Vote to get a bench multimeter and probes

General
21

i vote yes

22

Great meeting tonight, nice to see all the people.

So I’m guessing the vote went through OK? The minutes don’t show the vote results.I’ve found some pretty nice looking 3478A’s in the $130 range.
I’ve also found the little brother, the 3468A which looks like it just doesn’t have the rear probe connections or the HPIB connector, for around $100.
I’m leaning toward this one, a 3478A with pics of it connected to a power supply reading 5V:

http://r.ebay.com/cZgbGm

for $134 total cost (shipping $14).

Although this one looks to be in better shape:

http://r.ebay.com/c2oJEc

for $120 total cost (shipping $20)

Both have 14 day return.

Any input before I pull the trigger? I don’t think we are in any rush but I don’t want to wait around forever to save $20.

For probes I found this Pomona set for $69 with free shipping.

http://a.co/cznUCFL

The only suck part is that the HP unit only accepts “naked” banana plugs so you have to trim off the shroud or get some adapters:

http://a.co/0M9OnuV

Which cost $10 a set. (we should get at least two sets). :flushed:

23

So I went ahead and bought the first one from Ebay (the second one was already gone). It should arrive around next week. As soon as it comes it I’ll check it out against mine.

I also ordered the Pomona set from amazon so we are right at $210.

I’ll wait on the shroud adapters, they really stick out from the meter. (I bought a set for home).

I’m thinking we could fabricate some brackets and bolt it to a shelf in the electronics area.

24

For power supply leads you might check out Banggood.com.

Specifically:
http://www.banggood.com/search/test-leads.html

and one item in particular
http://www.banggood.com/Alligator-Test-Lead-Clip-To-Banana-Plug-Probe-Cable-for-Multimeters-p-923387.html?rmmds=search

They ship from China, so it typically takes about 3 weeks but shipping is included.

John C.

25

The probes and DMM have arrived. Total cost came to ~$213.

I left the probes by the super meter in the electronic area. (I clipped off the shrouds so they work with the older meters, and labeled them Hive13).

I tested the meter at my house against mine and the lined up pretty well. I’ll bring it down to the Hive next time I’m there, no later than Sat.