NEW Fluke 87-VI Multimeter

[Fungus]

their main defects where the supercap ....

That's why mine's a 187 - no supercap.

I don't need the 189's internal data logging function, so... bigger numbers aren't always better.

[H.O]

I've got an original 87, a small 101, a 233 with the remote display, a 175 and then the 189.
The 189 is, by far, the one I use the most, it is just rock solid.

I've must've missed the supercap issue, does it leak and eat the PCB? Should I replace it before it's too late?

[2N3055]

Well problems or not (I assume they could be fixed now they know about it), it is general fact that 187/189 is considered by many as "best" meter they made.

If they want to make something "new" they shouldn't design anything new, or even have to make stupid market research.

Simply bring back 187/189. Full specification is there. Just make technology refresh. Keep LCD display. No OLED crap.

If I could buy brand new 189 today, I would. But, not if it will  be 1500 USD. Price of 87V today is also cretinously high.

[Fungus]

The 189 is, by far, the one I use the most, it is just rock solid.

I've must've missed the supercap issue, does it leak and eat the PCB? Should I replace it before it's too late?

Yes.

It can also drain the battery like crazy even if it doesn't leak.

If you don't need it then just remove it. All you lose is the data logging and the time of day.

[Fungus]

Price of 87V today is also cretinously high.

Big corporation and government contract pricing. 

They simply aren't worth it if you can get hold of a Brymen.

Even the famous warranty doesn't mean much when you can buy three Brymens for the price of one Fluke.

[BeBuLamar]

Price of 87V today is also cretinously high.

Big corporation and government contract pricing. 

They simply aren't worth it if you can get hold of a Brymen.

Even the famous warranty doesn't mean much when you can buy three Brymens for the price of one Fluke.

I had the original 87 bought in 1988. It had bad display and so I had them fixed it in the mid 90's under warranty. Until 2004 it once again had bad display and I sent it in they don't fix it any more. So the lifetime warranty doesn't cover their or my lifetime.

[Everett_Tom]

I know what it says, since I do this crazy thing called “reading it before posting it”.

However, your original comment, to which I was replying, said “DMMs”. I then used the word “multimeters”. The job listing says “meters”. And while all DMMs are multimeters, and all multimeters are meters, not all meters are DMMs. Fluke makes a whole stable of other meters. So we can’t necessarily infer from the job listing that they will do multimeter development in Poland.

Of course, though, I clearly missed what you meant by it, which is why I noted it. I appreciate you taking the time to help me catch up to what you were saying

[J-R]

"I don't understand gravity or celestial mechanics, so the earth must be flat and the moon landing was a hoax."
"I don't understand why people would buy a Fluke, so it must just be big corporations and government contracts."

Anyway, there is a Fluke 87V w/AC clamp deal right now on Amazon for $476.98:
https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-87V-IMSK-Industrial-Multimeter/dp/B004HDUNQ2/
Some other deals to be found too...

[Fungus]

Anyway, there is a Fluke 87V w/AC clamp deal right now on Amazon for $476.98:
https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-87V-IMSK-Industrial-Multimeter/dp/B004HDUNQ2/
Some other deals to be found too...

a) They won't ship to me
b) My BM857s cost me a third of that "deal"

[linux-works]

any mechanical designers out there want to help?

I have a diy POC working with an esp-01 chip and a coin cell battery.

the next step is to make some small enclosure that fits around a DMM test probe (or maybe replaces it?) and has this button circuit.

if anyone wants to help, we can get this moving along.  the hardware and firmware is not hard; the hard part is making something you'd WANT to hold and be slim enough or hand-friendly enough so that its useful in real life.

I think we can do better than that photo mock-up from fluke.

[Everett_Tom]

any mechanical designers out there want to help?

I have a diy POC working with an esp-01 chip and a coin cell battery.

the next step is to make some small enclosure that fits around a DMM test probe (or maybe replaces it?) and has this button circuit.

if anyone wants to help, we can get this moving along.  the hardware and firmware is not hard; the hard part is making something you'd WANT to hold and be slim enough or hand-friendly enough so that its useful in real life.

I think we can do better than that photo mock-up from Fluke.

Have you considered just purchasing an off-the-shelf BLE button? I know I've seen some small ones used for accessories for Selfie-sticks that just act like a BLE keyboard. Alternatively, I think the Fluke 1587 has test leads with a nice build in button that you may be able to use (The Fluke TP-165x is super expensive https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/accessories/probes/fluke-tp165x, but a knockoff one is like $20 https://www.amazon.com/ZIBOO-Megohmmeter-Insulation-Resistance-Multimeter/dp/B08DCLPDP9 )

[Fungus]

I have a diy POC working with an esp-01 chip and a coin cell battery.

I think we can do better than that photo mock-up from fluke.

That's the easy part.

How does it make things happen inside the multimeter?

[linux-works]

for my setup, the way I touch the DMM is via its digital interface and I'm limited to it being a one-way push.  for many, its two-way but you dont really need that.  nice to have, but not 100% needed for most tasks.

I'm polling the dmm and getting its value over optical.  my esp chip in that opto poller 'head unit' (literally sits on the dmm's head) will listen for espnow pings from the button and it will mark the current (last) value along with an ntp timestamp of the value.  log to nvram if you want or echo thru websockets to some remote target, etc.

but that's the overview.  a bit of hw that reads a meter and will mark the sample with time when it gets some remote indication.

I've been thinking more about this.  do I really want to make a nice probe awkward to hold?  I'm struggling to think of some 'clamp on' that wont make the probing annoying to use.  also, if you are in a tight area with your probe needle, pressing a button on the probe could very well cause it to slip and short where its not wanted.  what I'm now thinking is the better method is a wireless footswitch.  it accomplishes exactly the same thing, although less sexy.  but way more practical.  no probe movement, you use ANY probe you want (I like my probemasters) and the foot switch is 100% wireless so you locate it where you want.  comments about that approach?  would you use it, if you had some need for this?

the link on amazon on the special button probe is interesting.  I might buy one to just see if its usable.  I can intercept that button and the hardwork (plastic design) is already done.

[linux-works]

in terms of BLE, how quick can a pulse be sent across?  I dont normally think of ble as fast for latency. 

I avoided involving any AP and dhcp and went with espnow since its just 'throw wifi frame and exit', so its as fast as you can get.  I might add serial number to each button press so you can detect bounces or drops.

[tooki]

in terms of BLE, how quick can a pulse be sent across?  I dont normally think of ble as fast for latency. 

It’s fast enough that, other than for demanding gaming, the latency of keyboards and mice is not noticeable, whether on traditional Bluetooth or BLE.

In other words, it’s plenty fast for normal human interaction.

[linux-works]

once you are paired and any re-connects are done, then the flow is fast enough.

but if you are in sleep mode and you need to send one sample and then go back to hiber mode, that overhead on ble may still be too much.