Tektronix ever made non-bench multimeters ? Oh wow ...  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 11:36:10 am
content: Didn't manage to find 2nd hand equipment but some things caught my very eye... Must be very oldBut judging that most meters now still look like this, i would say the cloned designs are pretty outdatedI saw a blue tek meter that looks like one of those cheapies but of course those cheapies cloned tek ... now we know who cloned whoWhat happened to megger? This looks seriously oldThere is a white version of the manson ! Must find out how much it costs and look at it being in its virgin plastic wrap

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 12:05:47 pm
content: Tektronix made several handheld DMMs, for example the TX3 and TX5 somewhere in the nineties. They were bought out by Fluke (I believe Fluke sued them at some point) and became the Fluke 183 and 185. I believe they formed the base for the Fluke 187/189.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 01:10:29 pm
content: Quote from: alm on May 26, 2012, 12:05:47 pmI see ... fluke

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 01:22:11 pm
content: Quote from: alm on May 26, 2012, 12:05:47 pmTektronix and Fluke (along with Keithley and others) are both owned by the same parent company, the evil Danaher corporation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaher_CorporationDave.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 01:38:44 pm
content: This was long before the Danaher acquisition. The Tektronix acquisition by Danaher was only in 2006 or so. Tek pulled out of the handheld business somewhere late nineties.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 01:46:43 pm
content: So is there a chance that the meter can be really cheap? It is unopened and in it's packaging because clearly the industry here is moot and nobody buys such meters apart from a few of people who have the interest ... that shop must have been around for a heck of a long time and were unable to sell it becauseit's at the top of the building and at a pretty obstructed lane plus i only saw them today because usually i can't see them due to the factthey don't really know how to display their stuff properlyBut hell that manson supply in white is nice !

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 02:23:47 pm
content: Ah yes danaher. Who went through the product lines with a shotgun...And now the wolves even lay with the sheep in the same building. I work at 2525 and tek/ fluke is 2575 v the building behind us. Both tek and fluke logo on the building..

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 02:37:50 pm
content: So you work at ST Microelectronics?I think that is Flukenetworks corporate offices, not where the meters are made

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 03:12:59 pm
content: Quote from: robrenz on May 26, 2012, 02:37:50 pmOTP:ST .... god i really love ST for the STM32F4

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 04:48:19 pm
content: Quote from: robrenz on May 26, 2012, 02:37:50 pmIt does say fluke networks but i have walked in there to get a demo unit. Pretty convenient to have them in the backyard...Btw your avatar looks like a tek branded fluke..I'm interested in this current probe.. Can i have one to play with for a few days ?Sure, where do we ship it ?Don't bother, i'll walk over... Be there in 1 minute...I do the same with agilent. Theyre on stevens creek boulevard which is like 3 miles away. They have a pretty cool little museum in their building as well as a gift shop and cafetaria.Oh, and yes i work for ST. Next year going to be 20 years...

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 08:10:38 pm
content: My daily driver, Not sure when it was made but I did buy it in the early 90's new. Great quality, rugged, accurate what can I say, no need to buy another (so far). It has been tortured as you can probably see from the photo....mike

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2012, 08:18:19 pm
content: Quote from: pickle9000 on May 26, 2012, 08:10:38 pmOh man ... i must find out how much it costs ... probably depreciated if it's around 100$ i will get itit's really rugged looking at the abuse you gave it (with a pickle?)

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 12:40:50 am
content: Pickle has been my nickname since I was 4 and started eating them.The only fault I give the meter is an auto shut off after 30 minutes. You can disable it but unless you switch ranges or hit a button it will shut off. My preference would have been that if disconnected it shut off. But other than that very high update display speed, fantastic continuity test (best I have ever used).20 years old and still working, no complaints. I figure the selling price would be between 50 and 100 bucks if you found a used one. I'd never sell mine....mike

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 02:29:37 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on May 26, 2012, 04:48:19 pmIt is my Fluke branded Fluke.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 04:42:59 am
content: The TX3 is still a quite sort after meter on the used market.Dave.

author: muvideo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 08:35:48 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on May 26, 2012, 04:48:19 pmYou've been for long time in STHave you worked also in europe in the past (Catania maybe) ?Fabio.

