Maker Pro
Maker Pro

turning a PC or laptop into a multimeter

T

Tim

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello. Does anyone know of a device which can plug into the
USB port of a laptop or PC and give that machine a function
of a working multimeter? Thanks in advance.
 
S

SQLit

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
Hello. Does anyone know of a device which can plug into the
USB port of a laptop or PC and give that machine a function
of a working multimeter? Thanks in advance.

google will find several

also a working o'scope

baffles me why anyone would use a lap top for that purpose. Make a mistake
and you have possibly lost a lot more than just a meter.
 
T

Tim

Jan 1, 1970
0
google will find several

I've looked, of course, but don't really know what to
look for in terms of usefulness to the field engineer
and reliability. Fluke do quite a few meters with PC
interface, and it's about time I upgraded, so I might
go for one of those.
also a working o'scope

baffles me why anyone would use a lap top for that purpose.

Don't tell me; you use an AVO 8, right?
Make a mistake
and you have possibly lost a lot more than just a meter.

That's another reason for my asking here; can they fry
my laptop, or do they have a fail-safe function to head
off that kind of, erm, inconvenience?
 
B

Ben Miller

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
I've looked, of course, but don't really know what to
look for in terms of usefulness to the field engineer
and reliability. Fluke do quite a few meters with PC
interface, and it's about time I upgraded, so I might
go for one of those.

It depends what you want to spend. If it is for serious work and you can
afford it, the Fluke 189 does it well, and is fully isolated so there is no
risk to the laptop.

Just a plug (no pun intended) from a satisfied owner.

Ben Miller
 
T

Tim

Jan 1, 1970
0
It depends what you want to spend. If it is for serious work and you can
afford it, the Fluke 189 does it well, and is fully isolated so there is no
risk to the laptop.

Just a plug (no pun intended) from a satisfied owner.

Ben Miller

It's got a two-level back light display as well. £250 - £300
might sound a bit steep for a hobbyist to those who don't
appreciate quality, but I think I'll manage to justify it. Thanks
for the recommendation; it's perfect for my needs.
 
T

Tim

Jan 1, 1970
0
The Metex M-3890D and M-3890DT (true RMS) multimeters have
USB interfaces. They're available from Electronix Express
<http://www.elexp.com/tst_3890.htm>. Price is $98/$116.

If you want a better quality meter, the Fluke 187 & 189 can
connect to a PC using a special cable and Flukeview Forms
software. This will cost about $500.

If you've got money to burn, you can get an Agilent 82357A
USB/GPIB adapter ($500) and a 34401A 6-1/2 digit DMM
($1,200).

The Fluke 189 is about as far as I dare go, and just what I
need. To be honest, I didn't realise that modern DMMs
were so easily compatible with PCs. I thought I had to have
a dedicated gizmo for that sort of thing. Thanks for your help.
 
S

SQLit

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
I've looked, of course, but don't really know what to
look for in terms of usefulness to the field engineer
and reliability. Fluke do quite a few meters with PC
interface, and it's about time I upgraded, so I might
go for one of those.


Don't tell me; you use an AVO 8, right?

No I do not have one of those. But I do have a couple of Simpson 260's. They
rarely come out of the box any more.
That's another reason for my asking here; can they fry
my laptop, or do they have a fail-safe function to head
off that kind of, erm, inconvenience?

Fail-safe, and electrical work is an double negitative, IMO.
I have seen stupids, ( we all know them ) fry a Fluke scope meter USING the
optical isolators. Not once but 3 times the guy did this. Even with the
isolators I would be extremely nervous connecting my laptop to a electrical
circuit.
I like to take my measurements, then as your discovering download the
information for the presentation or storage.
 
B

Ben Miller

Jan 1, 1970
0
SQLit said:
Fail-safe, and electrical work is an double negitative, IMO.
I have seen stupids, ( we all know them ) fry a Fluke scope meter USING
the
optical isolators. Not once but 3 times the guy did this. Even with the
isolators I would be extremely nervous connecting my laptop to a
electrical
circuit.
I like to take my measurements, then as your discovering download the
information for the presentation or storage.

I agree. It is difficult to write down readings when you are wearing gloves,
so I like the 189 because you can save a bunch of readings then either
upload them or manually copy them down later.

I have only blown a Fluke meter once, and it wasn't in the field. I
accidently got it across the high voltage in a microwave oven, which
exceeded the 1000 volt input rating. The input protection circuit did its
job, and for $100 Fluke repaired and calibrated it. That was about 7 or 8
years ago, so the price may have gone up.

Ben Miller
 
B

Ben Miller

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
It's got a two-level back light display as well. £250 - £300
might sound a bit steep for a hobbyist to those who don't
appreciate quality, but I think I'll manage to justify it. Thanks
for the recommendation; it's perfect for my needs.

If you want to save a few dollars (or £) you could consider the 187. It is
very similar, but It doesn't do stand-alone logging. I don't recall what the
other differences are.

Also, if you find a little extra money, the magnetic hanger is one of the
best accessories ever invented! You may not think so until you use it a few
times, then you wonder how you ever got along without it.

Ben Miller
 
S

SQLit

Jan 1, 1970
0
=======snipped
In fact, my goal is a PDA device that does the same thing, them dumps
data down to a PC for further data processing by the user.

