Sperry DMMs - Opinions?

D

DaveC

Guest
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

http://tinyurl.com/xzkz

Has anyone had any experience with this model? Please tell all.

Thanks,
--
DaveC
me@privacy.net
This is an invalid return address
Please reply in the news group
 
"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

http://tinyurl.com/xzkz

Has anyone had any experience with this model? Please tell all.

Thanks,
--
DaveC
Click to expand...
Let me first say that I have absolutely no experience with this particular
meter and I'm sure that it's more than adequate for many purposes. The
larger question is what exactly do you want to use the meter for, at what
skill level are you in terms of electrical measurements, where would you
like them to be at some indeterminate time down the road, and how long do
you want this instrument to last.

As a general rule, when you try to fit ten pounds of shit into a one pound
bag, something's gotta give at the margins. Very often, it's reliability.
Some of my best test equipment is thirty five years old and counting. Do you
think the DM-9100 will last that long?...half that long?...a quarter than
long?

Me? I would try to figure out what specific measurement was most important
to me, and then get a piece of equipment dedicated toward that end, and
screw the bells and whistles that some marketing guy decided would best sell
the product.
 
In article <vt3iqdo26ro57@corp.supernews.com>, no.spam@no.spam.us
says...

<snippety>

As a general rule, when you try to fit ten pounds of shit into a one pound
bag, something's gotta give at the margins. Very often, it's reliability.
Some of my best test equipment is thirty five years old and counting. Do you
think the DM-9100 will last that long?...half that long?...a quarter than
long?

Me? I would try to figure out what specific measurement was most important
to me, and then get a piece of equipment dedicated toward that end, and
screw the bells and whistles that some marketing guy decided would best sell
the product.
Click to expand...
I will second this, and add a round of applause! The 'minimalist'
approach to test gear definitely has merit where multimeters are
concerned.

Example: I bought my original Fluke 77 (this was LONG before the
'Series III') in 1984. Here it is, nearly 20 years later, and the thing
is not only still working but it's still in calibration.

I believe, in that time, I've calibrated it twice and replaced the
battery three times. It will probably outlast me at this rate.

Now THAT's reliability!


--
Dr. Anton Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR)
kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t c&o&m
Motorola Radio Programming & Service Available -
http://www.bluefeathertech.com/rf.html
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (Red Green)
 
In article <vt3iqdo26ro57@corp.supernews.com>, no.spam@no.spam.us
mentioned...
"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

http://tinyurl.com/xzkz

Has anyone had any experience with this model? Please tell all.

Thanks,
--
DaveC

Let me first say that I have absolutely no experience with this particular
meter and I'm sure that it's more than adequate for many purposes. The
larger question is what exactly do you want to use the meter for, at what
skill level are you in terms of electrical measurements, where would you
like them to be at some indeterminate time down the road, and how long do
you want this instrument to last.

As a general rule, when you try to fit ten pounds of shit into a one pound
bag, something's gotta give at the margins. Very often, it's reliability.
Some of my best test equipment is thirty five years old and counting. Do you
think the DM-9100 will last that long?...half that long?...a quarter than
long?
Click to expand...
I bought a brand-new Fluke 75 DMM and it worked fine for more than a
year, with intermittent use, sometimes on weekends, not on a daily
basis. Well, more than a year later, I turned it off but it wouldn't
turn off. Something went wrong with the rotary switch. So I packed
it up and shipped it to Fluke for repair since it was under warranty
for 3 yrs. It came back repaired and cal'd, and has worked fine for
more than a decade. So the moral of the story is that you can still
get a dud even when buying a very reputable and well-made DMM. And it
helps to have a good warranty.

And I would avoid those meters like the one that Radio Scrap sells,
even tho they're okay for home use. If you read the back label, it
says not for commercial use, or something to that effect. In other
words, if you use it on the job, they won't warranty it. I assume
that means it's light-weight and under-built.