author: grenert
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 02:17:46 pm
content: The multimeter junkie has a review of the TX3 on YouTube:

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 02:30:57 pm
content: Quote from: grenert on May 27, 2012, 02:17:46 pmWas that the basis for the 87 series ?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 02:51:13 pm
content: Quote from: muvideo link=topic=8557.msg114855#msg114855Started in belgium as Mietec. Acquired by alcatel , sold to ST. Moved to US in 2000. Never been back.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 27, 2012, 03:43:42 pm
content: I'm quite sure the Fluke 87 pre-dates the Tek TX3.

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2012, 01:38:02 am
content: Quote from: DaveXRQ on May 26, 2012, 11:36:10 amMegger is still around. Still expensive as #$%*! Most of their products look old.-sj

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 28, 2012, 02:38:30 am
content: Quote from: DaveXRQ on May 27, 2012, 02:30:57 pmNope, the 87 pre-dates the TX3 by a long way. Late 80'shttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/general-chat/i-need-to-know-the-history-of-fluke-87-(-1998-2010-)/Dave.

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2012, 03:07:27 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on May 27, 2012, 04:42:59 amI own a TX3. I bought it at Frys in Palo Alto in the late 90's and I love it.. feature rich, accurate, 50,000 count. , and only 3 input jacks. Volts, Amps and GND.Picture included.

author: qno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2012, 11:27:52 am
content: It looks a bit like the Protek 506.Is the PCB all genuine Tektronix

author: discomike
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2012, 11:28:24 am
content: I got the Tek DMM830 as pictured in the first picture from a friend who won it at a electronics fair in the late 90ies =) Very fast continuity as people have pointed out, and I also love the low-voltage (0,4V) resistance measurement mode for finding out where PCB-traces go without activating any semiconductors. I think I have some teardown pics somewhere... *goes looking*

author: discomike
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2012, 11:50:20 am
content: ..OK found them..Uses TC8129 with AD737JR external True-RMS converter..

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2012, 12:17:16 pm
content: Quote from: discomike on May 29, 2012, 11:28:24 amThanks dude. I should get hold of this meter.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2012, 12:19:13 pm
content: Tek did indeed release it back in 1999,http://business.highbeam.com/3094/article-1G1-18272248/tek-turns-up-dmm-heat

author: 6PTsocket
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2018, 10:33:08 pm
content: This is an old thread but the answers are kind of vague. Tektronix sold some forgettable import meters then they decided to get serious. They were best known for their scopes, not DMMs. The big gun at the time, as now, was the Fluke 87. Tek brought out two top of the line meters to compete, the TX1 and the even better specs, TX3, made in the USA.. Subsequently, Danaher, Fluke's parent company, bought Tektronix. Fluke rebranded the TX1 and TX3 as the Fluke 183 and 185. The only difference is the protective boot went from blue to Fluke yellow and the make and model silk screened on the front. Fluke added to the series with two additional models with more ergonomic shape, integral boot and even better specs, the 187 and 189. Fluke called them top of the line so am not sure how the various 180 series DMMs stacked up against the 87 of the day. I have a TX3 and it is a serious 4.5 digit meter with a basis DC accuracy of .05%. It came with a NIST traceability certificate. The performance was the equal of many bench top meters. It has a very long list of features. It still meets all my needs.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2018, 04:40:15 am
content: I have a Tektronix DMM916 which was their competition for the Fluke 87 series. It was not so much a foreign meter as a Tektronix design produced by APPA and I much prefer the DMM916 to the 87 except for its terrible LCD backlight.Years before Danaher bought Tektronix, Fluke sued Tektronix over the boot color and perhaps other things resulting in the Tektronix handheld multimeter division being transferred to Fluke and an agreement that Tektronix not compete in that area.

author: tesuzuki2002
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 14, 2022, 12:51:49 am
content: How much is a Tektronix TX3 going for these days? I don't see many of these for sale anywhere.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 14, 2022, 02:57:21 am
content: Quote from: tesuzuki2002 on December 14, 2022, 12:51:49 amI've seem then for over US$100 recently on ebay.