In article FQ7vc.259$vK4.176@newsfe5-win, Kyle2 wrote:

| A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
| by not paying for a name.

If you're on a tight budget, these things are hard to beat --

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...70&pricetype=S

Yes, three bucks. They won't hold a candle to a Fluke, but for doing
simple voltages or resistances, they're hard to beat. They're
accurate (at least the ones I've tested) within 1 or 2%, at least for
DC and AC voltage (I don't expect them to do accurate RMS readings on
non sinusoidal signals, however) and resistances.

They're cheap enough that you can dedicate them to a given operation
-- you need to know the voltage on your power battery all the time?
No problem -- just slap one of these on it.

Personally, I own like ten of these things, scattered throughout the
house and car, and a few better multi-meters for when I need them.

--
Doug McLaren,
Give a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and
he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Doug McLaren wrote:

In article FQ7vc.259$vK4.176@newsfe5-win, Kyle2 wrote:

| A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
| by not paying for a name.

If you're on a tight budget, these things are hard to beat --

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...70&pricetype=S

Yes, three bucks. They won't hold a candle to a Fluke, but for doing
simple voltages or resistances, they're hard to beat. They're
accurate (at least the ones I've tested) within 1 or 2%, at least for
DC and AC voltage (I don't expect them to do accurate RMS readings on
non sinusoidal signals, however) and resistances.

They're cheap enough that you can dedicate them to a given operation
-- you need to know the voltage on your power battery all the time?
No problem -- just slap one of these on it.

Personally, I own like ten of these things, scattered throughout the
house and car, and a few better multi-meters for when I need them.



Right! They even come with the 9v battery included and they have a
transistor
test function, to boot. When you spend 3 dollars on a DMM, you're not
looking
for precision results. And you don't need a precision meter for most
measurements.
As a secondary meter, these 3 dollar things cannot be beat. When I
needed to
do 6 simultaneous measurements ( a DC-DC converter I made with dual
outputs -
I needed to measure voltage and current on the input, and voltage and
current on
both outputs) I bought 4 of them. They were more accurate than I
thought they
would be - and more accurate than I needed.

Doug McLaren wrote:

In article FQ7vc.259$vK4.176@newsfe5-win, Kyle2 wrote:

| A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
| by not paying for a name.

If you're on a tight budget, these things are hard to beat --

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...70&pricetype=S

Yes, three bucks. They won't hold a candle to a Fluke, but for doing
simple voltages or resistances, they're hard to beat. They're
accurate (at least the ones I've tested) within 1 or 2%, at least for
DC and AC voltage (I don't expect them to do accurate RMS readings on
non sinusoidal signals, however) and resistances.

They're cheap enough that you can dedicate them to a given operation
-- you need to know the voltage on your power battery all the time?
No problem -- just slap one of these on it.

Personally, I own like ten of these things, scattered throughout the
house and car, and a few better multi-meters for when I need them.



Right! They even come with the 9v battery included and they have a
transistor
test function, to boot. When you spend 3 dollars on a DMM, you're not
looking
for precision results. And you don't need a precision meter for most
measurements.
As a secondary meter, these 3 dollar things cannot be beat. When I
needed to
do 6 simultaneous measurements ( a DC-DC converter I made with dual
outputs -
I needed to measure voltage and current on the input, and voltage and
current on
both outputs) I bought 4 of them. They were more accurate than I
thought they
would be - and more accurate than I needed.

Kyle2 wrote:
A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
by not paying for a name.

"CLinT" wrote in message
...

I am considering purchasing a Fluke meter to do some
alignments & repairs here.
Can anyone reccomend a Fluke meter model or anothere brand model?

73 &
thanks for all replies,
CLinT

remove ... "SO" to reply



I have a 'Heath by Fluke' model SM-77 which
works very well for me. It's not a true RMS
meter, which might be a problem for some though.
The newer models also measure capacitance and
frequency, but if all you want is a DMM this
one is fine. Fluke still makes this model,
under their own model number. (It's the
familiar narrow, tall meter with the 8 position
knob to the left side and 4 digit display).

I did manage to blow the low current fuse in the
meter (guess what, it comes with a spare fuse,
inside!). The 9 volt battery lasts forever
(think I've changed it twice in 20 years,
and one time was because I left the meter on
for a week straight!).

In article FQ7vc.259$vK4.176@newsfe5-win, says...

Top-posting corrected -- Please don't top-post. See this link for
the reason why: http://www.html-faq.com/etiquette/?toppost

"CLinT" wrote in message
...
I am considering purchasing a Fluke meter to do some
alignments & repairs here.
Can anyone reccomend a Fluke meter model or anothere brand model?

73 &
thanks for all replies,
CLinT

remove ... "SO" to reply

A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
by not paying for a name.

Perhaps. However, one thing that I've learned, after being in the
electronics/RF field for 25+ years, is that it is not wise to cut
corners on your test gear. It should be looked on as an investment as
opposed to an expense.

Fluke multimeters are, IMO, well worth the higher price for the
warranty, support, and how long they last.

Case in point: I bought an original model 77 back in 1984. Here it
is, 20 years later, and the thing is still with me and still working
great. I've checked its calibration three times in the entire time I've
had it (most recently, about two years ago), and it has always been
right on. I've gone through perhaps four batteries in that time as well.

Find me the "cheap one from Maplin or RS" that will compare to
that kind of durability and reliability, and I will cheerfully STFU.

