New Keysight Bench Multimeter - EDU34450A - 5.5 Digit, Colour

[killingtime]

Keysight have a new bench multimeter for sale. EDU34450A.

It's for the educational sector. Manual \ Specifications and pictures attached.

It has a wide & thin form factor like a modern DSO. Useful if you have limited bench space or want to move it around (no battery though).

The electrical specs seem just average for a 5.5 digit multimeter.

Things I noticed;

.Only a 3A current range.
.Thermistor temp measurement (not thermocouple).
. Big colour display.
. USB and LAN connectivity as standard w\free software. SCPI.
. No options to enable (that's a first..)
. Street price between 660 and 870 GBP (inc. tax).

http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/EDU34450-90002.pdf

[rvalente]

They really should drop this black design trend, that's awful.

Lets wait for the hacks!

[killingtime]

They're bringing out other instruments in this colour too. Only one of the instruments in the picture below is a DSO.

I think I know why the meter only comes with a 3A input. It's designed to complement the power supply in the EDU range, which has a max output of 3A/90W.

Attached.

[rvalente]

Well, they're definitely reusing the front facia, maybe a cost saving in tooling?

Anyway, is great to see Keysight competing with lower cost brands, we only gain with it

[SimonD]

And here you can find the service guide:

http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/EDU34450-90014.pdf

[tooki]

They really should drop this black design trend, that's awful.

Lets wait for the hacks!

I like it a lot better than the pukey beige of the past, or the light beige that ages into pukey beige with age. I dunno why people dislike the black so much!

[ResistorRob]

To me the biggest drawback is no histogram or trend plotting. Would BenchVue have these features that I could just view externally?

[AVGresponding]

They really should drop this black design trend, that's awful.

Lets wait for the hacks!

I like it a lot better than the pukey beige of the past, or the light beige that ages into pukey beige with age. I dunno why people dislike the black so much!

I dislike it, it smacks of a try-hard attempt to make the brand appear more "trendy" or "cool".

From a practical pov, black shows the dust much more than beige, so they'll need cleaning much more often...

If the reason for using black plastic were to be something like better long term UV stability I guess I could learn to love it.

[Algoma]

They really should drop this black design trend, that's awful.

Lets wait for the hacks!

Same thing happened with Workstations back in the 90's / Early 2000 .. everything went black and silver now for over 20 years, including servers. Compaq/HP even changed all their equipment racks from beige to Black over 20 years ago. I guess test equipment is now following the trend.

[gslick]

And here you can find the service guide:

http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/EDU34450-90014.pdf

Also:

EDU34450A 5½ Digit Digital Multimeter User’s Guide
http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/EDU34450-90002.pdf

EDU34450A 5½ Digit Digital Multimeter Programming Guide
http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/EDU34450-90013.pdf

These manuals might not be officially released yet, and they might go through a few more revisions to clean them up before they are officially released. The properties of the first version of the EDU34450-90002.pdf manual that I found had a creation date of 1/19/2021, the one there currently has a creation date of 3/8/2021.

See also this earlier thread here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/keysight-new-instruments/

[Hydron]

Not everything is black or beige - go look at the old Keithleys!
(at least they don't go a nasty yellow like the beige ones)

[wizard69]

I kinda like the front panel.   The color doesn't bother me in fact I might end up preferring it.   What I really like, at least from what the pictures imply, is the nice ergonomic layout with large button and large on screen text.  I can see this panel design growing on people as they use it.

The specs I will have to think about!    I'd like to see HP take the same stance that Tesla and others are doing with over the air (or net) updates, that actually improve their products.   In all honestly I'm a bit tired of the "make them pay for already built in features" and the general lackluster support.   Rather I'd like to see Keysight actually improve the meter and its capabilities over time.

[tooki]

I kinda like the front panel.   The color doesn't bother me in fact I might end up preferring it.   What I really like, at least from what the pictures imply, is the nice ergonomic layout with large button and large on screen text.  I can see this panel design growing on people as they use it.

Yes! I’m liking the “compact DSO” form factor, especially since it gives it a gigantic display. (Isn’t this the largest display ever on a DMM??)

