Products > Test Equipment
Keysight DMM - Yay or nay?
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blackdog:
The AC ranges of the 3446x series meters are really good, very broadband and you have the possibility of three measurement speeds for the low frequencies.
Also, the dB function of the 3446x meters is very useful with a very high resolution.

As for Autorange, that feature on my multimeter is using less and less.
I usually choose a range 1 step above the range needed for maximum resolution, the meter is then very fast.

Also choose the number of NPLC well, here the basic setting is 10 NPLC, but depending on the measurement function it can also be 0.1 NPLC.

The digitizing function I actually do not use, but for you it may be important.
The Keithley is a lot faster in this respect.

I think you will definitely be happy with a 34465a DMM even though I have problems with the autocal measurement function of this model!  ;)

Kind regards,
Bram
mawyatt:

--- Quote from: Traceless on March 02, 2022, 09:59:31 pm ---@mawyatt: Thank you very much for reporting back so quick and also for doing the glove test, you are awesome!

--- End quote ---

Thanks. If this is your lifetime purchase then this tilts the scale in favor of the KS since it "may" contain some heritage from the timeless HP34401A :clap:

Best,
mawyatt:

--- Quote from: blackdog on March 02, 2022, 10:07:20 pm ---Hi mawyatt, :-)

Regarding the Autocal, Keysight investigated that problem and came to the same conclusion as the measurement report I sent them.
They sent me a measurement report showing the same effect measured in their factory as what happened to me in my lab.

If you use the Autocal function at e.g. 25C lab temperature and say the Keysight DMM shows +2PPM difference from its Cal temperature.
The meter usually corrects that with Autocal, but usually after about 20 minutes your meter will read the same value as before the Autocal function.
This also happens when the internal temperature of the DMM remains the same.

Kind regards,
Bram

--- End quote ---
Hi Bram,

We hadn't noticed that drift, and will look for it next time we get the pair of 34465A & DMM6500 "looking" at the references for a few days. Will report what we find.

Thanks for pointing this out.

Best,
Cerebus:

--- Quote from: mawyatt on March 02, 2022, 10:27:48 pm ---Thanks. If this is your lifetime purchase then this tilts the scale in favor of the KS since it "may" contain some heritage from the timeless HP34401A :clap:

--- End quote ---

Technologically the TrueVolt series are very different from the 34401A, in fact the technological basis of the range was first tried out in the 34410A. The 34410A is the last that HPAK published schematics for - a comparison of those with the 34401A's schematics shows a whole raft of differences, in particular the core ADC is totally different. The TrueVolt series, in particular the 34461A, was explicitly designed to be compatible with the 34401A both from an operation and automation point of view, and in the case of the 34461A, identical measurement characteristics so that they could be a drop-in replacement for the 34401A.
razvan784:
If I may offer a personal opinion:
* if you are after precision, accuracy and stability, and you absolutely want a new meter, I would skip anything besides Keithley and Keysight. I used a 34461A and liked its interface. I think i'd like the 6500 interface better, but haven't had the opportunity to try it.
* if you are after repairability, I would skip anything new and go for a used 34401A in good condition (or even better, a 34410A if you can find one for a reasonable price). These can be hooked up to a PC via RS-232 (or even to something like a Raspberry Pi) where you can easily do logging, fancy graphs and whatnot. An old Keithley 2000 is also an option (I also like its interface better) but these are not as easily repairable - the circuitry is more complicated and official schematics have not been published.
For a general-use DMM, sure, capacitance is nice to have, and stuff like continuity and diode mode are important. For a precision bench DMM on the other hand, I don't think those are relevant selection criteria. I also use a DE-5000 for capacitors and I'm quite happy with it.
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