Choosing between Fluke 179/177 vs Keysight U1242C vs Fluke 87V?

[Al75]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for new multimeter. My old Mastech MY68 has been give up. So I would like to get a new, good, precise and reliable handheld multimeter. 

Now I am trying to choose between Fluke 179/177 or Keysight U1242C. Ok, Fluke is Fluke: minimum functions, maximum price, reliability etc. But what about Keysight? There are not so much detailed info on internet about Keysight's...
The DMM will be use for general & automotive applications mainly.

By other hand I saw brand new Fluke 87V for 280...300€ on ebay... The new one from reliable source in Germany costs 390...400€, VAT19% included.

Therefore I have a couple of questions:

1) what is your advice for "best DMM in the world" on budget of the 200...300€?
2) what DMM do you choose from those: Fluke 179/177, Keysight U1242C, Fluke 87V?
3) How safe buying a "brand new" Fluke on ebay is? What a common issues would be?

[2N3055]

1) what is your advice for "best DMM in the world" on budget of the 200...300€?
2) what DMM do you choose from those: Fluke 179/177, Keysight U1242C, Fluke 87V?
3) How safe buying a "brand new" Fluke on ebay is? What a common issues would be?

For electronics:

1) what is your advice for "best DMM in the world" on budget of the 200...300€?

Brymen 869S

2) what DMM do you choose from those: Fluke 179/177, Keysight U1242C, Fluke 87V?

If only those options and if you could get really good 179, than F179. Otherwise see No 1.

3) How safe buying a "brand new" Fluke on ebay is? What a common issues would be?

No common issues. Biggest problem is abuse or defective/damaged unit. If you get one that wasn't damaged it will be pretty much perfect. But you never know.

If you want safe/accurate meter, repair needs experience and tools. Not for beginners.

[Al75]

Found a pretty nice offer on ebay. Seller saying that Fluke 87V new, safe and sound. All working, no changed parts. 100% positive seller's rating. Agree for full refund if there issues reveals.

[Al75]

Any else opinions?

[bd139]

Go for the 87V if you can. I had a U1241C and I don't rate it anywhere as good as the 87V.

I paid around €150 equivalent for my 87V though new with cal cert but I was lucky as hell.

Edit: here was my YouTube review of the two comparing out of the box hold feature. Very short and to the point.

[Hydrawerk]

Oh, what was wrong with your U1241C?? Is there a problem with Hold function?

[Hydrawerk]

I like my BM829S. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOOMDMWC5v91DynTNsacOdhD2z0NdLvhGgniEyp-0ai8YjG3wpgyQpdN-z1d8MOww?key=Y2w3Q3lacVkwTUpzUkctR1NCLW9PbUMxdFhRLXRR
I am not sure if it is best for the price, but I do like the LoZ / AutoCheck function.

Keysight DMMs should be OK, but I have never used any.
Fluke 87V might not have a good overvoltage protection.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/3025/
Please ask the forum member named joeqsmith.
But I like the Fluke 87V's AutoHold feature.

[Hydrawerk]

I used a Fluke 289 in my previous work. I was quite happy with that.

[bd139]

Oh, what was wrong with your U1241C?? Is there a problem with Hold function?

Just the auto hold feature is crap. You can configure it in one of the menus so it is less crap but it's still nowhere near as good as the Fluke which just works. That's what you're paying for.

I have a BM867S as well. That's pretty good. But no autohold!

Most of the time I use one of my Fluke 8010A units however.

[Al75]

Data transfer to PC in U1242C seems pretty interesting feature to me. How actual it is in practice? Fluke has it on 287/289 only. It is out of my bill.

[bd139]

I didn't use the keysight software because my platform of choice is MacOS X so there is no software! It's a Prolific USB serial adapter with IR port. It uses undocumented but standard SCPI commands to talk to it so you can bodge up your own stuff easy enough:



It is definitely good for PC connectivity. The irritating general purpose use cases though are a bit of a pain. I use automation perhaps once a year at the moment so I just don't need it. Compromise for me was better with the 87V. I have bought a BM867s and will buy the USB-IR cable for that when I need to do some automation next time.

[rsjsouza]

In my opinion, in terms of features the order is: 87V > U1242C > 179.

In terms of robustness, I think the 87V and the 179 (which I had) are equivalent. I have other models from Keysight and you can tell they are a notch below.

I liked my 179 and it excels at what it does, but it is a basic meter.

