Fluke 87V Review

This is a review of the Fluke 87V multimeter for use in hobby electronics projects primarily related to amateur radio.
A pdf document of this review: github.com/TomWilkinson/Multi...
This review was produced to help you decide if the Fluke 87V multimeter will fit your purpose and budget. This is part of a series of multimeters reviews.
A good multimeter for hobby electronic projects should be able to measure millivolts, volts, microamps, milliamps, amps, ohms, nanofarads and microfarads.
If you want to measure picofarads, nanohenry, microhenry or reactance you will need a LCR meters. I cover the two LCR meters I own in another review.
I am not a professional, I am a hobbyist. This review is not sponsored; I bought this multimeter with my own money. I only used and tested this multimeter in CAT I and CAT II environments. I do not have a way to review or test the safety of this meter. I leave the CAT III and CAT IV environments to trained and licensed professionals. It may seem like I am a Fluke fan boy, but I recognize their flaws along with their advantages. There may be unintended mistakes and/or errors in this review.

[@Skirmitch]

EXTREMELY useful tables and review. Good quality video, no exagerations on anything, no bashing around anything. I'm following your channel from today, good job sir

[@N8FDY]

Thanks.

[@lancelink88]

Excellent review! It is a little bulky but not as much as the 87v Max. That thing is a brick, with the same internals.

[@Tonyplat98]

Ohh I missed the sale would totally get one if it ever goes on sale again at Lowes

[@adanlewis7489]

Nice

[@guyfradasyl88650]

Hi Tom, you showed us about 19:50 that in diode mode, a shirt beep and continuity, a long been.
Do you know an other multimètre ( cheaper one) who has this feature ?
( a guy from Belgium)

[@N8FDY]

So far the only meters I found that chirp on good forward voltage on a diode is some but not all Flukes. The 177 is the cheapest Fluke I noticed the diode chirp or beep. I have about 12 meters in the 10000 to 20000 count yet to test so I might find that one of them will do this.

[@guyfradasyl88650]

@@N8FDY 👍

[@N8FDY]

I just discovered today the Uni-T UT161D and UT161E both do the short beep in diode mode. I saw the UT161D at Batronix for €88.06 including VAT and the UT161E for €126.14

[@guyfradasyl88650]

@@N8FDY thank you.

[@roseelectronics4582]

I own a Uni-T UT61E+ which does what you're looking for. I bought it for around a 100 bucks. It's continuity is blazing fast as well.

[@jamesdewer]

What's the threshold for the continuity? 0.5 ohm? Exhaustive testing, I've rarely required that level of accuracy, but sensitivity definitely. There's been however times that I wish my meter didn't have the level of sensitivity especially in automotive application / diagnostics.

[@N8FDY]

I is not mentioned in the manual, so I tested it, below 52 ohms start the beeping, then you must raise it to 94 ohms or higher to stop the beeping.

[@jamesdewer]

@@N8FDY right so fairly sensitive. However, if your source voltage that you're tracing is millivolts, that level of resistance would be enough to cause a false high signal where you chasing a faulty board or component. I guess that's where an oscilloscope comes in so you can actually compare signals at the same time. However, for continuity testing, it's nice to know there is a somewhat high threshold.

[@mikeadler434]

👍👍

[@nesdi6653]

cool might have to get a Fluke USA USA USA

[@NaturalMedicina_Paz]

all flukes are from the usa, even this one from the video

[@c.d.g.9949]

Here in the Netherlands a fluke 87V wil be EUR 799,00. There are cheaper alternatives so this meter in not populair.

[@ank2000]

Isn't the 87v a 19,999 count meter?

[@N8FDY]

Yes, in some modes it is, but increased resolution does not always mean more accuracy. The 87V manual states "For Model 87 in the 4 1⁄2-digit mode, multiply the number of least significant digits (counts) by 10". That means that it essentially is no more accurate in the 19,999 mode. Because of this I ignored that mode in my review. If you look at the best of the 10,000 to 20,000 count meters, they have better accurate specifications than the 87V in 19,999 mode. The 87V is a great 6,000 count meter but it is a poor 20,000 count meter. Fluke does not have a meter that competes in the 10,000 to 20,000 count range so they added the extra digit to the 87V without improving the accuracy.

[@ank2000]

@@N8FDY Let's take DC voltage for instance. 87v specs say "±(0.05% + 1)" UT161E states "±(0.05%＋5)" what am i misunderstanding here? Isn't the 87v more accurate? Thanks

[@honor6333]

خكَ.،،،،، حك، حك، حك، 😊

[@N8FDY]

Thanks.

[@honor6333]

خكَ.،،،،، حك، حك، حك، 😊