U1272a availability + quality issues

[dadler]

FYI I have searched and couldn't find anything recent that covered these questions.

I have a Fluke 287 and want to get a second meter as a sanity check, and for concurrently metering voltage and current. The U1272A seems like the best fit.

1) Tequipment.net shows the u1272a as a "discontinued product". I doubt this is true? Keysight still shows it on their website.
2) Is there a preferred vendor for the U1272A ? Newark has it for a decent price, but if anyone knows of any good deals let me know. I'd prefer Tequipment but they don't really seem big on Agilent products.
3) There have been issues with this product both firmware and quality wise (especially this thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/agilent-u1272a-crappy-soldering/ ). Can I assume that all these issues have been addressed in new stock of the U1272A, or is anyone aware of any outstanding issues?

Thanks

[electr_peter]

1) Tequipment.net shows the u1272a as a "discontinued product". I doubt this is true? Keysight still shows it on their website.
2) Is there a preferred vendor for the U1272A ? Newark has it for a decent price, but if anyone knows of any good deals let me know. I'd prefer Tequipment but they don't really seem big on Agilent products.

Where are you based? There is no country flag. In Europe TME or Farnell are reputable as well as local distributors.

3) There have been issues with this product both firmware and quality wise (especially this thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/agilent-u1272a-crappy-soldering/ ). Can I assume that all these issues have been addressed in new stock of the U1272A, or is anyone aware of any outstanding issues?

No serious issues that I recall with newer meters. Only two things to remember - 1) if you turn off turn on beep, continuity does not beep and vice versa; 2) turned off meter has 1.7 kOhm impedance (same as LoZ mode).

Newest firmware is 2.04. FW has not gone crazy yet on my meter. Soldering is good (no issues with bad solder paste), some units have additional wire soldered for 10 amps jack (again, no issues here). Buttons, rotary dial and LCD are all good.

[Circuitous]

I have been using two of these for over a year and they are doing fine.
If you're in the USA check out testequity.com. they have these on sale right now.

[LaurentR]

Unfortunately Tequipment.net is not an authorized Agilent dealer, and while they do sell some Agilent gear (I bought a 34461A from them), they don't have the general availability or price flexibility of some of the other dealers. Actually I asked them about the U1272A on Monday and they don't have stock and have a long lead time. That's too bad because they are great otherwise.

If you can wait a bit, you can get one at Zoro. They run somewhat regular site wide promotions. Until Sunday they actually had a 20% off coupon that you could apply to the U1272A at a base price of $370. Not bad.

[dadler]

Where are you based? There is no country flag. In Europe TME or Farnell are reputable as well as local distributors.

Whoops, I populated my country now. USA, California.

No serious issues that I recall with newer meters. Only two things to remember - 1) if you turn off turn on beep, continuity does not beep and vice versa; 2) turned off meter has 1.7 kOhm impedance (same as LoZ mode).

Newest firmware is 2.04. FW has not gone crazy yet on my meter. Soldering is good (no issues with bad solder paste), some units have additional wire soldered for 10 amps jack (again, no issues here). Buttons, rotary dial and LCD are all good.

Thank you for the data. All of the quality issues historically reported left me a bit apprehensive, but I would expect Agilent/Keysight to remedy these issues permanently and it sounds like they have.

[nanofrog]

I have a Fluke 287 and want to get a second meter as a sanity check, and for concurrently metering voltage and current. The U1272A seems like the best fit.

What are you using for your criteria of "best fit"?

1) Tequipment.net shows the u1272a as a "discontinued product". I doubt this is true? Keysight still shows it on their website.

Likely TEquipment decided to cease carrying it for some sort of business decision, hence the discontinued notice on their page.
 

2) Is there a preferred vendor for the U1272A ? Newark has it for a decent price, but if anyone knows of any good deals let me know. I'd prefer Tequipment but they don't really seem big on Agilent products.

Multiple authorized distributors out there, so give them a call for lowest pricing (distributors have the ability to offer better pricing over the phone, as they can only publish $$$ within the terms of their distributor agreements).

If you're strictly looking to do everything online, Transcat or TestEquity have the lowest prices I've seen (both @ $336.42).