I bought a half dozen DMMs from Futurlec for 6 bucks each, _with_
battery(!) I opened one of them and the test leads didn't have
continuity, so I used some other leads laying around. The meter
worked okay, but the test leads are crap. But at that price I didn't
expect much. If one breaks, it ends up in the scrap heap. ;-)
I still have five more. :p


Me? I would try to figure out what specific measurement was most important
to me, and then get a piece of equipment dedicated toward that end, and
screw the bells and whistles that some marketing guy decided would best sell
the product.
Click to expand...

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:
Click to expand...
A number of people on these groups, including me, have been happy with the
AADE LC meter kit. Inexpensive, works well.
 
"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:MPG.1a3ba962241b8a849899e3@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <vt3iqdo26ro57@corp.supernews.com>, no.spam@no.spam.us
mentioned...

"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance.
I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

http://tinyurl.com/xzkz

Has anyone had any experience with this model? Please tell all.

Thanks,
--
DaveC

Let me first say that I have absolutely no experience with this
particular
meter and I'm sure that it's more than adequate for many purposes. The
larger question is what exactly do you want to use the meter for, at
what
skill level are you in terms of electrical measurements, where would you
like them to be at some indeterminate time down the road, and how long
do
you want this instrument to last.

As a general rule, when you try to fit ten pounds of shit into a one
pound
bag, something's gotta give at the margins. Very often, it's
reliability.
Some of my best test equipment is thirty five years old and counting. Do
you
think the DM-9100 will last that long?...half that long?...a quarter
than
long?

I bought a brand-new Fluke 75 DMM and it worked fine for more than a
year, with intermittent use, sometimes on weekends, not on a daily
basis. Well, more than a year later, I turned it off but it wouldn't
turn off. Something went wrong with the rotary switch. So I packed
it up and shipped it to Fluke for repair since it was under warranty
for 3 yrs. It came back repaired and cal'd, and has worked fine for
more than a decade. So the moral of the story is that you can still
get a dud even when buying a very reputable and well-made DMM. And it
helps to have a good warranty.

And I would avoid those meters like the one that Radio Scrap sells,
even tho they're okay for home use. If you read the back label, it
says not for commercial use, or something to that effect. In other
words, if you use it on the job, they won't warranty it. I assume
that means it's light-weight and under-built.

I bought a half dozen DMMs from Futurlec for 6 bucks each, _with_
battery(!) I opened one of them and the test leads didn't have
continuity, so I used some other leads laying around. The meter
worked okay, but the test leads are crap. But at that price I didn't
expect much. If one breaks, it ends up in the scrap heap. ;-)
I still have five more. :p


Me? I would try to figure out what specific measurement was most
important
to me, and then get a piece of equipment dedicated toward that end, and
screw the bells and whistles that some marketing guy decided would best
sell
the product.
Click to expand...
Not wanting to be incredibly long winded about it, it's already been said.
Buy a fluke unless you need some of the "elaborate" functions, even a second
hand one they just work forever, properly.
 
Not wanting to be incredibly long winded about it, it's already been said.
Buy a fluke unless you need some of the "elaborate" functions, even a
second
hand one they just work forever, properly.
Click to expand...
Yes, and if they fail it's easy and reasonably priced to get them properly
services from the factory. Fluke is truly excellent, their meters are the
standard that everyone else compares to.
 
Example: I bought my original Fluke 77 (this was LONG before the
'Series III') in 1984. Here it is, nearly 20 years later, and the thing
is not only still working but it's still in calibration.
Click to expand...
I'll second the Fluke recomendation. Back in 1980 my boss bought 2 D-802 Flukes
for $200 each. They've worked flawlessly all this time. I got a Fluke 189 3
months ago and checked the old D-802 against a .25% newly calibated meter. The
results were amazing. The old D-802s were spot on after nearly 25 years of
abuse, and this isn't a once a month use. These things have been used 10 hours
a day, dropped on cement, spilled pop on, beat to a pulp, industial use test
instruments.
Ron
 
Get yourself a Fluke meter. It is a meter that will last you for life if
you take proper care of it. They have an excellent warranty, and will be
very stable for many years.

