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Looking for a new DMM, being wooed by Fluke

post #1 of 24
9/11/11 at 4:58am
Thread Starter 
I've been looking at multimeters as all I have now is a $30 one from Jaycar. The biggest thing I don't like about it is how long it takes to get a final reading after it overshoots and wobbles around before settling on a value; it can take a few seconds which I find annoying. I really want something that's fast and solid and will last years and years and years.

I have been watching eBay for second hand Flukes and reading whatever I can about them. The 87V is obviously the most recommended meter and does look nice but a 177 is probably all I really need right now.
Acucal on eBay have a used but calibrated 177 for $170 (plus lots of shipping to AUS frown.gif maybe 10% less with the 'make offer' option).
They also have a 87-IV for about $100 more, which does look veeeerry nice.

The 87-IV is waaay overkill for what I would use a multimeter for now but I don't know if I might need extra features or the extra accuracy / 50,000 counts if I'm doing something like matching components to tiny tolerances some time down the track.

Am I silly in even thinking about the 87-IV? Should I just get the 177 and upgrade later if I really do need better specs?


Listings I'm referring to:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Fluke-177-Digital-Multimeter-Calibrated-and-Certified-/110724813559
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Fluke-87-IV-4-Multimeter-Calibrated-and-Certified-/120703696669
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post #2 of 24
9/11/11 at 9:59am
Get the 87-5, buy used if possible. Fluke meters are fairly bulletproof and the 87 series were the last ones made in the USA.
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post #3 of 24
9/12/11 at 1:17am
Thread Starter 
Would an 87-V be preferable over the 87-IV, which I've read is basically the same as the 187?
It looks like a better spec'ed meter and only about $50 more than what I've seen 87-Vs go for on eBay recently.
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post #4 of 24
9/12/11 at 1:52am
Whatever you get make sure it has temperature reading. I use an 87V and absolutely love it. From here other higher priced meters offer slightly higher count and logging etc, some of them are rather large in size for hand helds, personally if I was going higher spec than the 87V I'd probably get a bench unit.
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post #5 of 24
9/12/11 at 2:10am

Take a look at used bench meters, too.  I have an older Fluke bench that works fine and cost about $10 at a swapmeet.  I do prefer the 187 since it has more functions.

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post #6 of 24
9/12/11 at 2:15am
Thread Starter 
I don't really have room for a bench meter. And I don't really need the extra counts the 87-IV has over the 87-V but thought it wouldn't be a bad thing if it doesn't cost much more.
I have watched some videos about the 189/289 and those do look too big for a handheld, but the 87-IV looks like it has similar dimensions to the 87-V according to the Fluke site.
Edited by elliot42 - 9/12/11 at 6:00am
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post #7 of 24
9/12/11 at 2:49am
Thread Starter 
And thanks for the tip about temperature measurement, John. I hadn't thought about it much but that definitely rules out the 177.
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post #8 of 24
9/12/11 at 5:47pm

The 179 is also available and is basically a 177 with a temperature probe. 

 

I like it very much.  biggrin.gif

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post #9 of 24
9/12/11 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I've made an offer on a 187, kind of accidentally, I wanted to see if I could get a bigger discount and thought it would be automatically rejected, but it wasn't and has gone to the seller. So I guess I'll find out if I've bought a 187 soon tongue.gif Oops...
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post #10 of 24
9/12/11 at 9:04pm

I have a Fluke 179.  Way overkill for me.  And it will be for the rest of my live -- meaning it will likely outlive me...  (I'm 52 hoping for 100...)

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post #11 of 24
9/12/11 at 9:17pm

I have a Fluke 89 IV True RMS Multimeter. Talk about overkill. I use it to bias my tube amp.

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post #12 of 24
9/12/11 at 9:57pm
Thread Starter 
Good to hear from an 87-IV owner, thanks.
If the offer on the 187 is accepted and I've won the item then so be it, I'll just have a meter that I'll never use to its full capability. But it should last me for a looong time (I'm 24).
If that falls through then I think I should keep my sights set on no higher than an 87-V, considering the comments about overkill.
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post #13 of 24
9/13/11 at 10:55pm

This is what we use at work..... Agilent 3458A

 

(You could slum it and get a 34401A........)

3458a.bmp

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post #14 of 24
9/13/11 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
I don't think 0.0035% basic DC accuracy is good enough for my hobbyist requirements, Irwin.
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post #15 of 24
9/14/11 at 12:29am

It's a neat option to have but my Fluke 62 gets used a lot more frequently then temperature feature on my Fluke 179 does.

 If I had it all to do over I would have bought one of the Agilent hand helds with data logging instead.

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