Products > Test Equipment
[Poll] Benchtop DMM Acceptable Power On Time?
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sokoloff:
If I want a fast, ~2 digits of accuracy measurement, I've got plenty of handheld DMMs that are capable to do that with a boot-up time that is practically zero.

If I'm using a benchtop meter, it's almost always for a measurement where the handheld DMM wasn't appropriate for some reason. For those cases, I'm never doing it at virtual gunpoint and the meter has been on all day.
bdunham7:
A precision 6.5 digit meter like the 34465A is not a 'general purpose' DMM and bootup time is my least concern for an instrument like that.  A handheld DMM isn't necessarily what you want either, as those are aimed at portability more than anything else.  So a second bench meter that turns on instantly is good to have since it is always in one place and always ready to go (unless the power goes out...).  Lots of older bench DMMs fit the bill and are ready to go in a second or two, but perhaps without their ultimate accuracy in some cases.  The tradeoff is that they don't do as many things as more modern versions. 
floobydust:
I believe 34401A is roughly 256KB of firmware with no OS. Keysight 34465A was over 30MB last time I checked. That's around 100X more and it takes a long time to boot.
Then add the several minutes for the voltage reference to heat up and stabilize. Then add the time to poke around the settings menus. Not much fun.
Leeima:

--- Quote from: bdunham7 on November 19, 2022, 03:10:51 am ---A precision 6.5 digit meter like the 34465A is not a 'general purpose' DMM and bootup time is my least concern for an instrument like that.  A handheld DMM isn't necessarily what you want either, as those are aimed at portability more than anything else.  So a second bench meter that turns on instantly is good to have since it is always in one place and always ready to go (unless the power goes out...).  Lots of older bench DMMs fit the bill and are ready to go in a second or two, but perhaps without their ultimate accuracy in some cases.  The tradeoff is that they don't do as many things as more modern versions.

--- End quote ---

What level of precision do you consider to no longer be a general purpose meter? For me I'm thinking 7.5 digit and 8.5 digit are not general purpose.
At my place everyone has at least one 6.5 digit meter.

There's not much in the price between a 5.5 digit and 6.5 Benchtop meter, so I don't tend to bother even looking at the 5.5 digit models.




skander36:
As many said here, I always keep on the table a handheld DMM with enough precision(0.025) for quick measurements. If I need precision of a benchtop DMM (0.0025) then I need it to be stable enough, so it need at least 20-30 min. Even the DMM will be able to load his software and UI ready for measurements, the thermal stability need to be reached, and this is another story...
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