Fluke 179?

[cetoole]

Or, perhaps serious builders are careful enough to not take HV measurement with their meter set on ohms?

I have done this, several times.

[Beefy]

When in your life have you ever been serious?

[cetoole]

Good point!

[Pars]

I don't like the cheap Harbor Freight jobs either. But the Mastech looks like having a couple of those might be doable. One could test them for accuracy. Wish I had a box of Fluke 189s!! One can wish! Since I'm contemplating some HV stuff, I'm eyeing my leads with suspicion. The one's I bought off ebay and MPJA have got me skeered.

What Mastech? And did anyone get their VC99 yet? If so, how are they. I could use another decent meter.

[Les_Garten]

What Mastech? And did anyone get their VC99 yet? If so, how are they. I could use another decent meter.

Mastech was one of the Meters in the link I posted above.

[Beefy]

What Mastech? And did anyone get their VC99 yet? If so, how are they. I could use another decent meter.

They say up to 30 business days for shipping

[guzziguy]

What Mastech? And did anyone get their VC99 yet? If so, how are they. I could use another decent meter.

I got mine a couple of days ago. It looks like the meter in the ad. It seems to be built well enough. I've done a few simple measurements. So far I'm happy as a clam.

Edit: Instructions aren't great but that won't affect most of you.

[Les_Garten]

I got mine a couple of days ago. It looks like the meter in the ad. It seems to be built well enough. I've done a few simple measurements. So far I'm happy as a clam.

Edit: Instructions aren't great but that won't affect most of you.

Does it just look like a Fluke or does it also feel like a Fluke? How is the quality on the switch, the jacks, the feel of the case, the quality of the display, etc?

[Beefy]

I got mine a couple of days ago. It looks like the meter in the ad. It seems to be built well enough. I've done a few simple measurements. So far I'm happy as a clam.

Hmmmm, I'm optimistic mine will arrive quickly then

It might even beat the TPA order I made over three weeks ago

[guzziguy]

Does it just look like a Fluke or does it also feel like a Fluke? How is the quality on the switch, the jacks, the feel of the case, the quality of the display, etc?

Wouldn't know. I've never had the pleasure of feeling a Fluke.

It seems to be fine to me.

[Les_Garten]

Wouldn't know. I've never had the pleasure of feeling a Fluke.

It seems to be fine to me.

Heh, OK.

The Fluke is guaranteed to survive a 10' fall onto concrete. If you grab the case of a fluke and twist it, it will not flex, solid as a rock. It's also sealed with a serious gasket, they are somewhat difficult to change the battery on because the case fits so well and the gasket is so serious.

Any ideas how yours compares to that? If I could get 50% Fluke for that price it would be a good deal.

[guzziguy]

Heh, OK.

The Fluke is guaranteed to survive a 10' fall onto concrete. If you grab the case of a fluke and twist it, it will not flex, solid as a rock. It's also sealed with a serious gasket, they are somewhat difficult to change the battery on because the case fits so well and the gasket is so serious.

Any ideas how yours compares to that? If I could get 50% Fluke for that price it would be a good deal.

Well, I'm too lazy to check out the battery access and am not going to see if it will survive a 10' fall on concrete. The case is hard plastic with a soft plastic cover. It comes with a temperature probe and with decent probe-type leads.

How this compares to a Fluke I can't say. Maybe you should order one and tell me. Otherwise you can wait for an experienced DIY guy to receive his and then get an informed report. Meanwhile, I'll go search for some clip-type leads tomorrow.

[Les_Garten]

I just read the "manual". What do you guys think of the hfe tester?

http://www.aidetek.com/New_products_info/Datasheet/Vichy/VC99.doc

[luvdunhill]

yo.

I have a Fluke 179 and a nice B+K meter I need to sell. More info via PM.

If I don't hear something by tomorrow, I'm listing them on Ebay.

[luvdunhill]

Or, perhaps serious builders are careful enough to not take HV measurement with their meter set on ohms?

holy crap I'm in love

"If a test lead is plugged into the mA/μA or A terminal, but the

rotary switch is not set to the correct current position, the beeper

warns you by making a chirping sound and displays

[grenert]

So, what's the magical DMM that is smart enough to tell you that?

[luvdunhill]

So, what's the magical DMM that is smart enough to tell you that?

Fluke 287 / 289

[guzziguy]

Fluke 287 / 289

For $460 plus it should give massages too.

[manaox2]

For $460 plus it should give massages too.

lets test it...

[Beefy]

For $460 plus it should give massages too.

lets test it...

Perhaps it comes with extra special 'probes'?

[Fitz]

187/189 gives the same automatic warning for the leads.

[luvdunhill]

187/189 gives the same automatic warning for the leads.

yup, I should have mentioned that. No idea why the 287 was on the brain oh wait, I do know

[spritzer]

I just got my VC99 and first impressions are good. The build quality is pretty good and the screen is nice and clear. It also handled adjusting Stax bias just fine where most cheap meters overload the bias supply and thus give the wrong voltage. Looks like Marc has nothing to fear from me...

[Beefy]

Still waiting on mine. In fact, I'm currently waiting on several things that are all running quite late

[Les_Garten]

Mini Review of VC99

So I ordered one of the VC99s last week from a guy in California. I bought Late on Thursday and revived it today, nice!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380176463237&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

It is not a Fluke. It was $29.49 + $10 shipping. It is worth the cash in my opinion. The temp input is interesting. I haven't played much with it to see how fast it is. The auto ranging is a little slow. You notice this the most when you are trying to test continuity with the spkr on. It takes a second or so to stabilize. Fluke has quicker internal processing, at 10-15x the price of course.

It doesn't have a backlight, that's a shame. The display is very large, Like a Fluke 179, very easy to read for us folks whose eyes are ancient. The hfe measurement will be fun to try.

The switch and case are not Fluke quality but are "pretty" good. It's a world better in every regard from the last $15 meter I got free with a battery. The probes are worth about $10 alone, they seem to be made pretty well.

It has a rubberized covering that is a little harder plastic than the fluke rubberized cover, the color is more orange than the Fluke yellow.

I haven't checked all it's specs in exacting detail, but I think it checked bigger caps on the cap test than MY Fluke which is an Original 87 model.

The function buttons look like Drunken Master installed them. They are all crooked. I noticed this in the pix online before I purchased it. However, they all seem to be very solid and other than cosmetically bad, there aren't any issues.

All in all, it seems worth the $29 + shipping. I would buy another.