The specs I will have to think about!    I'd like to see HP take the same stance that Tesla and others are doing with over the air (or net) updates, that actually improve their products.   In all honestly I'm a bit tired of the "make them pay for already built in features" and the general lackluster support.   Rather I'd like to see Keysight actually improve the meter and its capabilities over time.

Nonononono to frequent updates! That approach just incentivizes manufacturers to spend even less up-front on proper firmware programming and debugging. We don’t wanna be their beta testers, not to mention that in some environments (admittedly, not education), a firmware update might require procedures to be recertified...

[Kleinstein]

The large display has some merits. However it is still relatively small for something like a demo experiment where a teacher does the experiment and students are to read the number from a distance (e.g. some 5 m).
There are some meters specially for this purpose with a large display (e.g. 57 or 100 mm 7 seg LED). The screen may be large enough, if the have a suitable display mode, even if this means dropping a digit or 2.

Quite often one does not really need the high resolution, but it is more about the ability to also resolve small voltages - in this respect I liked the HP3478 5.5 digit meter with a 30 mV range.

The main use for a large screen with a DMM on the bench would be a trend chart.
It would be kind of disappointing not to have it in a DMM in the form factor of a scope.

[Messtechniker]

To be really useful for educational purposes these instruments
should at least have a VGA output.

[Kleinstein]

There are different educational uses: demonstration to many viewers (which are not that cost sensitive)  and hand on experiments for the students which are more cost sensitive. The new series seems to try to serve both sides.

At least at the university in Germany many of the instruments one uses as a student for hands on experiments where more like older models, like used before in research and thus in parts also former really good ones.  So one got a pretty good look at old test instruments - in parts this was quite instructive, as the old instruments usually include a good instruction. It still makes sense to also learn to use modern instruments - who needs a differential voltmeter in 2020.

If they have a good LAN interface, it may be good enough to attach a small computer there and have a  large screen from there. VGA is slowly phased out - modern monitors start to no longer support VGA - more like display port only in the lower cost end.

[HKJ]

To me the biggest drawback is no histogram or trend plotting. Would BenchVue have these features that I could just view externally?

It would probably be fairly easy to support it in TestController https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/program-that-can-log-from-many-multimeters/, then you would have all the histogram and trend plotting you could wish for and a lot more.

[tooki]

There are different educational uses: demonstration to many viewers (which are not that cost sensitive)  and hand on experiments for the students which are more cost sensitive. The new series seems to try to serve both sides.

At least at the university in Germany many of the instruments one uses as a student for hands on experiments where more like older models, like used before in research and thus in parts also former really good ones.  So one got a pretty good look at old test instruments - in parts this was quite instructive, as the old instruments usually include a good instruction. It still makes sense to also learn to use modern instruments - who needs a differential voltmeter in 2020.

If they have a good LAN interface, it may be good enough to attach a small computer there and have a  large screen from there. VGA is slowly phased out - modern monitors start to no longer support VGA - more like display port only in the lower cost end.

We just had a visit from the Keysight rep this morning at the training center I work at. I asked about this, and basically, they do offer VGA output modules for all the scope models above the entry level series. The idea is that the teacher has a higher end unit, while the student units are simpler and cheaper. With that said, the student devices do have USB, so he said most teachers these days connect to a PC via USB and then share the PC’s screen to the projector.

[2N3055]

There are different educational uses: demonstration to many viewers (which are not that cost sensitive)  and hand on experiments for the students which are more cost sensitive. The new series seems to try to serve both sides.

At least at the university in Germany many of the instruments one uses as a student for hands on experiments where more like older models, like used before in research and thus in parts also former really good ones.  So one got a pretty good look at old test instruments - in parts this was quite instructive, as the old instruments usually include a good instruction. It still makes sense to also learn to use modern instruments - who needs a differential voltmeter in 2020.

If they have a good LAN interface, it may be good enough to attach a small computer there and have a  large screen from there. VGA is slowly phased out - modern monitors start to no longer support VGA - more like display port only in the lower cost end.