Now, as to recommendations: Pretty much anything in the 20, 70, or
80 series will do nicely. Choose what you want based on what feature set
you want. Top of the line is, as I recall, the 87 series.

Be prepared to spend between $150-$400, depending on which model
you settle on.

Happy hunting.


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

In article FQ7vc.259$vK4.176@newsfe5-win, Kyle2 wrote:

| A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
| by not paying for a name.

If you're on a tight budget, these things are hard to beat --

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...70&pricetype=S

Yes, three bucks. They won't hold a candle to a Fluke, but for doing
simple voltages or resistances, they're hard to beat. They're
accurate (at least the ones I've tested) within 1 or 2%, at least for
DC and AC voltage (I don't expect them to do accurate RMS readings on
non sinusoidal signals, however) and resistances.

They're cheap enough that you can dedicate them to a given operation
-- you need to know the voltage on your power battery all the time?
No problem -- just slap one of these on it.

Personally, I own like ten of these things, scattered throughout the
house and car, and a few better multi-meters for when I need them.

--
Doug McLaren,
Give a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and
he will be warm for the rest of his life.

A cheap digital one from Maplin or RS will be just as accurate, save loads
by not paying for a name.

"CLinT" wrote in message
...
I am considering purchasing a Fluke meter to do some
alignments & repairs here.
Can anyone reccomend a Fluke meter model or anothere brand model?

73 &
thanks for all replies,
CLinT

remove ... "SO" to reply

I am considering purchasing a Fluke meter to do some
alignments & repairs here.
Can anyone reccomend a Fluke meter model or anothere brand model?

Clint-

I like the idea of having a couple of those cheap meters. I keep one in my
brief case and one I take with me on trips.

For the shop, I wanted something I could depend on, so back in about 1980 I
purchased a Fluke 8020A handheld digital multimeter. Soon after that the
display darkened. I purchased an upgraded display, installed it myself, and
have had no other problems since then.

Three years ago I bought a Fluke 8012A bench model digital multimeter at a
Hamfest for $40. It looked rough and was missing its power cord and probes.
With just probes and a new cord, it appears to be working perfectly. Comparing
it with the old 8020A, readings of various voltages and precision resistors
were identical, except for a 0.01 volt difference when reading a 13.8 volt
power supply. I know that the 8020A has never been calibrated since leaving
the factory.

About a year later I bought a Fluke 8050A bench model digital multimeter in
non-working condition, for $35. This model has one more digit of resolution
than the other two meters, and has true RMS on AC. The problem turned out to
be that it had dead internal batteries, and required the batteries to act as a
voltage regulator when operated on AC. Some slightly smaller batteries from
Radio Shack made it work. Again, it appears to be working perfectly. Voltage
and resistance readings agree with both other meters. (I forget which one of
the three was 0.01 volt off on 13.8!)

The moral of the story is that here are three meters approaching 25 years of
age, that have maintained their accuracy in spite of rough handling over the
years.

I would recommend any of the three models if you can find a used one. Of
course, you may find that someone has mis-calibrated it, so you need some
assurance it is still accurate. Perhaps you can scrape together a handful of
precision resistors and use them as a "standard".

If you want a more modern meter, the latest Flukes offer auto-ranging. The
early versions sacrificed some accuracy and were slow, but I understand more
recent models are better. However, I'm not willing to spend the money for
auto-ranging when my old fixed-range meters are so good!

73, Fred, K4DII

On 05 Jun 2004 13:50:36 GMT, (Fred McKenzie) wrote:

I am considering purchasing a Fluke meter to do some
alignments & repairs here.
Can anyone reccomend a Fluke meter model or anothere brand model?

Clint-

I like the idea of having a couple of those cheap meters. I keep one in my
brief case and one I take with me on trips.

For the shop, I wanted something I could depend on, so back in about 1980 I
purchased a Fluke 8020A handheld digital multimeter. Soon after that the
display darkened. I purchased an upgraded display, installed it myself, and
have had no other problems since then.

strange... believe I bought the 8020B already in 1980, but after a
while I had to put some paper under the pcb to push the contact harder
against the display to obtain proper reading. Still have some 8020B's
but they usually don't work properly too often.

One strange fault occurred when I tried to measure the booster voltage
in a tv set, the varistor for input protection blow, and I had to look
for some resistor-looking type. The resistance measurement wouldn't go
higher than 100-150k until the varistor was replaced

73
Jan-Martin
LA8AK

On 05 Jun 2004 13:50:36 GMT, (Fred McKenzie) wrote:

I am considering purchasing a Fluke meter to do some
alignments & repairs here.
Can anyone reccomend a Fluke meter model or anothere brand model?

Clint-

I like the idea of having a couple of those cheap meters. I keep one in my
brief case and one I take with me on trips.

For the shop, I wanted something I could depend on, so back in about 1980 I
purchased a Fluke 8020A handheld digital multimeter. Soon after that the
display darkened. I purchased an upgraded display, installed it myself, and
have had no other problems since then.

strange... believe I bought the 8020B already in 1980, but after a
while I had to put some paper under the pcb to push the contact harder
against the display to obtain proper reading. Still have some 8020B's
but they usually don't work properly too often.

One strange fault occurred when I tried to measure the booster voltage
in a tv set, the varistor for input protection blow, and I had to look
for some resistor-looking type. The resistance measurement wouldn't go
higher than 100-150k until the varistor was replaced

73
Jan-Martin
LA8AK