I don't know the U1242C autohold but, if it is similar to the other U1282A and U1273A and configurable via a setup menu, it is excellent.

If you need connectivity, Keysight has pretty reasonably priced adapters and the software is free of charge. The other alternative pointed by Sinisa, the Brymen BM867, also has this feature.

[bd139]

The U124xC stuff is configurable by set up but I couldn't get it to work anywhere as near as well as the default configuration on the 87V. The video I posted earlier was an argument in favour of sensible defaults

[Al75]

I heard about that Fluke 87V is discontinued. Is it true?

[bd139]

Don't think so. All major suppliers list it as current line.

[MiroS]

I own quite a few multimeters so here is my experience

FK87V  - that one is OK for electricians , it is doing only  VERY, VERY  basic staff, it is USELESS for several BASIC electronic mesurements which are  needed even for simple repairs like FM tunner repair. If I  would do something with car  - I will take FK87V, but not for electronics,  even a cheap Unit-y multimeter is sometime a better choice than FK87V.  FK87V is also quite BAD with measuring LOW values like for small current.

U1242C - that one has only 10000 digits therefore useless for plenty of electronic tasks/repairs, even worst that FK87V.

Fluke 179/177 - that one is also for electricians, almost useless for electronics.

BM869S  -  that one is quite OK . I would only complain small rotary switch, which is hard to switch, strange location of bargraph at very, very botom anf  not the best backlight. I take from my shelf something worst with meaurement than BW869S because this anoing rotary switch/backlight.

[mzacharias]

Fluke 87V might not have a good overvoltage protection.

That was Joe's experience with ONE sample. Another 87V did not exhibit this, and his original passed the tests once repaired. He never did find out why the first one failed the way it did.

Maybe simply a defective component?

[bd139]

FK87V  - that one is OK for electricians , it is doing only  VERY, VERY  basic staff, it is USELESS for several BASIC electronic mesurements which are  needed even for simple repairs like FM tunner repair. If I  would do something with car  - I will take FK87V, but not for electronics,  even a cheap Unit-y multimeter is sometime a better choice than FK87V.  FK87V is also quite BAD with measuring LOW values like for small current.

Not sure what you're doing specifically but I'm using mine for electronics repair (specialist test gear) and RF / transmitter design. The thing is totally bomb proof, does mV/uA DC measurements perfectly fine and does everything fast and reliably. Count is fine for most tasks. It's absolutely spot on for ALL purposes which is the advantage of the thing. I can be sitting there measuring leakage one minute, then fixing the dryer the next minute. There's a huge amount of value in that.

As I said earlier I use one of my Fluke 8010A units, which is far lesser specified meter but incredibly convenient.

I have a BM867S and the 87V is a way better meter for every day use.

[EEVblog]

The new-ish Brymen BM839 is designed to compete directly with the Fluke 87V, I have one on my bench now for evaluation (possible rebadge), EU$169 from Welectron.

[EEVblog]

U1242C - that one has only 10000 digits therefore useless for plenty of electronic tasks/repairs, even worst that FK87V.

Nothing at all wrong with a 10000 digit meter.
If you need more resolution, sure, buy more, but it's hardly "useless"

[EEVblog]

I heard about that Fluke 87V is discontinued. Is it true?

No way they would discontinue their highest selling meter.

[Hydrawerk]

The new-ish Brymen BM839

I am not sure why I would buy a BM839 instead of BM869s, if I want a high resolution. Someone might like that it is powered by 4 AA cells. 

[Hydrawerk]

BM869S  -  that one is quite OK . I would only complain small rotary switch

Yes, the switch could be bigger. I think that most Flukes have a better rotary switch. But I am quite happy with my BM829S.

[Al75]

How safe is buy "brand new" Fluke 87V on EbayUK for ~300€? Seller reputation looks good, by reviews sold Flukes before.

[rsjsouza]

The new-ish Brymen BM839 is designed to compete directly with the Fluke 87V, I have one on my bench now for evaluation (possible rebadge), EU$169 from Welectron.

They will be very successful if they keep Brymen's excellent feature that recalls prior settings - something the 87V lacks by defaulting to AC.

The new-ish Brymen BM839

I am not sure why I would buy a BM839 instead of BM869s, if I want a high resolution. Someone might like that it is powered by 4 AA cells. 

TCO could be significant favourable for Brymen depending on the country: a 9V battery can have a significantly higher cost when compared to AAs - not to mention the longer lifespan.

Obviously that 3 year warranty is something that pales in comparison to Fluke's lifetime.