Products > Test Equipment
Keysight DMM - Yay or nay?
Traceless:
--- Quote from: Hydron on March 06, 2022, 12:34:30 pm ---My R&S scope is still the winner out in the "needs an OS" category at ~10 seconds - I wish more manufacturers would prioritise boot time. Then again, my ancient analogue-only tek current probe/amp are the clear losers in this race - if you're doing any sensitive work in DC coupled mode you have to give it a good half hour to warm up and stop drifting!
--- End quote ---
To be honest I'm not really that worried about boot time. Usually when I go to my bench the first two steps are: 1. turn on DMM and 2. start my bench PC (which probably also takes something like 30s to boot up). So till I set up the DUT got all tools and stuff both devices will have booted. And as you said - if one really wants to do things properly the DMM should warm up for a lot longer than a minute. At that point boot time becomes negligible.
--- Quote from: Hydron on March 06, 2022, 12:34:30 pm ---I'm pretty happy with my choice of DMM6500 btw - it's not perfect, but neither is the KS, and they have their own strengths and weaknesses.
--- End quote ---
Since you own the DMM 6500 - did yours come with a stylus? I tried to find a list of accessories in some online shops and the manual but didn't find any details.
Hydron:
No stylus, but I've never missed one - the only gloves I ever use are thin nitrile so they work without issue. The UI is also designed for touch use so no elements too small to hit reliably with a fat finger.
Quick list of pros/cons of the 6500 if it helps:
Pros:
- was quite a bit cheaper here (UK) than KS equivalents (and I'm talking '61A, not even '65A!)
- fast digitisation, complex trigger options etc
- low ohms range is very sensitive (1uOhm resolution!)
- good sized screen, touch UI is reasonably well done, great for entering numerical parameters etc too
- can do great graphs etc, lots of memory for long logging sessions
- remote web UI etc (apparently KS's is/was some shit java thing)
- no KS professional-use-only bullshit. Would have been a con for higher Tek calibration cost but you can't even get one from KS anymore!
- scanner card option, including building custom DIY ones
- can run custom scripts, apps etc (though see below)
- no option keys needed for features - base model is the only model, with everything enabled
- reasonably fast boot time
Cons:
- no hard power switch, is a soft one and draws a few watts in standby :palm:
- screen viewing angle could be better (never unusable, just gets a little washed out)
- buying one supports Danaher (though I'd not want to support KS's new business model right now either)
- no direct buttons to change measurement function
- ohms mode can choke on inductive elements like transformer windings (v. annoying if you're measuring these regularly)
- deeper than KS unit (partly due to scanner option, so not a big criticism)
- some early units have transformer hum (as an ex-demo unit built in 2019 mine did, but Tek fixed it)
- 10A jack is rear terminals only
- app support is pretty much alpha-only, expect bugs (never had any major bug issues in normal use though)
- Tek currently are charging for their PC software, though I'd be unlikely to use it anyway
Traceless:
@Hydron: Thanks for the awesome pros/cons list. It seems there are some styluses available for around 10 bucks, they are made for tablets but I guess they'll work fine for the DMM 6500.
I'm actually really surprised that so many here report they are either wearing thin nitril gloves or mostly no gloves at all. Personally I wear them mostly as cut/scratch protecton and to reduce skin contact with chemicals. However given the attention that is payed to position DMMs not next to other devices to minimize interferences, keeping ambient temperature constant, heating instruments up twisting DMM leads etc. I'd really have expected more here to wear "proper" gloves in order to reduce influence of body temperature on the probes. The human body temperature is way more than 10°C over lab ambient temperature. So the probes will warm up while you hold them and cool down while you put them on the bench. Normally I'd say it doesn't matter but within the super sensitive experiments some described here before it might do.
mawyatt:
Having and using both the KS and DMM, the KS is always the easier to "goto" for just simple quick measurement for use. The DMM touch screen is time consuming to navigate, the KS wins hands down for initial ease of use. If even quicker measurements are required then the Fluke 87 or a couple 34401As are available (boot time <2s!!).
Regarding sensitive measurements, generally these should be performed without hand intervention or holding... this is what a variety of DMM probes with clip-on capability are for.
Best,
Cerebus:
--- Quote from: Traceless on March 06, 2022, 11:00:19 am ---@Cerebus, @mawyatt: Thanks for measuring, they really seem to have sped up the boot on the Keysight significantly. I was expecting worse. When Dave reviewed the Agilent 34461A it took around a minute to boot.
--- End quote ---
It's that slow Australian electricity, the heat makes it sluggish at getting out of the wires. :)
The firmware version on mine is A.03.00-02.40-03.00-00.52-01-01. Probably more recent than Dave's example, but also not the most recent.
That actually brings me to another point. I found the software update process a bit iffy, I had to have several goes at updating mine and was in mortal fear that I'd bricked the thing at one point when it went unresponsive and had to be power cycled. Which is why I haven't yet got around to installing the latest firmware, I'm a little nervous of doing so. (I've actually just downloaded the latest firmware, so wish me luck.)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version