[LaurentR]

If you're strictly looking to do everything online, Transcat or TestEquity have the lowest prices I've seen (both @ $336.42).

Agilent is running a 11% off promotion on the U1272A and other HHDMMs until March 31, thus the low prices at authorized resellers like TestEquity and Transcat. Also probably the reason for the long lead times and out-of-stockness of some resellers.

[dadler]

I have a Fluke 287 and want to get a second meter as a sanity check, and for concurrently metering voltage and current. The U1272A seems like the best fit.

What are you using for your criteria of "best fit"?

"Best fit" is my entirely subjective way of saying that I want another meter with similar accuracy and build quality compared to my 287, but would rather not have two Flukes. Seems better (to me) to have a different meter entirely, with perhaps different features, as a sort of adjunct the the 287. I suppose I'm looking for a non-Fluke counterpart with accuracy/build quality/general feature set comparable to the 87V. If you have other suggestions, I'm glad to hear them.

1) Tequipment.net shows the u1272a as a "discontinued product". I doubt this is true? Keysight still shows it on their website.

Likely TEquipment decided to cease carrying it for some sort of business decision, hence the discontinued notice on their page.
 

2) Is there a preferred vendor for the U1272A ? Newark has it for a decent price, but if anyone knows of any good deals let me know. I'd prefer Tequipment but they don't really seem big on Agilent products.

Multiple authorized distributors out there, so give them a call for lowest pricing (distributors have the ability to offer better pricing over the phone, as they can only publish $$$ within the terms of their distributor agreements).

If you're strictly looking to do everything online, Transcat or TestEquity have the lowest prices I've seen (both @ $336.42).

Thanks for the info. 

[Lightages]

Another alternative? Easy for me to say, the Brymen BM869, or BM525. Search around and see.

[nanofrog]

"Best fit" is my entirely subjective way of saying that I want another meter with similar accuracy and build quality compared to my 287, but would rather not have two Flukes. Seems better (to me) to have a different meter entirely, with perhaps different features, as a sort of adjunct the the 287. I suppose I'm looking for a non-Fluke counterpart with accuracy/build quality/general feature set comparable to the 87V. If you have other suggestions, I'm glad to hear them.

I'm with Lightages here, you would really do yourself a favor and take a long look at Brymen.

If you're still interested in Keysight, the U1252B is better suited for electronics (and a direct competitor to the Fluke 287/9 series). The Brymen BM869 is also comparable with the U1252B & 287/9 models, but can be had for less (TME's BM869 page here).

Brymen's BM25x (257 in particular), BM52x, and BM82x will be closer to the 87V, with some extra/different features (i.e. do you want logging or not, and so on). The BM85x series is the predecessor to the BM86x series (no dual display, and the backlight is different).

[LaurentR]

How is the Brymen PC software? It looks like Agilent made some good progress on theirs (and they have a wireless option).

[dadler]

"Best fit" is my entirely subjective way of saying that I want another meter with similar accuracy and build quality compared to my 287, but would rather not have two Flukes. Seems better (to me) to have a different meter entirely, with perhaps different features, as a sort of adjunct the the 287. I suppose I'm looking for a non-Fluke counterpart with accuracy/build quality/general feature set comparable to the 87V. If you have other suggestions, I'm glad to hear them.

I'm with Lightages here, you would really do yourself a favor and take a long look at Brymen.

If you're still interested in Keysight, the U1252B is better suited for electronics (and a direct competitor to the Fluke 287/9 series). The Brymen BM869 is also comparable with the U1252B & 287/9 models, but can be had for less (TME's BM869 page here).

Brymen's BM25x (257 in particular), BM52x, and BM82x will be closer to the 87V, with some extra/different features (i.e. do you want logging or not, and so on). The BM85x series is the predecessor to the BM86x series (no dual display, and the backlight is different).

Ahh, these are good options. Thanks. I'll do some more research.

[dadler]

Well after further research, and discovering that the U1252B has a square wave generator that I convinced myself I just had to have, I ordered a BM869 from TME. 

Unfortunately they are out of stock on the data logging interface, so I'll have to get that later.

Thanks for showing me the way, that my original path was misguided compared to my goals.