Products > Test Equipment

Looking for a decent sub $1500 bench multimeter

<< < (3/8) > >>

bdunham7:
The Fluke 8845A and 8846A are discontinued.  I have the 8846A and wouldn't give it up for any other, although it does have its issues (current ranges) and is indeed an older design with a VFD.  It is very straightforward to use and has a good array of features.  It has things like 1G ohms, selectable continuity thresholds and diode test voltage/current, 1000VAC capability.  If you can still find it for sale, I'd recommend you seriously consider it.  The 8845A lacks some of these as well as capacitance, so I wouldn't go looking for that model.

Autoranging speed and fast continuity aren't usually things that high-end bench meter buyers look for, so you might want to look at less-high-end models and make sure to get feedback from people who actually use the model in question.  Some of things you want to know aren't found in the datasheet specs.  Also, your plan to track down shorts with a meter having milliohm resolution isn't an easy one to implement and requires specialized probes, such as the 2X4 Fluke models that were just for the 8846A/8845A. 

alm:

--- Quote from: bdunham7 on November 08, 2022, 03:30:47 pm ---Autoranging speed and fast continuity aren't usually things that high-end bench meter buyers look for, so you might want to look at less-high-end models and make sure to get feedback from people who actually use the model in question.  Some of things you want to know aren't found in the datasheet specs.

--- End quote ---
Bench meters are often used for system applications where speed matters. I haven't used the latest graphing generation, but I found the HP 34401A and Keithley 2000 very snappy to the point of needing to slow them down so I can still read the VFD: they can go up to 2000 readings per second under specific conditions. Reading rate and auto-ranging speed should be specified in the data sheet. For example see attachment for the Keithley DMM6500. Pay attention to the footnotes, though.

For continuity speed you might have to dig a bit more.

nctnico:
IMHO continuity speed is not a strong suit of the higher end bench DMMs. On the Keysight 34461A there is a considerable lag. Personally I prefer instant continuity so I can wipe the probe across a row of pins quickly until I hear a beep.

mawyatt:
We have and use the DMM6500 and three KS34465As, plus a couple older HP34401As and SDM3065+. They were all put to use recently on a complex project that required multiple DMMs to be monitored.

IMO you can't go wrong with the DMM6500 or the KS3446X flavors, they are really good, the older 34401As are also very good but wouldn't recommend the SDM3065+ against any of these other DMMs.

The recent KS34465A was acquired by error, we had placed an order over a year ago but these were BO, so we found a DMM6500 in stock and purchased this. Seems the PA forgot to cancel the BO KS34465A request by engineering, so when the KS34465A arrived unexpectedly at the shipping dock (house door), he blamed engineering, which blamed the CFO, which blamed the CTO and eventually everyone blamed the CEO :o

Here at Wyatt Labs LLC, we are a one person show  :-//

Best,

tszaboo:
The DMM6500 is nice, and you might have a better support to your warranty if you are not a company.
But I prefer the 34465A. 34461A is probably OK just as well.
At least with the Keysight, your exported readings will be in order and you don't have to muck around with buffer size and trigger settings to set up a simple logging. And it does cold junction compensation by measuring a temperature. And the battery which is impossible to reach on the Keithley dies in 3 years or so, which of course you are breaking the holder while replacing. So IMHO only get the DMM6500 if you want to measure very fast.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod