Paul, KD2MX, asked: I looking to purchase a decent DMM and would appreciate any recommendations of specific models. I've had two crappy Radio Shack DMMs blow up on me. Each time I bought one, I promised myself it was only until I could get something good ordered and then promptly put it off. Well now I'm DMM-less again and I'm in the middle of installing my 3080 option.
I'm looking through the Mouser catalog and there are so many choices. I guess I can't go wrong with a Fluke. Would like something for <$100 but I don't want to be buying one again in two months. No HV or special requirements. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------------------------------------- About 7 years ago my Fluke died temporarily. The Fluke was ten years old then and part of the button mechanism died. While waiting for a new part I swung by Radio Shack and bought a mult-function DMM from them for about $80. Seven years later I'm still using the RS meter. My Fluke is back in business but the RS does a few things the Fluke doesn't and I don't worry about hurting it as much. Indeed, running a temperature cycle test one time I put the whole meter in the environmental chamber forgot about it! The case warped on the RS meter, it got so hot (around 100C). I've dropped it, banged it and done everything but hook it across the mains in Ohms mode, but it's still tickin' and still matches the Fluke's accuracy within 1% or so. I feel a little guilty about how I've abused the RS meter. Been thinking of ordering a new case to replace the battered, warped one it now has. So I'm surprised that you've had RS meters "blow up" on you! What exactly did they do? There is an obvious difference between the Fluke and Radio Shack meter. The Fluke displays values much faster. The Fluke is virtually instantaneous. The RS meter takes about two or three seconds although it's "relative level" bargraph for peaking adjustments is plenty fast. In my experience, that is one of the big differences in DMM's these days. It all comes down to the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) the DMM uses. Fluke, Radio Shack, etc., all get them from various chip manufacturers, and the faster chips apparently cost more. At least the meters they go into do! Of course, the other differences are in the number of digits in the display (and my RS has one more digit than my Fluke, which I find very handy at times) and in the number of operations they perform. One thing that keeps my RS meter on the bench is the ability to put any old junque box transistor in a socket on the front of it and it reports the Base, Emitter and Collector connections and the current gain (hFe) in a moment. As a tinkerer with a messy junque box, that's very handy! As much as I paid for the Fluke meter, if I had to let go of one of them today, I'd keep the RS meter. The specific model I bought has been replaced, but they always keep a model that has the same features and which sells in the $80 - $100 range. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
