Fluke DMM recommendations?

[Chris Jones]

John Larkin wrote:

On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:06:13 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
dave@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

In article <hn5lk49spiiglsmacju9f6mpjj8rlul84o@4ax.com>,
John Larkin <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
Think you'll find the Fluke *is* a Chinese meter...;-)

All of my Flukes, including my very nice new 8845A, say
"made in USA."

ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/MadeInUSA.JPG

Are any of their low-end things actually Chinese?

I got a flier from an electronics company the other day with some Fluke
models on special offer and that said they were made in China. They could
have been wrong, of course - you'd need to see the actual unit to be sure.

Everybody else - Agilent, Keithley, BNC, Wavetek - are selling their
names and shipping Chinese junk. The low-end Tek scopes are made in
China, but I think they're still Tek designs.

Just because it's designed/made in China doesn't make it junk. They are
perfectly capable of making high quality stuff as well as rubbish. You
need to blame the brand name if they allow crap to be sold using their
logo.


A lot of people are rebranding the Array boxes...

http://www.array.com.cn/yq-3400e.htm

http://www.berkeleynucleonics.com/products/model_645.html


http://www.keithley.com/products/pulsepatterngenerators/arbwaveform_function_generator/?mn=3390

http://www.picotest.com.tw/product03.html


http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=16&q=http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5968-8807EN.pdf&ei=E4ZBSbvnMpGYsAOIo7ifBA&usg=AFQjCNGOy0OeBDaV3zd0vzAUnHeYAvFmqw


I haven't used their arb, but their benchtop DVM (aka Keithley 2100)
*is* junk.

John

My old Metcal MX500 soldering iron is made in USA, my new one is made in
China. They are made to look the same when viewed from the front, but the
casing has been redesigned on the new one and I suspect that the internal
circuitry would probably have been cost-reduced as well - there were quite
a lot of nice parts used inside the old one. So far the only problem with
the new one is there seems to be a magnet in the stand that somehow shuts
off the heating when the iron is in the stand. It reheats quite fast, but
not quite fast enough for me. I might remove that magnet. I think it
might have been done because they offer a warranty on the tips, and we have
had quite a few fail and be replaced under warranty. Perhaps they are
trying to extend the tip life to cut their warranty costs - just my guess.

Chris

 

[Jamie]

DaveC wrote:

Have been using Fluke 73 and 77 handhelds in the field with good results. But
for Christmas I think I'd really like a backlit display under certain
conditions.

I see that the 87 is a common model. How many rev's have there been? It's now
87-V. What's the difference between all of revs? (I might go for a used one,
so I'd like to know how they differ...)

Other models? I don't need any fancy features such as frequency or duty
cycle, just basic VOA and maybe C. But it must be Fluke (tried a good Chinese
meter but found couldn't adjust to its design quirks), LCD, backlit, and use
common batteries (no proprietaries). 3.5 digit is OK.

Suggestions? Recommendations? Testimonials?

Thanks,
Get A 289, you won't go wrong!

http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5"

 

[Bill Shymanski]

David L. Jones wrote:

On Dec 19, 5:36 am, John Larkin
jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:16:13 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"

d...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
In article <0001HW.C56FC25301076716B01AD...@news.sf.sbcglobal.net>,
DaveC <m...@bogusdomain.net> wrote:
But it must be Fluke (tried a good Chinese
meter but found couldn't adjust to its design quirks)
Think you'll find the Fluke *is* a Chinese meter...;-)
All of my Flukes, including my very nice new 8845A, say
"made in USA."

ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/MadeInUSA.JPG

Are any of their low-end things actually Chinese?

The Fluke Chinese "market test" started with the experimental Fluke 19
released in the Asia Pacific market. Used the same chipset as the 87
at the time, and offered unbelievable value for money. It was too good
to be true, most Fluke 19's failed with all sorts of problems.
They learned a few things from that and the 110 series is now a lot
better, but still made in China.

They 170, 80, and higher models are all still made in the US last I
checked. Fluke have been careful to keep their Chinese meters separate
from their US made meter range. Only the US meters have the lifetime
warranty.

Dave.
I just skinned the holster off my Fluke 115 that I bought last winter at

Sears on a US trip ( Sears USA has *much* better tools than Sears
Canada, included the true laser distance meter that I picked up last
year) and all the meter says on the back is "Designed in USA" - which I
am sure means "Manufactured in China". Might not be a high end meter,
but it doesn't feel flimsy and it's really very good at verifying that
the wall plug is still 60.00 Hz and that a fresh battery is around 1.5
volts. It's certainly better than the 15-year-old Radio Shack multimeter
that used to be my bench meter...I seem to have good luck with these
things, I still have a 40 year old analog meter I was given as a kid.


Bill

 

[Choong Keat Yian]

Dave is right, China usually make junks and rubbish but that is for their others
brands and factories and they do have quality stuff but these Chinese "business
model" is different from Japanese when it comes to "brand power" and marketing,
just because Fluke is Made in China doesn't mean it has gone bad as it still a
Fluke US engineered designs, I have been using my US made Fluke 12 over 16 years
and it is still good and prime so the end note here is Made in China label is not
the question, it is the brand that is the core issue here.

Choong



Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article <hn5lk49spiiglsmacju9f6mpjj8rlul84o@4ax.com>,
John Larkin <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
Think you'll find the Fluke *is* a Chinese meter...;-)

All of my Flukes, including my very nice new 8845A, say
"made in USA."

ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/MadeInUSA.JPG

Are any of their low-end things actually Chinese?

I got a flier from an electronics company the other day with some Fluke
models on special offer and that said they were made in China. They could
have been wrong, of course - you'd need to see the actual unit to be sure.

Everybody else - Agilent, Keithley, BNC, Wavetek - are selling their
names and shipping Chinese junk. The low-end Tek scopes are made in
China, but I think they're still Tek designs.

Just because it's designed/made in China doesn't make it junk. They are
perfectly capable of making high quality stuff as well as rubbish. You
need to blame the brand name if they allow crap to be sold using their
logo.