For light use, the 77 or equivalent is very good, and not expensive for the
quality.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
=========================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
=========================================


"Baphomet" <no.spam@no.spam.us> wrote in message
news:vt3iqdo26ro57@corp.supernews.com...

"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

http://tinyurl.com/xzkz

Has anyone had any experience with this model? Please tell all.

Thanks,
--
DaveC
Click to expand...
Let me first say that I have absolutely no experience with this particular
meter and I'm sure that it's more than adequate for many purposes. The
larger question is what exactly do you want to use the meter for, at what
skill level are you in terms of electrical measurements, where would you
like them to be at some indeterminate time down the road, and how long do
you want this instrument to last.

As a general rule, when you try to fit ten pounds of shit into a one pound
bag, something's gotta give at the margins. Very often, it's reliability.
Some of my best test equipment is thirty five years old and counting. Do you
think the DM-9100 will last that long?...half that long?...a quarter than
long?

Me? I would try to figure out what specific measurement was most important
to me, and then get a piece of equipment dedicated toward that end, and
screw the bells and whistles that some marketing guy decided would best sell
the product.
 
On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:25:56 -0800, Jerry G. wrote
(in message <bquhs3$bo$7@news.eusc.inter.net>):

Get yourself a Fluke meter. It is a meter that will last you for life if
you take proper care of it. They have an excellent warranty, and will be
very stable for many years.
Click to expand...
For all the Flukies out there, I *have* a Fluke DMM, thank you very much.

It doesn't do what I need, however: measure inductance. Nor does any Fluke
product. I checked with their sales department. No go. I'd considered Fluke
first, before any other option popped into my head. (Does that make me a
Flukie, too?), but I have to find another piece of equipment to do this.

Thanks,
--
DaveC
me@privacy.net
This is an invalid return address
Please reply in the news group
 
In message <MPG.1a3ba6b67bfcc0d4989b57@192.168.42.131>
Dr. Anton Squeegee <SpammersAreVermin@Dev.Null> wrote:

Example: I bought my original Fluke 77 (this was LONG before the
'Series III') in 1984. Here it is, nearly 20 years later, and the thing
is not only still working but it's still in calibration.
My example: Fluke 25, bought at auction about a year ago, seems to be RAF
Click to expand...
(British Royal Air Force) surplus - it's covered in "RAF Form nn Calibration
Seal" labels. The battery that was in there had completely corroded the
battery clip. Twenty minutes, a few inches of solder, a new battery clip and
a set of test probes (Maplin Precision Gold, nothing special) later and I
had a meter that worked perfectly. Still in perfect calibration after all
these years - I guess it's about twenty years old.
Oh, and it's built like a tank - it looks like it would survive a drop from a
moving car with nothing more than a few scratches. Heck, the plastic casing
is at least 6mm thick!
As for the battery, well, I've fitted it with an Eveready "Ultra Plus", soon
to be replaced with a Duracell PROCELL.

Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn RiscPC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem@despammed.com (valid address)| ViewFinder, Ethernet (Acorn AEH62),
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | 48xCD, ARCIN v6c, Teletext
He's DEAD, Jim. You get the Tricorder, I'll get his wallet!
 
"Walter Harley" <walterh@cafewalterNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:bqt5fs$s2a$0@216.39.172.65...
"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance.
I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

A number of people on these groups, including me, have been happy with the
AADE LC meter kit. Inexpensive, works well.
Click to expand...

http://my.integritynet.com.au/purdic/lc-meter-project.htm
 
On 6 Dec 2003 18:00:28 GMT, Walter Harley wrote:

"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBF6DAE500704181F0284600@news.individual.net...
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

A number of people on these groups, including me, have been happy with the
AADE LC meter kit. Inexpensive, works well.
Click to expand...
The AADE LC meter works very well indeed, and to my knowledge the only
reasonably priced unit that will measure very low capacitance (< 1pF) and
inductance values (nH range), which is what I bought it for. If you need to
measure above 1mH or 1uF, look elsewhere.

