How many use a fluke

[Triple Jim]

As far as setting idle, I use a Snap-On timing light with a digital display for advance and RPM. Not sure how much they are now but, you get two tools in one!

I found out that the Innova timing lights are made by the same company that makes them for Snap-On.  There's a whole line, from basic to full-featured like yours.  I needed one that would handle a 2-stroke engine running at high speed, so I bought the basic one, which is rated as fast as the top of the line version.  They work by not flashing at every spark as the engine goes faster.  At low speed, they spark every time, then every 2nd spark, then every 3rd, etc.  They're excellent timing lights, and with the Innova name on them, they're way less expensive than with the Snap-On name on them.

There's a little more information in this thread on the Kawasaki triples board:  http://www.kawi2strokes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3619

[Pasta Hog]

I have a Fluke 16. Very nice, but when the battery gets low, the warning sign is that it becomes extremely inaccurate.

Call me crazy, but I think putting "Low Battery" on the screen would be a better way to go.

[rodekyll]

I have a Fluke 16. Very nice, but when the battery gets low, the warning sign is that it becomes extremely inaccurate.

Call me crazy, but I think putting "Low Battery" on the screen would be a better way to go.

I count on suspicious readings to tell me the battery is low.  If mine have ever shown a battery warning I've not noticed it.  It would be handy though.

[Pasta Hog]

I was building a guitar amp the first time I got crazy readings. I spent quite a while trying to diagnose the amp before I found out the meter was wrong.

[Triple Jim]

Funny... both my Fluke 77 and 87 have a low battery symbol on the display, and it comes on well before the readings are incorrect.

[tusong200]

I use a Fluke 73 I bought sometime in the early 80's for everything electronic.

I would certainly recommend Fluke for any one who wants a reliable and accurate DMM.

However, I'm not sure I would pay the extra for the RPM function. Seems maybe the accuracy the Fluke would offer would be a bit of an overkill.

[Triple Jim]

This guy is funny and has all sorts of tests on electronic products.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh1n_ELmpFI

I watched about 1/4 of it so far.  Man, the way that castrato technician speaks, I feel like I can't breathe after just a few minutes.   :D

[Kiwi_Roy]

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh1n_ELmpFI

A lot of good information in there.

[Rough Edge racing]

 The fancy timing lights with the advance dial back feature are known to be inaccurate on certain types of aftermarket auto ignitions...Likely not the case on ignitions found on Guzzis' but ya never know...

[rboe]

Yes, if you're studying electrical engineering 40 years ago.  I hope it's still part of the curriculum.  I studied mechanical engineering, but got pretty far into ham radio later, and ended up learning a lot of RF related stuff.

They were still teaching it in college twenty years ago. Basic stuff, can't really avoid it.

Retaining it while not using it, now that is another matter.  :P

[Wayne Orwig]

They were still teaching it in college twenty years ago. Basic stuff, can't really avoid it.

Retaining it while not using it, now that is another matter.  :P

I have interviewed people with 4 years degrees that can't tell the difference between a resistor and a capacitor. So what they teach doesn't mean as much as what the students wants to learn, IMHO.

We had a salesman drop off about 50 pounds of ferrite beads the other day. We probably go through a ton of them a year trying to get customers failing products to pass.

[rboe]

With the new tiny surface mounted bit today, I don't think I could trust myself to ID the little rotters. At least not without reading glasses or a loupe.  >:(

We had a couple profs that were very good with discreet components, had no clue about the chips. Never made the transition so went into teaching (they didn't teach electronics, just theory).

We also hired an experimental physicist to round out the department but he didn't last all that long. His hands on work was pretty weak. More of a theoretical kinda guy.

[Triple Jim]

I have interviewed people with 4 years degrees that can't tell the difference between a resistor and a capacitor.

I was surprised in college, that there was next to zero practical information taught.  It was mostly math, geared in various ways to engineering subjects like vibration analysis, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and strengths of materials.  It seemed wrong until I thought about it.  The 4 year degree has only so much study time, so the curriculum focuses on the things you won't normally learn with experience, and leaves all the practical information to your first employers.  You're learning theory and practicing the math, and are expected to apply that to the practical information you come across later.

Trade schools are the opposite, so maybe engineering students who lack practical experience would be wise to attend a trade school to get what they're missing, either before or after college, before applying for a job.

