Sperry DMMs - Opinions?

[DaveC]

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,

 

[Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover]

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.

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.

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[Walter Harley]

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.

 

[Mjolinor]

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.

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.

 

[James Sweet]

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.

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.

 

[Jerry G.]

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
=========================================

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,

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.

 

[DaveC]

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 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,

 

[Philip Pemberton]

In message <[email protected]>

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
(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.

 

[Mat Nieuwenhoven]

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

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

 

[DaveC]

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.

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]

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?

 

[Richie]

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,

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


--

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http://www.richie086.com

"The only thing better than sitting outside and
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