Mat Nieuwenhoven
 
On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 7:06:49 -0800, Mat Nieuwenhoven wrote:

The AADE LC meter works very well indeed, and to my knowledge the only
reasonably priced unit that will measure very low capacitance (< 1pF) and
inductance values (nH range), which is what I bought it for. If you need to
measure above 1mH or 1uF, look elsewhere.
Click to expand...
http://www.aade.com/lcmeter.htm

It measures up to 150 mH and 1.5 uF. Are you saying that it is inaccurate
when measuring these large values?
--
DaveC
me@privacy.net
This is an invalid return address
Please reply in the news group
 
"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBFB3D600117BC1FF0284600@news.individual.net...
http://www.aade.com/lcmeter.htm

It measures up to 150 mH and 1.5 uF. Are you saying that it is inaccurate
when measuring these large values?
Click to expand...

It only guarantees operation up to 100mH and 1uF. If you read the specs, it
says "most units will measure up to" 150mH and 1.5uF.
 
On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 12:24:59 -0800, Walter Harley wrote
(in message <vtcc2hc35rpo75@corp.supernews.com>):

"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBFB3D600117BC1FF0284600@news.individual.net...

http://www.aade.com/lcmeter.htm

It measures up to 150 mH and 1.5 uF. Are you saying that it is inaccurate
when measuring these large values?

It only guarantees operation up to 100mH and 1uF. If you read the specs, it
says "most units will measure up to" 150mH and 1.5uF.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Which makes me wonder why he said to not measure values above 1mH with
it... Maybe a misplaced decimal point?
--
DaveC
me@privacy.net
This is an invalid return address
Please reply in the news group
 
"DaveC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBFC7111014DC564F0284600@news.individual.net...
It only guarantees operation up to 100mH and 1uF. If you read the
specs, it
says "most units will measure up to" 150mH and 1.5uF.

Yeah. Which makes me wonder why he said to not measure values above 1mH
with
it... Maybe a misplaced decimal point?
Click to expand...
Oh, duh, I didn't see that either.

Yeah, I assume so. Certainly I've never had a problem using it on
inductances larger than 1mH, although I wouldn't have detected it if it were
(say) a few percent off.
 
DaveC wrote:
I'm looking for a meter that will measure inductance and capacitance. I've
come accross an AW Sperry DM-9100, used, for a decent price, I think:

http://tinyurl.com/xzkz

Has anyone had any experience with this model? Please tell all.

Thanks,
Click to expand...
The only problem i see with it is it dosent seem to have a lot of
different ranges to select for each type of meausurement (ohms, amps,
volts, etc).. im not such a big fan of auto ranging units..

Anyway, i own a BK Presicsion (sp) Tool Kit 2704B. It measures
tsistors hFE for NPN and PNP, caps, resistors, ac/dc, amps, freq,
conductance.. the only thing it dosent seeem to measure that
you may want is inductance and temp measurements.. I think
the next model up does that.. I got mine at frys electronics for
59.99 and it was worth every penny IMHO.. Only thing i wish it did was
lower cap value measurements (it ranges from 20uF to 200pF, so no
testing anything below 20uF) and no inductance setting..

i highly reccomend checking to see what BK presicsion has to offer,
just be sure to spell presicision right cuz im pretty sure im not
spelling it correctly :)


--

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Richie086
http://www.richie086.com

"The only thing better than sitting outside and
playing a banjo is sitting outside playing a banjo
made of the skulls of people that made fun of you in
elementry school."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top