[Wayne Orwig]

Trade schools are the opposite, so maybe engineering students who lack practical experience would be wise to attend a trade school to get what they're missing, either before or after college, before applying for a job.

;-T

[redrider90]

I was surprised in college, that there was next to zero practical information taught.  It was mostly math, geared in various ways to engineering subjects like vibration analysis, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and strengths of materials.  It seemed wrong until I thought about it.  The 4 year degree has only so much study time, so the curriculum focuses on the things you won't normally learn with experience, and leaves all the practical information to your first employers.  You're learning theory and practicing the math, and are expected to apply that to the practical information you come across later.

Trade schools are the opposite, so maybe engineering students who lack practical experience would be wise to attend a trade school to get what they're missing, either before or after college, before applying for a job.

Jim,
This makes so much sense and applies to my field (orthotics/braces...NOT FOR THE TEETH but for the body).
I entered my field first as a technician and came up through the ranks. Nearly 10 years as a tech I could make anything in my field from scratch... unlike some facilities that outsourced their work we did everything on site at Warm Springs Georgia.  But I wanted move up and be a clinician. I finished my BS degree at night and went to Northwestern Medical School in Chicago for post graduate training to become a certified clinical orthotist. I did my year residency and passed my boards. Because I had a long and strong back round as a tech the clinical side came so much easier. I was a much better clinician as a result of combining both clinical and technical skills. What you describe in engineering is classic in my field. Those who gain their degrees  as clinicians are taught zero practical information. It was funny that I was taught by people who knew less than I did about how to design and fabricate complex custom braces (orthoses). I used to argue with my instructors when working in the lab. They would say you can't do that I would tell them I would cut apart the brace in little pieces and eat the metal and plastic if what I was making did not work. They would fume when I said that. Sometimes instead of learning from me they would pull rank   ::( and say I'll flunk you if you do it your way!  :+=copcar

[Triple Jim]

Sometimes instead of learning from me they would pull rank   ::( and say I'll flunk you if you do it your way!  :+=copcar

Yes, not all teachers are good teachers, not all engineers are good engineers, etc..  My wife had worked in commercial display for well over a decade when a less experienced boss did the same thing you described, "Do it my way or you're fired."  It's funny that the person of authority doesn't realize how stupid he looks to the others involved when he pulls rank like that. 

A very wise small business owner I used to consult for told me that when an employee asked to do something differently from how he was trained, as long as it didn't hurt production, he'd OK it, even if the business owner didn't think it was the best way.  He said that morale was much more important than forcing his employees to do things his way.

[rodekyll]

I worked for a foreign car repair place that had a sign over the owner's desk reading

"I'm sometimes right and I'm sometimes wrong, but I'm ALWAYS the boss!"

He was, too.

[rbm]

Trade schools are the opposite, so maybe engineering students who lack practical experience would be wise to attend a trade school to get what they're missing, either before or after college, before applying for a job.

Or attend a Polytechnic which straddles the divide, portioning an equal amount of theory with practical.

[Wayne Orwig]

Back to the original thread. I actually forgot that I DO use a Fluke at home.

My Fluke is bigger than yours.

[vf84pc]

I am a field tech for a communications company I have many cheap meters in my car and I carry one in my EV. But doing my TPS balance I needed precision. I forgot to borrow the $500.00 Fluke from work so I used a Fluke 114 they sell for about $120.00 on Amazon. Using the Fluke I was able to get the desired voltage adjustment. I tested my China meter, my craftsman (Taiwan) and an unknown radio shack model. The fluke was dead nuts stable the others were jumping around. I brought home works Fluke 287 my tool box Fluke 87 and a Fluke 79 we had lying around. The Flukes gave me the same reading the 287 and 87 gave me extra digits of accuracy.
If you want to spend the $$ and buy a quality tool you can't beat the 114 mine was made in the USA I understand the new ones are Chinese manufactured but the quality and accuracy is there.
I was in Sears and an equivalent Craftsman is $60.00 we had some "Wavetech's" at work but they could not be calibrated or repaired. The bottom line is what will you use it for and how much do You want to spend?

[Greg Field]

I have one, but I also have a multi-scale inductive tachometer that is far more useful for tuning carburetors.