Poll : How many multimeter's do you own ?

[Kiriakos-GR]

Lets see how big spenders you are  

I own three digital, plus one analog ...  

The rule of thump says that you must have at list two, so to compare their accuracy,
or better the health status of them , by making  double measurements , from time to time .

Just add the number of them  ..

Soon I will start another Poll , with brands , so to vote your favorite brand name.
  

[switcher]

I read on another forum somewhere, years ago:
'multimeters are like wood-working clamps, it's impossible to have too many'

[eswets]

I have about 10 meters.  3 fluke 87's the rest are lower grade than the fluke.  Most of the cheap ones where about $50-100 and are from name brand companies (probably they just put there name on them) and seem to be as accurate as the Flukes for what I use them for.  I am an electrician so I keep 5 in my truck and the rest in my electronics lab.  I have been luck I only had to buy 1 fluke and bought one hundred dollar one, all others were given to me or found on the job and no one claimed it.  I am guessing that most people will only need about 2. 

[Simon]

I put 4 but now I think of it is 5 but then i bet one of those cheap digitals will fail soon 

[Kiriakos-GR]

cheap digitals

All digitals are cheap to manufacture.

What a consumer calls as miracle , are to be reasonable priced and reliable.

And my old " ProS Kit "  had do that since 1992, but I can not start dancing,
because I just have only one model of them (as brand ) .
So,  I do not know , if its the Brand that belongs in the worthy ones, or just this model !!  

[mikeselectricstuff]

Fluke 77. My first 'real' DMM. How only used when I need 4 meters to measure both V&I in and out of a voltage regulator
Fluke 87 original (Used so much the sockets wore out, but replacements were available)
Fluke 87 III (bought because it was cheap, but now my main DMM )
Fluke 287 (bought on an "I want a new toy" whim, rather disappointed by startup and autorange time, but min/max display is handy)
HP34401A, bought on ebay when I was doing a lot of high-precision work, now mainly used for stuff like datalogging battery run-down tests as it has the RS232 port and Agilent's handy Excel tool, and when I need high resistance precision to find shorts on PCBs.
..and an ancient Pantec pen style DMM - very handy for the 'small' version of the on-site toolkit - nobody seems to make a DMM this small anymore.

[Kiriakos-GR]

..and an ancient Pantec pen style DMM - very handy for the 'small' version of the on-site toolkit - nobody seems to make a DMM this small anymore.

I am interested too , for one pen style DMM , and they are hard to find.
I also look this larger version of pen style.
http://www.uni-trend.com/UT15C.html#
 
But I can not make a decision ...

[switcher]

^^ No, that's not a 'pen' DMM, that's a voltage indicator, intended for use by electricians.
It no doubt has an input impedance of a lot less than 10M.
You want something like a Wavetek DM73, or and Iso-tech ID-17

[switcher]

SNIP
HP34401A............................
SNIP

Very nice!

[Kiriakos-GR]

^^ No, that's not a 'pen' DMM, that's a voltage indicator, intended for use by electricians.

True , but we are electricians    Hiding as snipers in an electronics related forum. LOL

With voltmeter and continuity buzzer , in our village we call it as half DMM .

[mikeselectricstuff]

On the subject of small DMMs, this is the Pantec in the middle, with battery to scale.

This is something like 20 years old. All it does is AC/DC volts, ohms and continuity beep, which is all you need on the sort of job where you didn't expect to need to take a meter with you - basic things like checking batteries, fuses, continuity and that there is power.
Below is the nearest equivalent contemporary unit I could find. Much bigger and chunkier. OK it 'feels' nice but I'd rather it was smaller.
A nice addition is a non-contact voltage detector, and a tip that retracts by turning the nose. It also has diode test.
A really dumb feature is you need a PZ0 screwdriver to replace the battery - for a tool designed for on-the-move use, this is just plain dumb.
An issue with the Pantec is it uses LR44 buttons.
 
I just can't understand why someone hasn't made a modern equivalent with improved funcitonality.
It doesn't need to be super accurate - an MCU with 10 bit ADC would probably be fine.

[Kiriakos-GR]

Well when we go to this small sizes, what bothers me , its the "Easy to Use part " .
If you can do the test (measurement)  with  a single hand , then its an successful one .  

The other hand usually holds the ladder , or supports your balance when you "fly" over the ground level.  

The little UNIT-T  does have the correct "Grip" for the job , even if its not as tiny, that you will expect.

Edit: I just did it , got the UNIT-T15C on Ebay for  €23.91 EUR, the  "FLUKE T140" identical product goes as 100 EUR retail,
any way in 10 days I will have the chance to have a close look at it.
 

 

[Kiriakos-GR]

Wow, only 38 voters own  multimeters ?   


Very interesting percentage .. 
   

[slburris]

I seem to collect both multimeter and oscilloscopes.  At least collecting multimeters
is a bit cheaper.

So for multimeters, I have 7:

Fluke 87-V
Fluke 73-III
Fluke 8505A
Fluke 8502A
Fluke 8860A
Heathkit IM-2215
Heathkit IM-1212

Scott

[Excavatoree]

Uh, how do I explain this?





Worse, these aren't even all of them.  It's an old picture, and I didn't get all that I had in it.  (top part of picture is cut off, some 88 automotive meters in their grey cases.)

I'm most proud of my 86's, and my XEROX 87 and XEROX 87-III, and my re-branded Square-D 70 series. (not pictured)

Not to mention the Caterpillar branded Beckman that I got because of my involvement with heavy equipment, and some other non-Fluke meters that I own.  (no, I don't work for Caterpillar)

[armandas]

 

Can you please adopt me?

[dengorius]

Lol when bruce wayne goes EE

[safarir]

WOW, 

[saturation]

WOW.  Some with original boxes! Impressive.

[Kiriakos-GR]

Uh, how do I explain this?

Rentals ..  
I came close to work for a company  that offers tools with rent .
( I would do the maintenance of them , plus cleaning , so to be ready for the next customer )

Some companies gets tools by leasing , and at the end of the contract , sales them as lot.

So I am not surprised by the picture .    

[switcher]

Excavatoree, that's brilliant!
Nice one!

[EEVblog]

Yikes!
Collecting can be a sickness!
That's well over $10,000 worth of gear on ebay.

I threw a few together the other day for an attempted promo shot:


Dave.

[saturation]

Awesome photo Dave!  Far more personality than a stair full of DMMs.  Its interesting to see the brands together, I didn't realize how big the Metrawatt was.

[dengorius]

Yikes!
Collecting can be a sickness!
That's well over $10,000 worth of gear on ebay.

I threw a few together the other day for an attempted promo shot:

Dave.

No screwdriver in your hands? Shame on you!!!

[EEVblog]

Yikes!
Collecting can be a sickness!
That's well over $10,000 worth of gear on ebay.

I threw a few together the other day for an attempted promo shot:

Dave.

No screwdriver in your hands? Shame on you!!!

Oops, sorry!
How's this?


Dave.