Characterizing an HV PS, for example, requires hundreds of readings
on several points, resulting in several thousand readings taken for a
single characterization.

HV is that high voltage? Where I am from high voltage is above 69kv. Anyone
will to work with a PDA near that should get a good life insurance policy.
Get a real meter like the durantz/bmi or my favorite the Reliable Power
Meter now owned by Fluke.

Make damn sure the equipment is rated for the voltage your playing with.

I worked for a EOM that intruduced PDA-IR controls to low voltage circuit
breakers (below 1000v). I agrued against it and fought like hell to stop it.
During the first roll out it was found that IR had little in the relm of
security and false signals were causing unintentioned results,,,,,, "But it
worked fine in the lab. " I will say that the idea of collecting data that
way was ~ appealing to some. I found that most PDA's lack the memory needed
for a real study and every time you move data there is a chance for
corruption.

I know a lot of people love their "electronic assistants". I have not found
one that was not just an extra burden to sync the data base. Call me the
"ancient one"
My data sheets were the shit, and so were my subsequent spreadsheet
plots, not to mention what I could have done, had our firm been able
to afford the expensive math and plotting apps. Had I had a good PDA
and data collection hardware with several ports on it, I could have
gone a long way further in a shorter period during such activities.

I have had execellent luck with Excel. Bit clunky sometimes and ya are
limited in the presentation. I personally love to give my boss the radar
graphs. At least now he finds them funny.
 
A

Art Deco

Jan 1, 1970
0
NunYa Bidness said:
You're an idiot.

Those are AC power distribution declarations. See table 29a @
http://myinsulators.com/acw/bookref/system/

In the DC world the distinctions are lower. Much lower. This is
largely due to the fact that devices are smaller and ground
proximities are closer.


You're an idiot. The PDA is not near the transducer taking the
reading. It could even be bluetoothed to the PDA.


It ain't the meter, it's the method.

Hey Numby, when do you arrive for the hill climb challenge? Oh, you
forgot to use the word "retard" in this foam.

--
Official Associate AFA-B Vote Rustler
Official Overseer of Kooks and Trolls in alt.astronomy

"The original human being was a female hermaphrodite with
both male and female genitalia."

"Human beings CAN NOT live in a solar system without a sun
with a ferrite core and a planet without a solid iron core."

-- Alexa Cameron, Kook of the Year 2004

"I am a sean being from another planet."
-- Darla aka Dr. Why aka Dr. Yubiwan aka ...
 
A

Art Deco

Jan 1, 1970
0
NunYa Bidness said:
Before laptops became ubiquitous a team of men in the field taking
USGS references for correcting the topo maps of the US take their data
back to lab for least squares resolution processing. A PDA would help
there, hell a mere cell phone could do the job, and the batch process
would be back at the lab done before they even returned. Now, we have
laptop computers that can do the whole job in one package.

So what? Not every firm can afford laptops for everyone. A PDA in
the lab could facilitate the collection of data, and then dump it into
the engineer's personal computer at his office desktop, such that he
can then work on the collected data from the lab.

This is a no brainer... you are an ancient one. Your failure to see
the possible benefits of a given technology prove that.

We have PDAs that have radios in them that give field maps to
soldiers in the field. They are ruggedized models as well. They get
used on flight decks too.

Is your name "Sleptforthelasttwentyyears"?

Is your name "Numby Genius"?

--
Official Associate AFA-B Vote Rustler
Official Overseer of Kooks and Trolls in alt.astronomy

"The original human being was a female hermaphrodite with
both male and female genitalia."

"Human beings CAN NOT live in a solar system without a sun
with a ferrite core and a planet without a solid iron core."

-- Alexa Cameron, Kook of the Year 2004

"I am a sean being from another planet."
-- Darla aka Dr. Why aka Dr. Yubiwan aka ...
 
P

Paul Hovnanian P.E.

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
The Fluke 189 is about as far as I dare go, and just what I
need. To be honest, I didn't realise that modern DMMs
were so easily compatible with PCs. I thought I had to have
a dedicated gizmo for that sort of thing. Thanks for your help.

Observe the meter's maximum voltage ratings, particularly when measuring
points floating above ground level. Make sure there are no more
stringent limits when using any adapter. Or you'll turn your PC into a
boat anchor faster than installing the latest version of Windows.
 
C

Charles Perry

Jan 1, 1970
0
Paul Hovnanian P.E. said:
Observe the meter's maximum voltage ratings, particularly when measuring
points floating above ground level. Make sure there are no more
stringent limits when using any adapter. Or you'll turn your PC into a
boat anchor faster than installing the latest version of Windows.

If you buy the Fluke 189, the communicatin link is optical. A very smart
idea since it helps avoid blown up computer syndrome.

Charles Perry P.E.
 
C

Charles Perry

Jan 1, 1970
0
NunYa Bidness said:
I don't know where you guys even get the idea that an overvoltage
arc in a meter could or would ever make it down a serial or USB comm
link. It won't. It would have to be several tens of thousands of
volts.

Don't believe me. ASK FLUKE!

Fluke uses optic isolated comms for their meters. Why do you think that is?

BTW, I run a lab. We blow things up for a living. You obviously never
heard of Murphy.

Charles Perry P.E.
 
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