In sci.electronics.design amdx wrote: : It's time, I need to purchase a new multimeter, home benchwork only. : I could work with a autorangeing meter as long as it's not slow. : AC, DC, volts, ohms, amps, capacitance ok but I have a cap meter. : I generally use a 0.1 ohm or 0.01 ohm resistor as a shunt to measure : current. : I'm looking at the Fluke meters, I want it to last 15 years, the one after : that will last my lifetime! I figure on spending around $200. : Any suggestions about another quality brand or Fluke Models?
Well, this is not a known quality brand, but I was very happy with my TENMA, I think the equivalent current model is the 72-7732.
181e in Farnell. Mine had a 80mV range with 10uV lowest count, which might come handy with your low value shunts. That range was very useful in SQUID work. The 72-7732 seems to have a 40mV range with same reso. My unit had a robust and solid feel and served me well for 3 or 4 years, and felt like it would serve much longer. Unfortunately British Airways lost my luggage last year and down that drain went the DMM, too.
Nowadays I'm using Agilent U1253A which is nice, except for the annoying start-up chime and the short battery life due to its OLED display. I should have gotten the LCD version. It has a range with 1uV lowest count - good. I also like the dual display AC/DC voltmeter mode, handy when checking gains of various amplifier stages as it separates the DC bias point from the AC test excitation. I guess the Agilent is above your budget, however.
Regards, Mikko