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DMMs

post #1 of 8
9/28/10 at 10:18pm
Thread Starter 

Quick check - is there anything worthwhile between a $5 Harbor Freight special and the $155 Fluke 115?

 

Difficulty: institutional purchasing (no used / eBay).

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post #2 of 8
9/28/10 at 10:53pm

B+K Precision makes a few.  I have a soft spot for analog meters - their 114B runs $42.

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post #3 of 8
9/28/10 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 

Ah hah! The $65 B&K 2705B has autoranging, 1% VDC accuracy, 3400 counts, basic VAC measurement.

 

I think that will do the job, since the job is to give me something usable to fall back on if they don't want to authorize the Flukes until we can write it into a grant. Oddly, I'm already recommending them as a supplier for a DC power supply and a function generator...it just hadn't occurred to me to check their DMMs.

 

I may have to start carrying a 117B just to screw with people though, that thing's cute.

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post #4 of 8
9/29/10 at 7:03am

EEVblog #99 – $100 Multimeter Shootout, 1 of 2

EEVblog #99 – $100 Multimeter Shootout, 2 of 2

 

Personally, if I were getting a Fluke, I'd set the entry point at the 170 series instead.  The 110 series is more for auto mechanics, pro handyman types, etc.  The 170s are industrial electric meters, not terribly ideal for electronics work, but usable.  The ones you really want are the 28 II, the 87 V, or anything in the 280 series, new.  In the used world, there's the rest of the all-but-discontinued 80 series, or the fully-discontinued 180 series.

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post #5 of 8
9/29/10 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I don't really dig the 0.5% accuracy on the 115. But it's cheap, and hopefully good enough that I wouldn't constantly be bringing my 287 from home. What I'm hoping for is a pair of 87Vs and a 34410A (or two)...but that might have to wait until later in the year.

 

 

The 28II looks almost feature-equivalent to the 87V, but extra rugged. Am I missing something? That "6000/19999 counts" spec seems a bit dodgy.

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post #6 of 8
9/29/10 at 12:58pm

You are correct that it is virtually the 87V but in a more rugged form. The same guy in Tangent's post above that does a nice review of it and actually tests its durability. You can see it him dropping it from really high places and how well it holds up.

 

http://www.eevblog.com/2010/02/28/eevblog-64-fluke-28-series-ii-multimeter-review-teardown/

http://www.eevblog.com/2010/03/07/eevblog-66-death-destruction-of-a-fluke-multimeter/

 

Originally Posted by gimble View Post

The 28II looks almost feature-equivalent to the 87V, but extra rugged. Am I missing something? That "6000/19999 counts" spec seems a bit dodgy.

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post #7 of 8
9/29/10 at 9:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gimble View Post

That "6000/19999 counts" spec seems a bit dodgy.


Fiddly, yes, dodgy, no.

 

When you first start the 87 V or 28 II up, it's in the fast 6,000 count mode, which only gets you "3-1/2" digits of precision.  You can then press a button to put it into "Hi Rez" mode to get full resolution, at a cost of slower readings.  This is one reason I prefer the 180/280 series, which are 50,000 count meters, all the time, and still fast.

 

Dave Jones (EEVBlog) dings the 180/280 series for battery life, but as a hobbyist, it's never been a problem for me.  Fluke says they include batteries with the meter, and on opening my 189 up, I see name-brand cells, not the generic OEM sort you'd expect to see if they were the original set.  Since I can't remember changing the batteries, either Fluke really did ship it with Energizers, or I swapped cells so far back I can't remember it any more.  I suppose it might matter if you used your meter all day every day.

 

The only other criticism I can remember from Dave on this series of meters is the integrated shock case, which indeed sucks, compared to the older meters' separate rubber bumper.  I wouldn't call it a shock case at all, since it's part and parcel of the meter's enclosure.  I never felt the need to remove the rubber bumper on my 73 II, but that thick rubber feels like it would take more damage than the structurally reinforced plastic on my 189.  I'm sure the 180/280 meters will take a lot of damage, just not as much as some of Fluke's other products.

 

All things considered, though, I don't regret getting the 189 instead of the 87.

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post #8 of 8
9/29/10 at 10:57pm
Thread Starter 

That explains it. It sounds like it's just an unfortunate interface issue which expects the user to read the heck out of the manual to get around the things which weren't set up more intuitively (or documented on the back of the meter). But given how long Fluke's hardware lasts, that becomes something more of a peeve than a problem.

 

The 28-II is sounding pretty sweet, especially since it's only $20 over the 87-V. I'm not sure I can quite imagine a ruggedized Fluke - their meters are already the next thing to invincible under sane use already, and I'm constantly running into units well over a decade old. I also really like the AA over 9V thing, maybe I'm a bit spoiled there since mine uses AA as well.

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