Fluke 101 selloff?

[BravoV]

Can you please let us know if continuity is shit?

Bought it because of it's size, also no current measurement hence won't hurt my neanderthal friends  , also one unique feature that I personally like is the banana terminals horizontal position, it suits to be placed inside tool box in my car as no protruding parts from the probes.

Yep, it is  , say compared to my work horse Fluke 189, but leave it for you to decide, 189 vs 101, and crank up the volume as you can hear the probe's metal pins when they're contacting/slamming each other either soft or hard.

Both used the same new probes that came with 101.

Fluke 189, fyi it uses chirping sound instead of beeping.




Fluke 101 .. to be honest no contest here.

[bd139]

Urgh that’s terrible. Thanks for posting. I’m not sure how they screw up such a simple feature. Actually I do know how. They use the ADC rather than a separate circuit. 

[Shock]

Urgh that’s terrible. Thanks for posting. I’m not sure how they screw up such a simple feature. Actually I do know how. They use the ADC rather than a separate circuit.

Would be deliberate, it's hard to miss. But not like most people who buy them would care, just like the missing True RMS and current features. If the Fluke 101 was super awesome it would eat into the sales of other meters.

The Chinese are also not allowed fast continuity. When nothing makes sense just add a suitable conspiracy theory and it explains everything.

[BravoV]

When nothing makes sense just add a suitable conspiracy theory and it explains everything.

Looking at the retail price < $40, its not conspiracy anymore, clearly Fluke loudly shows their intention to cripple down this 101, especially we've seen how Fluke can do more like 189 examples, which is a decades old design.

Wonder how much the 101's BOM includes labor, $10 ? 

Anyway, as I mentioned things I like about it, also for the price I bought, I'm fully content and basically can live with it's limitation.

[rsjsouza]

Fluke 189, fyi it uses chirping sound instead of beeping.

That is one thing that I really dislike about the 189... I like the beep clean, as I am frequently trying to evaluate intermittent contacts (cables, etc.) and the chirp throws me off. YMMV, of course.

[BravoV]

Fluke 189, fyi it uses chirping sound instead of beeping.

That is one thing that I really dislike about the 189... I like the beep clean, as I am frequently trying to evaluate intermittent contacts (cables, etc.) and the chirp throws me off. YMMV, of course.

C'mon, from a guy that developed a swimming style in his "sea" of DMMs (>30) ...   

If it its too perfect, where is the fun then ? 

[Fungus]

Urgh that’s terrible. Thanks for posting. I’m not sure how they screw up such a simple feature. Actually I do know how. They use the ADC rather than a separate circuit.

I don't think anybody here ever pretended the Fluke 101 could be your main multimeter.

OTOH it's cheap, it's safe, it's small, it's the sort of meter you can abuse without worrying too much (physically and electrically) and you can even let other people use it.

[rsjsouza]

Fluke 189, fyi it uses chirping sound instead of beeping.

That is one thing that I really dislike about the 189... I like the beep clean, as I am frequently trying to evaluate intermittent contacts (cables, etc.) and the chirp throws me off. YMMV, of course.

C'mon, from a guy that developed a swimming style in his "sea" of DMMs (>30) ...   

If it its too perfect, where is the fun then ? 

I actually love Uncle Scooge'a stories and grew up with Disney comics - we had tons in our collection and know several lines by heart (things that kids do). It is kinda sad that here in the US their distribution is so restricted... And in today's PC culture, probably 90% would be cancelled.

[BravoV]

OTOH it's cheap, it's safe, it's small, it's the sort of meter you can abuse without worrying too much (physically and electrically) and you can even let other people use it.

Also my other strong reason is this little tiny bugger survived the 13kV slaughtering by our resident Thor with his lightning test .. aka joeqsmith. 



Forgot to mention, it came with the well known to leak, genuine Energizer (made in Singapore) 2 x AAA Alkaline cells, suggesting to replace it asap, or at least detach from the DMM if you don't plan to use it soon as it will be forgotten, especially its not your main DMM, as leaving them too long will posed the risk of leaking. 

Instantly replaced mine with a freshly charged Eneloop upon 1st time unboxing & inspection.

[Fungus]

Mine arrived ...

The tracking info says mine is stuck at "customs". 

What should I do if they ask me for $30 tax? I'm not sure...

[Gandalf_Sr]

What planet are you on?

[Black Phoenix]

Mine arrived ...

The tracking info says mine is stuck at "customs". 

What should I do if they ask me for $30 tax? I'm not sure...

What planet are you on?

In Portugal that would if that happened: 15€ the documentation plus 23% over the total of the price of the item plus shipping. So it would be 30€ easily! Marking as Gift doesn't do anything against, declaring lower value also (I saw one time when I gone to pickup stuff, they inserting the item no from eBay for search on eBay and confirm the value declared).

[Fungus]

What planet are you on?

I dunno but whenever there's one of these multimeter-buying-frenzy threads I never get mine until two weeks after the thread has died off.

I'm not bitter over this. No, not a bit.

In Portugal that would if that happened: 15€ the documentation plus 23% over the total of the price of the item plus shipping. So it would be 30€ easily!

Same here in Spain. Here they charge the taxes plus a minimum of about 24 Euros "handling fees". It never seems to come out below 30 Euros.

[Gandalf_Sr]

I feel your pain. if I send gifts to my Granddaughter in the UK, the Customs there nearly always intercept them and demand taxes from my family before they will release the item.  They now have a system where they can go to the Post Office, pay the tax, and get the item.

