Stop me from buying this bench DMM before it's too late...

[ExpAnonColin]

http://www.elexp.biz/tst_9803.htm

Everything looks OK.  Does anyone know if I can utilize the interface on my Mac?

-Colin

[Brian Marshall]

that's funny, it almost looks like a mac....

Anyways dude... I'm starting to think that old stuff is cooler... It may not work as well, but I'd love to have a tesla tower shooting bolts of lightning at my neighbors than anything with an LCD display.... get something from the 70's that is digital and has a (gasp!!!) led display... prefreably red, but amber or green will do as well.

[toneman]

looks nice.
It's *more* than a DMM.
I has Freq and Cap!!
I'd spring 4 the $10extra and get the RS232.
Should B compatable with any serial port.  PC or MAC.
2 bad it isn't $69.99.
RS used to have a DMM that did all this....(?)
Still, a good addition 2 any bench.
staymeasured
tone

[MartyMart]

Ha, great it looks like a prop from "STAR TREK"   !!
No hfe checker though ??
Couldn't you get the same features from a 20 bucks unit ?  just my HO !

Marty.

[David]

Ha, great it looks like a prop from "STAR TREK"   !!
No hfe checker though ??
Couldn't you get the same features from a 20 bucks unit ?  just my HO !

Marty.

It does check Hfe.  It's just buried in the spec list.

[Paul Marossy]

I personally think it's cool...  

[gtech]

BUY IT!  

Btw, I own at least 3 Digital Meters. The cheaper ($10.00) one has a lower impedance than the best one (over $100.00) I have. So, when I take a measure in a high impedance circuit, it loads the circuit a bit and gives a false reading...  

So get a good one to keep at home, and keep it there. Get a cheap one for jobs where it can be tough on the meter.

Gilles

[zachary vex]

naw, that doesn't look star-trekky to me.  here's a tricorder.



of course, the requisite communicator.  i own both of these replicas.  actually, the tricorder ships in a couple of weeks.  8^)



check out that moiré pattern on them.  it actually rotates and looks extremely psychedelic, just like on the show.

http://www2.masterreplicas.com/StarTrek/TOSCommMov.html

[ExpAnonColin]

that's funny, it almost looks like a mac....

Anyways dude... I'm starting to think that old stuff is cooler... It may not work as well, but I'd love to have a tesla tower shooting bolts of lightning at my neighbors than anything with an LCD display.... get something from the 70's that is digital and has a (gasp!!!) led display... prefreably red, but amber or green will do as well.

The problem is that older units can't measure hfe, capacitance, and frequency along with all the other gunk like this one can.  Otherwise I know what you mean

Looks like I'll be ordering one tonight.  Thanks everyone for the go-aheads.

-Colin

P.S.  I don't see mac in it, but I do see a tiny bit of star trek, just because you associate anything spacey looking with star trek

[ExpAnonColin]

looks nice.
It's *more* than a DMM.
I has Freq and Cap!!
I'd spring 4 the $10extra and get the RS232.
Should B compatable with any serial port.  PC or MAC.
2 bad it isn't $69.99.
RS used to have a DMM that did all this....(?)
Still, a good addition 2 any bench.
staymeasured
tone

How do I use the RS232 system?

-Colin

[ExpAnonColin]

Ha, great it looks like a prop from "STAR TREK"   !!
No hfe checker though ??
Couldn't you get the same features from a 20 bucks unit ?  just my HO !

Marty.

The cheapest MM I could find with capacitance, frequency, hfe, and all of the other fun stuff like true RMS was $45, but I have decided that it HAS to be benchtop, because of the way I work.  

-Colin

[Paul Marossy]

Ahh... the good ol' original Star Trek series... starring James T. Kirk, space cowboy. (that's how I see it today). And then there was "bones" and Spock, and of course we can't forget Scotty with his dilithium crystals always facing peril of one sort or another. I loved that show as a kid. That communicator is pretty cool. The tricorder looks simpler and weirder than I remember, though.  :shock:

[zachary vex]

no, it was starring william shatner, as james t. kirk, and of course leonard nemoy as spock.  and yes, they were certainly space cowboys.  i watched an episode on the scifi channel while testing fuzz factories about 8 this morning and the tricorder is an exact match.

[Paul Marossy]

OK, you're getting technical on me... I know the names of the actors ya know.  :wink:

I remember thinking that those tricorders were cool. Any favorite episodes? There were some that were memorable for me, but I don't remember the actual names of the episodes...

[David]

OK, you're getting technical on me... I know the names of the actors ya know.  :wink:

I remember thinking that those tricorders were cool. Any favorite episodes? There were some that were memorable for me, but I don't remember the actual names of the episodes...

Oh, no!  You had to ask!  I have the Star Trek Compendium (1991).  I could tell you trivia galore about Classic Star Trek!

[Paul Marossy]

I think my favorite two episodes was the one where Kirk is on this planet with this lizard man dude that was trying to kill him. Kirk eventually found a way to whack him using DIY gunpowder or something like that... it's been many years since I saw that one. The other interesting episode was when those three female aliens with bulbous heads kidnapped Kirk, and it was also this story about Capt. Pike or something. I seem to remember that one being a 2-part episode.

The biggest dud for me was those silly trills or whatever they were called. Next would probably be the one where people were mysteriously turning into cubes...

Sorry...  :oops:  this is rapidly going way off topic...

[STOMPmole]

I like that episode with all the hippies trying to find Eden...and when spock has the funky 60's jam session on his Vulcan guit.

[Peter Snowberg]

How do I use the RS232 system?

-Colin

The first thing is to get a serial cable, but try to keep the length under 30 feet.

I don't know how this meter operates, but it will work in one of two ways. In one type, the meter is totally under the control of the serial interface. The host sends commands to the meter to change modes and ranges to to read the probes, and the meter reports back. In the second design which is probably what this units does, the meter will constantly send what it's reading on the display along with a couple more characters for framing and showing the mode. The meter constantly sends and there is no reception or command set.

To use the meter without software, you're going to need to write something. I don't know what is available on the Mac these days, but if this were 1994, I would be using Director. Hehehe.

That would be really cool to capture fluctuation over time on a graph. Perfect for visualizing LFOs or watching envelopes.

[ExpAnonColin]

Thanks for the info, peter.  What would I look for in terms of pre-existing mac RS232 software?  IE google, etc?

-Colin

[MartyMart]

Colin,    sorry about the "Star Trek" Hijack ! I didn't mean to ruin your thread.
Do you have a mac with a "serial" connection ?  I just had to buy a "Griffin G port" adapter, it gives you a serial port from any newer mac's modem connection, (G4/G5) they can be a bit "twitchy" though,  be warned !
Regards,
Marty.

PS:  I used to LOVE Star Trek as a kid !!! Lieutenant O'hourra ( can spell )  was a BABE !!  Alpine figure  WOW  !