Products > Test Equipment
Looking for my first/last bench multimeter
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J-R:
I can't see the point of the Rigol DMMs in this conversation.  The Siglent SDM3045X at least has the decent screen with the histogram and trend chart and I've suggested it in the past for newbies due to what you get for the price.  It even has Ethernet built in.

The Fluke 45 seems like a very limited relic.  Makes sense if you're collecting.

I would just save up and buy something decent.

G0HZU:
This is just my opinion, but the Keithley 2000 and 2015 and the Agilent 34401A meters are primarily designed to be used in ATE racks. This is why they have a very basic display and the user interface is a bit clunky from a human factors point of view. These meters really shine when used remotely as they offer fast update rates (when logging data) and all the features are easy to access remotely. Try and do this via the front panel and you either need a lot of patience or you need to know how to navigate the menus efficiently.

The display in the 34401A looks like a display that no one would actually buy to use in a homebrew project because the fonts are so basic and unnatural and cheap looking. The Keithley display uses tiny cheap looking digits that can't easily be read at distance. These meters are also quite long and so they require a fairly deep shelf to sit on. None of this matters if you use the meter remotely because you won't be looking at the display or the front panel interface.

By contrast the old Fluke 45 is easy to use manually and it has a very nice display. My main niggle with the Fluke 45 is that the auto range is very slow, especially when measuring resistance. This could be a dealbreaker for some as it really is very slow in this respect. The logging rate is also quite slow compared to the Keithley and Agilent meters. I don't think my old Fluke 45 has ever been calibrated from new but it still reads 5.000V on a 5V test source that has been checked against a recently calibrated meter. It never seems to change and I've had it for many years.

So my Fluke 45 is the meter I use on my bench and it lives there all the time. There's no way I'd want to use a Keithley 2000/2015 as an everyday bench meter. The display is poor and the user interface is not as nice as the Fluke. I rarely use the Fluke 45 for logging because it only achieves a few readings a second. I'd much rather use a Keithley or Agilent meter for this.

So there is no 'one size fits all answer'.  If you do measure resistance a lot, then I'd avoid the Fluke 45 as it is very slow to auto-range and provide a readout on the display. It's at its best measuring DC and AC voltage and it has an easy to use dB/REL feature when measuring (S+N)/N or when reading the output of sensors with a dB readout.

If you can live with the basic looking fonts of the 34401A it is probably the best all rounder, but these meters are getting quite expensive to buy used. If you buy a Keithley 2000 then make sure the display is still fairly bright as they can fade over time to become very dim.


Fried Chicken:

--- Quote from: G0HZU ---If you can live with the basic looking fonts of the 34401A it is probably the best all rounder, but these meters are getting quite expensive to buy used. If you buy a Keithley 2000 then make sure the display is still fairly bright as they can fade over time to become very dim.

--- End quote ---

How is the 34401A different form the Keithley 2000?
tautech:
There are several things outdated bench meters can't do:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/cant-test-led-with-hp34401a/
KungFuJosh:

--- Quote from: zepto on March 22, 2024, 07:00:58 pm ---I've never spent $400 on a multimeter, let alone a 4.5 digit siglent. There are nice older devices that hobbyists can learn from and maintain.

--- End quote ---

You're welcome to whatever biases you prefer. 😉

My $400 meter is now 5.5 digits, and I'm quite happy with it. And it has a nicer screen and more features than
 anything you listed. Not to say there's anything wrong with you enjoying those, simply that they're not for me.

Both of my Siglent meters can show statistics (easily readable) on screen, and they can be connected over ethernet to my computer and have both datasets tracked.

If I was going to get a Keithley, it would be the DMM6500 or 7510. Or both. That would be nice. 👍

I have projects, and I have tools, and sometimes there's overlap. Sometimes I don't want any overlap.
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