Here in the USA, I have never been asked to pay duty on anything coming from anywhere.  I believe there's a $1,600 personal allowance (per year I assume) before the US customs even charge anything but I suspect that there's so many small packages coming in that they gave up bothering.

[Black Phoenix]

I feel your pain. if I send gifts to my Granddaughter in the UK, the Customs there nearly always intercept them and demand taxes from my family before they will release the item.  They now have a system where they can go to the Post Office, pay the tax, and get the item.

Here in the USA, I have never been asked to pay duty on anything coming from anywhere.  I believe there's a $1,600 personal allowance (per year I assume) before the US customs even charge anything but I suspect that there's so many small packages coming in that they gave up bothering.

That's exactly why now all my parcels goes to my Father's in Law that lives in Hong Kong, Hong Kong is a free port. There is no customs tariff on goods imported into Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government collects an excise duty on only four types of goods irrespective of whether they are imported or locally manufacturedd: tobacco, hydrocarbon oil, alcoholic beverages and methyl alcohol.

OFFTOPIC
I was writing for 15 min a long essay about my opinion over taxation of items, specially over items not sold in anyway in the destination country or over used items but I refrain of posting, it would cause a lot of controversy and probably I would look bad.

[Fungus]

Mine arrived! It got through customs with no charge and turned up today.

First impressions:

* It's small. About the same size as an Aneng 8008 but thinner and a lot heavier. Seems a lot more solid in comparison.

* Battery compartment has a mechanism that can be opened with a fingernail, no screwdriver needed.

* The leads are very, very long and a bit stiff, not silicone. It's obvious now why the 101's input sockets are on the bottom of the meter, it's because the shrouds on the leads are longer than the meter is thick.

* Range selector switch has a very light action. Very clicky.

* Screen is very readable from all angles. No backlight though.

* All the readings seem to be spot on down to the last digit. Much more accurate than the advertised 0.5%.

* Continuity test isn't fast but it's also not the slowest I've ever seen. It's loud enough.

* Ohms autoranging is fast.

* Diode test voltage is 2.4V open, much higher than the 2.0V specified in the manual. It lights up a blue LED at 0.3mA(!)

* Millivolts range is AC only, so no current measurement with shunts on that range. 

Edit: I think I'm going to use it with the leads from an Aneng for non-mains stuff. They're a much more manageable length, and more flexible.

[BravoV]

Congratz and also for the no customs charge. 

[rsjsouza]

Thanks for the impressions, Fungus. Usually I only hear about how the 101 is cheap AND a Fluke.

[Shock]

I think I'm going to use it with the leads from an Aneng for non-mains stuff. They're a much more manageable length, and more flexible.

It needs Probe Masters and Lithium rechargeable batteries, chuck another $40 at it for the full immersive experience.

[Fungus]

The screen isn't a flat curve. You can't put a piece of 'phone screen protector on it, the corners lift up. 

Mine came with a couple of Energizer batteries in it. I don't know if that's a factory thing or if the seller put them there, I can't imagine Fluke boxing up a meter with batteries installed though.

Power consumption is about 1mA. Batteries should last a long time.

[Shock]

No need for screen protectors, 20 years later and a little bit of plastic polish it will look like new .

Make sure they aren't Chenergizer fakes. They are cheaper over there but if they don't come with the meter as standard then there is a high chance of them being fakes, especially if lithium.

[BravoV]

* It's small. About the same size as an Aneng 8008 but thinner and a lot heavier. Seems a lot more solid in comparison.

If you managed to open it, just pay attention to the case yellow plastic, its like Fluke uses a very sturdy, yet strong but not easy to crack material, and that piece of small plastic it self is quite heavy.

Subjectively, yes, its just feel really firm & solid. 

[bc888]

I thought Fluke suggested you don't ship meters with batteries inside? Regardless, both arrived with batteries inside and were working fine and looking great, thanks for the heads up -I love Fluke stuff. I don't "need" them, nor do I "need the others (Daves BM235, a 189 II data logging Fluke, A Tektronix 850, a Fluke 27II, 7 Fluke 27/FM multiple Chinese lightweight affairs) but separating one's "needs" and ones "wants" isn't always necessary.  . I'll be selling some of them soon and it won't be the Tek or the BM235.  7 of the 27/fms seems excessive and needless... I guess.

[Electro Detective]

Fluke 189, fyi it uses chirping sound instead of beeping.

That is one thing that I really dislike about the 189... I like the beep clean, as I am frequently trying to evaluate intermittent contacts (cables, etc.)

and the chirp throws me off. YMMV, of course.

The 189 buzzer chirp was driving me nuts >>> TOO LOUD 

so I opened it up and strategically put a small tab of electrical tape on the buzzer thingie to tone it down.
You can double or triple the tab layer for the volume level that suits, whilst the meter is powered in the cont/buzzer mode,
and it's an undo-able cheap 'hack' 

Works great now, no more jumping out of the chair, rattled brains,
or cats knocking over food and water bowls running for cover   

fwiw and millions may disagree just because they can, but 189 still has THE fastest cont/buzzer out of all the Flukes,
winning by a nose if all competitors have clean lead probes and meter sockets.

Speaking of competitors, many other brands big dollar meters have woeful continuity buzzer response,
useless half baked products for serious troubleshooting of electronics and electricals, as far as I'm concerned. 

[Fungus]

fwiw and millions may disagree just because they can, but 189 still has THE fastest cont/buzzer out of all the Flukes,
winning by a nose if all competitors have clean lead probes and meter sockets.

Nah, that's the 8060A.