBay 
« Last Edit: July 19, 2018, 02:45:16 pm by joeqsmith »
 

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2628 on: July 19, 2018, 02:49:46 pm »
For me it said shipping was free.. (a tempting way to toss $50 but I still smell :bullshit:)
 

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2629 on: July 19, 2018, 02:52:32 pm »
Joe, how did that hot date go? (with the meter..) Is she smoking yet? :scared:
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2630 on: July 19, 2018, 02:59:54 pm »
For me it said shipping was free.. (a tempting way to toss $50 but I still smell :bullshit:)

Really.  At $50 and free shipping, I would roll the dice.  Even at double that, I might pick one up.   I've never had a need for a high voltage differential probe at home.   They have a UT181A for a hundred bucks, $300 in shipping.   :-DD

One thing I was going to look at was the input impedance but I never finished the software for this analyzer to do it.   

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2631 on: July 19, 2018, 03:11:16 pm »
Nope, free shipping for that too. Ebay says: "Based in China, dannuer has been an eBay member since Apr 17, 2018"  :bullshit:
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2632 on: July 19, 2018, 05:51:40 pm »
Joe, how did that hot date go? (with the meter..) Is she smoking yet? :scared:

That meter is as buggy as the 121GW.  How come the two "reviews" that were posted don't show these problems??   They give it the old thumbs up, five star rating.. 

I'm currently watching the one that was posted in the comments.   At 13:20 it reminded me when I was attempting to get the Gossen apart.   The boot is tight.

He seems to like it as well.   
« Last Edit: July 19, 2018, 06:04:37 pm by joeqsmith »
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2633 on: July 19, 2018, 06:36:16 pm »
If I understood his last comment, he has a store and plans to sell the meter.  Similar to the other review where the retired guy gets his free bling for giving thumbs up.   In my case, I could care less.  I'm getting nothing out of it. 



Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2634 on: July 19, 2018, 07:11:34 pm »
Don't know what to make of the guy frankly. He doesn't know that much but hey, that never stopped me much..  I've always been high on tinkering and lazy on math, but since I got my first job in electronic's in '76 at AEG Telefunken, I've been hooked.

I think anyone can "do a store" on Amazon. They do all the work and you just decided what products to recommend. I doubt there's much money in it, but I was thinking of your shortage of TTL when I saw that huge grab bag in his store.
https://www.amazon.com/shop/learnelectronics
 

Offline MacMeter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2635 on: July 19, 2018, 07:16:57 pm »
If I understood his last comment, he has a store and plans to sell the meter.  Similar to the other review where the retired guy gets his free bling for giving thumbs up.   In my case, I could care less.  I'm getting nothing out of it.

He’s going to put it in his “store”, wonder what the markup will be on a $9 meter? :)
 

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2636 on: July 19, 2018, 07:30:39 pm »
That's just the thing, it's not really a store. He ships nothing, it's just a URL forwarder (IMO) that gives him a dime if Amazon's honest.. I think there's kick-backs like, if there's enough action, providers might send him a kit.. whatever

All the thrills of being able to say, "I've got a store" and no real work..
 
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2637 on: July 19, 2018, 08:18:46 pm »
For a dime, maybe no bias then.   So far there are nine things I am not real impressed with.  But for $10, it's like the free HF meters.  You just can't bitch too much about them. 

The more problems I keep coming across, the less I am inclinded to try and improve it.   That said beyond the destructive tear down of the fuses, just let me know if there is anything else anyone would like to see.    Chemical and drop test are already covered.   Like every meter I run, don't wait until after to ask any questions you have.   

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2638 on: July 19, 2018, 10:55:37 pm »
Hi there.

Does this device is prone to RF interference ? Can you pass the RF antenna to check that  its readings are changed ?

If one can make knowledge flow than it will go from negative to positve , for real
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2639 on: July 20, 2018, 12:14:36 am »
Hi there.

Does this device is prone to RF interference ? Can you pass the RF antenna to check that  its readings are changed ?

No problem.

Offline bitseeker

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2640 on: July 20, 2018, 01:48:44 am »
Speaking of RF, putting it on the input jacks would be good too. The U127xA had an issue with that.
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2641 on: July 20, 2018, 02:05:28 am »
Speaking of RF, putting it on the input jacks would be good too. The U127xA had an issue with that.

I've got you covered.   

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2642 on: July 20, 2018, 03:52:14 am »
I'm finished with testing and have started to work on editing.  Should be able to upload soon.  Watch for it. 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2643 on: July 20, 2018, 04:16:22 am »
Thanks, Joe. Will keep my eyes peeled.
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Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2644 on: July 20, 2018, 09:17:40 am »
Nicely done as usual Joe! :-+  We can forget this one as a newbie best buy.. I'll post a link to his channel and see what he says.
*edit - He may not want to promote it in his "store" anymore. I was thinking about 3 of these as disposables but shipping to Canada doubles the cost, so yeah - I think not. Thanks for a really big sheww..!
« Last Edit: July 20, 2018, 01:03:20 pm by Cliff Matthews »
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2645 on: July 20, 2018, 08:06:13 pm »
Nicely done as usual Joe! :-+  We can forget this one as a newbie best buy.. I'll post a link to his channel and see what he says.
*edit - He may not want to promote it in his "store" anymore. I was thinking about 3 of these as disposables but shipping to Canada doubles the cost, so yeah - I think not. Thanks for a really big sheww..!

I read your post.  Here is a partial list if what I see as the MK01A's shortcomings:

  • Battery can be installed incorrectly.  Even the UT61E has different dimensions in the battery holder for the pos/neg. 
  • There are no captive tabs on the large fuse holder to keep it in place if the meter is dropped.   The case also has nothing in the molding to secure it.   
  • When ramping the 10A current input, the supplied leads failed before the 10A fuse blew.
  • I'm not even sure what to say about the glowing small fuse.  Well, it was a cheap unfilled ceramic body.  The type Fungus does not believe exist.  :-DD
  • Capacitance will not zero out without adding an external capacitor. 
  • Very slow auto ranging for a moderate sized capacitor.   The same for lower value resistors.
  • When in AC mode, selecting frequency will require a zero cross for the meter to read it. 
  • When in AC mode, cases like a a full wave rectified signal that is unfiltered can not be read.   
  • When in AC mode, is the input is and AC waveform with a DC bias, the meter may not display the correct value.  In my setup I show the meter reading between 4 volts and 42 volts.
  • When in DC mode, if the the input is an AC waveform with a DC bias,  the meter will not display the correct value.
  • In frequency mode, the meter appears to be susceptible to 3KHz and will display low battery.
  • With a 180MHz 20dBm signal (roughly 3V), the meter will display more than 50 volts.
  • Why do they put the vias in the rotary switch pads?   
  • The mA lead was not soldered.  There were no signs that the solder had wicked to the terminal. 
  • The stupid little piezo grill starter killed it.  The only meters that are damaged by that are UNI-Ts and the lowest of the low.  If the gun had killed it, I may have been alright with it but no, its the test that hardly does anything.   


Also, I have updated the spreadsheet to include this meter.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2018, 08:22:56 pm by joeqsmith »
 
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Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2646 on: July 20, 2018, 09:43:18 pm »
Since a "real review" now exists, maybe I should remove those comments? As y'all know, I preview a lot of channels for sharing and I've seen of lot of "staged pro's" (in Spanish and English) and this guy's OK. Any care to opine with a yea or nay?
 

Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2647 on: July 20, 2018, 09:54:07 pm »
Shame on both of you for taking the time to destroy a man's way of living with blatantly useless reviews...  :-DD

I have some carefully crafted design decisions for you:

Nicely done as usual Joe! :-+  We can forget this one as a newbie best buy.. I'll post a link to his channel and see what he says.
*edit - He may not want to promote it in his "store" anymore. I was thinking about 3 of these as disposables but shipping to Canada doubles the cost, so yeah - I think not. Thanks for a really big sheww..!

I read your post.  Here is a partial list if what I see as the MK01A's shortcomings:

  • Battery can be installed incorrectly.  Even the UT61E has different dimensions in the battery holder for the pos/neg. If the user is not paying attention, he doesn't deserve a METERK!
  • There are no captive tabs on the large fuse holder to keep it in place if the meter is dropped.   The case also has nothing in the molding to secure it. Again, if you can't take care of your things, you don't deserve a METERK!
  • When ramping the 10A current input, the supplied leads failed before the 10A fuse blew. Ultimate input protection against arc flash!
  • I'm not even sure what to say about the glowing small fuse.  Well, it was a cheap unfilled ceramic body.  The type Fungus does not believe exist.  :-DD You are never satisfied, are you? Hey, at least is ceramic and not glass cheapies.
  • Capacitance will not zero out without adding an external capacitor.  Well, in order to use the capacitance meter you would need one capacitor anyways... What is the problem in adding one more?
  • Very slow auto ranging for a moderate sized capacitor.   The same for lower value resistors. Youngsters are so impatient these days...  :palm:
  • When in AC mode, selecting frequency will require a zero cross for the meter to read it.  A METERK! is designed for the audiophile crowd that tolerates only absolute purity on their sinewaves.
  • When in AC mode, cases like a a full wave rectified signal that is unfiltered can not be read. Exactly. How dare you submit a METERK! to such impure waveform?!? Blasphemy!
  • When in AC mode, is the input is and AC waveform with a DC bias, the meter may not display the correct value.  In my setup I show the meter reading between 4 volts and 42 volts. Read the two above.
  • When in DC mode, if the the input is an AC waveform with a DC bias,  the meter will not display the correct value. I don't know why you insist in feed the METERK! with such impurities... I think you are trying to corrupt its soul.
  • In frequency mode, the meter appears to be susceptible to 3KHz and will display low battery. This is to inform the user he is finally crossing the upper bandwidth of that impure audio system called POTS and entering a new dimension in audiophile domain.
  • With a 180MHz 20dBm signal (roughly 3V), the meter will display more than 50 volts. That frequency is too much even for the purest audiophile domain.
  • Why do they put the vias in the rotary switch pads?  You are not as famous as Dave yet. :)
  • The mA lead was not soldered.  There were no signs that the solder had wicked to the terminal. That shouldn't block the user from moving forward. Basic soldering skills for the hobbyist are critical for a solid career.
  • The stupid little piezo grill starter killed it.  The only meters that are damaged by that are UNI-Ts and the lowest of the low.  If the gun had killed it, I may have been alright with it but no, its the test that hardly does anything.   Shame on you for subjecting a METERK! to these abominations!


Also, I have updated the spreadsheet to include this meter.


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Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2648 on: July 20, 2018, 10:11:12 pm »
Since a "real review" now exists, maybe I should remove those comments? As y'all know, I preview a lot of channels for sharing and I've seen of lot of "staged pro's" (in Spanish and English) and this guy's OK. Any care to opine with a yea or nay?

Does it matter?  If you would like me to remove the screen capture, feel free to ask.   I really didn't see a problem with any of it.

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #2649 on: July 20, 2018, 10:13:30 pm »
Nor me Joe, I review another Keysight guys channel's speaking in Portañol too..  :-DD (at least that's how it sounds to me..)
 


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