We just had a visit from the Keysight rep this morning at the training center I work at. I asked about this, and basically, they do offer VGA output modules for all the scope models above the entry level series. The idea is that the teacher has a higher end unit, while the student units are simpler and cheaper. With that said, the student devices do have USB, so he said most teachers these days connect to a PC via USB and then share the PC’s screen to the projector.

Don't want to rain on anybody's parade, but...

With Keysight you need at least 2000X series to be able to add VGA/LAN module to it.
That module alone costs as much as entry level scope.
And 2000X is really very primitive scope by today's standards. On the other side of the spectrum, for instance, you have MicSig that has more capability, 10X more memory, higher resolution, and HDMI connector to connect to big screen. And they are very small and compact on the desk. Perfect for this task.

Cheaper Micsigs cost as much as Keysight VGA module alone (without the scope).

[Hydron]

Some instruments are offering virtual display+control panels on their web UI. My RTB2004 does this (extremely well, and without any plugins etc needed), and apparently the DMM6500 does a similar thing (haven't tried it yet, my unit is delayed in transit  ). I believe that the older KS multimeters did too, but with some java thing that doesn't work these days?

Seems more convenient to use the PC they are already presenting from than try and find a VGA adaptor or a HDMI cable, just load up a browser window (though the instrument needs to be on the network).

Edit: DMM6500 arrived, web UI is pretty laggy compared to the RTB2004 (a few Hz update rate, vs the 10s of Hz that the scope can do), but would still be perfectly usable for a demo. (Also will be useful for the calibration I need to do on my SMU - can have the web-GUI meter display window right next to the GPIB comms tool I'm using to enter the cal commands).

[wizard69]

Nonononono to frequent updates! That approach just incentivizes manufacturers to spend even less up-front on proper firmware programming and debugging. We don’t wanna be their beta testers, not to mention that in some environments (admittedly, not education), a firmware update might require procedures to be recertified...

Well lets make the updates optional then!   The one thing, that screams out with this meter is that a lot of capability was apparently left out of the unit.    Maybe that is a time to market thing, or marketing stupidity or who knows; what I do know is that beautiful display could be doing a lot more.

Beyond that if the unit is truly targeting the EDU market, certification or validation should not matter.    I do understand the horrors of firmware updates in a regulated environment so I'm not dismissing that, however Keysight has a whole line of instruments that can be as stone.   On the flips side many users simply don't care and the EDU line would be a good way to get improvements out to users that want them.   More so most "education" related users, often on extremely tight budgets, would welcome better support.  Keysight might actually increase sales if schools knew that the hardware will remain viable for years.

[Bassman59]

I don't need a VGA, or any other video, port on my voltmeter, thanks. It's not like I have a spare monitor sitting around that I can dedicate to looking at voltages. And VGA? While I know there are arguments about "the educational market is lowest-common denominator and classrooms are still using the VGA-only projectors they bought 20 years ago," I don't buy that. VGA is dead, stop asking for VGA ports on things that won't get used and just add cost.

Probbaly VGA because it's easier/cheaper to implement than HDMI, and probably comes for free in the applications processor they are using.

[nctnico]

Keysight have a new bench multimeter for sale. EDU34450A.

It's for the educational sector. Manual \ Specifications and pictures attached.

It has a wide & thin form factor like a modern DSO. Useful if you have limited bench space or want to move it around (no battery though).

The electrical specs seem just average for a 5.5 digit multimeter.

Things I noticed;

.Only a 3A current range.
.Thermistor temp measurement (not thermocouple).
. Big colour display.
. USB and LAN connectivity as standard w\free software. SCPI.
. No options to enable (that's a first..)
. Street price between 660 and 870 GBP (inc. tax).

That seems rather expensive. The 34461A, which is a full fledged 6.5 digit DMM, costs around 980 GBP.

[Hydron]

When I was looking the 34461A was slightly more than 980 if you included VAT, but yeah the new one is still a bit pricey for 5.5 digits. Alternatively DMM6500 has a decent sized screen and sw isn't crippled and is £850+VAT without any discount.

[simone.pignatti]

yes BenchVue will do the job