Please Recommend A Multimeter

[krw]

Hi All,

After 15+ years, my cherished Fluke DMM grew legs and walked out of my
garage. Arrgg..!!

I don't want to pay $200+ to get a new one.

Call me a heretic...but are there any multimeters that are more
reasonably priced (~50) but have that Fluke feel, something that
won't come apart after a few drops?

For $200 you could buy enough Harbor Freight multimeters for at least
50 drops, perhaps a hundred if you catch the sales right. ;-)

I have a couple of Fluke 77s, but bought sacrificial HF specials for
my toolboxes and garage. I hide the Flukes so they don't sprout legs
anymore (after I lost one).

 

[Jamie]

For $200 you could buy enough Harbor Freight multimeters for at least
50 drops, perhaps a hundred if you catch the sales right. ;-)

I have a couple of Fluke 77s, but bought sacrificial HF specials for
my toolboxes and garage. I hide the Flukes so they don't sprout legs
anymore (after I lost one).

Oh man, And I wanted to take one for a walk!

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

He's not much of a talker. Normally very friendly (except to cats) but
if someone does mischief there will be one loud woof. Then you better
stop or run.

Look into his eyes, and you'll see what he's saying.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

Same link as:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FLUKE-931B-AC-D...ryZ25411QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and same link as:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260173753861>

For formatting of the URL is the same for any listing. Just edit the
eBay item number at the end.

Anyone else remember these suckers?

Nope. However, I do recall using Non-Linear Systems and Electro
Instruments voltmeters, some with rotary stepper switches running a
crude sucessive approximation A/D and using multiple rows of NE-2
lamps (not Nixie tubes) for indicators.
<http://www.hp9825.com/html/dvms.html>
Today, I still mentally wait for the chattering of the steppers to
subside before taking a reading. Old bad habits never die.

 

[Joerg]

Look into his eyes, and you'll see what he's saying.

Rotties sometimes don't look at you while barking. When that happens and
their neck hair is up, oh boy ...

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

Paraphrasing our Rottweiler: "Don't get between me and the Fluke meter!"

Too bad my utterly ferocious Maltese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Image:Maltese.jpg) was not in the garage at the time. He would have
licked the bandit to death.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

 

[neon]

harborfreight.com sell these guys for $3.79 each digital 3 digit and checks beta, diode, battery, ohms,amps and volts of course it is made in china. i have 5 of them in case i forget where i put the thing. i cannot buy the parts for that moneyhow about 400 amps ac meter clamp type $8

 

[JosephKK]

Le Chaud Lapin [email protected] posted to sci.electronics.design:

Hi All,

After 15+ years, my cherished Fluke DMM grew legs and walked out of
my garage. Arrgg..!!

I don't want to pay $200+ to get a new one.

Call me a heretic...but are there any multimeters that are more
reasonably priced (~50) but have that Fluke feel, something that
won't come apart after a few drops?

TIA,

-Le Chaud Lapin-

At that price range i presume that it is a handheld. I have a Tek
that serves me well. If you can realign the zebra connector i (think
i) have a 77 you can have. (no box, no case, no probes, just
the "holster")

 

[JosephKK]

David L. Jones [email protected] posted to sci.electronics.design:

It's hardly Fluke like construction or feel!

For less than that you can buy a very nice rugged Meterman 37XR for
example.


Since when?
The 70 series have famously low sleep current.


I have a Protek 506 that gathers dust. Wanna buy it?
At my old job I had no less than 4 Protek 506's in my draw that
gathered dust, no one wanted to use them over the Flukes.


Too bad about the horribly clunky range switch. It's just awful.

Dave.

I would like to have a backup, what are you asking for the Protek?

 

[Joerg]

Too bad my utterly ferocious Maltese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Image:Maltese.jpg) was not in the garage at the time. He would have
licked the bandit to death.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

The dog with the most impressive pair of jaws I recently met is an
Akita. A water line had busted, the neighbors weren't home, and I had to
turn off their water main or their foundation would have gone to pots.
That meant passing the "Akita checkpoint". Luckily he was friendly and I
knew his name.

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

The dog with the most impressive pair of jaws I recently met is an
Akita. A water line had busted, the neighbors weren't home, and I had to
turn off their water main or their foundation would have gone to pots.
That meant passing the "Akita checkpoint". Luckily he was friendly and I
knew his name.

An Akita once bit a friend in the hand, and ripped the flesh from
between her thumb and index finger.

With regards to the multimeter, it's settled. After reading everyone
else's responses, I realized why my Fluke lasted so long. It's worth
it.

And I realized that I should not be worried too much by $200, since I
spend that much on stupid stuff each month, and my Fluke last 17 years
with only a few scuff marks on the case, so...

I'm getting two DMM's: a Fluke 77 and one of the one's recommended
here, only this time I will refrain from using the Fluke in the
garage.

Thanks to all.

-Le Chaud Lapin-