21 Sep
2010
21 Sep
'10
7:17 a.m.
On 9/20/10 8:02 PM, Shoppa, Tim wrote:
In terms of used Flukes, I highly recommend any used
77-series unit. You can critique the designs because of what you saw as failings of your
Fluke 85, but believe me, the LCD display on any Fluke LCD DMM will be far more durable
than the faceplate on my Simpson 260 or Triplett 630.
At the very low end, in the $3 to $5 range there are "disposable" DMM's
available at discount stores here in the US. They are not a joy to use but they do mostly
work.
I've evaluated five or six of these. The accuracy and stability of
these things, especially in the face of temperature variations, is utter
crap. Don't ever adjust a +5V supply in a PDP-11 using one of these. ;)
Some of these were tested as being 15% off, measuring nearly six volts
from a (very tightly calibrated) 5V supply!
Buying cheap multimeters (or any other tool, really) is a false
economy. My daily-use handheld DMM is an original Fluke 77 (no suffix)
that I stole from work so long ago that I don't mind mentioning it here.
;) I've had it for almost twenty years, and it was well-used when I got
it. It works as if it were brand new.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL