The 8050A from the same era is a nice bench meter. I love mine. If you get one with the battery option it is portable but then you have to deal with NiCad maintenance. I found a 289 dirt cheap at a flea. It turned out it had the known problem of where an LED in the probe sense circuit fell off the board and was rattling around inside. Easy fix. It is an interesting meter. These two are my go-to meters. My two RCA VTVMs are nearby for use when needed.
n.b. Most auto ranging meters can be set to manual.
73
-Jim
NU0C
On Sun, 17 Mar 2024 11:37:13 -0400
"Paul Christensen" <w9ac@...> wrote:
The 8060A was quite an achievement for a 1980s DMM design. After graduating from college, I worked for RKO Radio in Chicago. We depended on it for a litany of precision audio measurements.
I¡¯m in the minority, but I prefer manual-ranging DMMs and its one reason I keep the 8060A and one that¡¯s NOS in the box. Even the fastest auto-ranging DMMs slow me down when working through a problem.
A while back, I did correspond with Dr. Taylor though EEVBlog. Searching though the same message board is a complete set of instructions for electrolytic cap replacement and a B.O.M. Today, many 8060A stability issues are a result of failed low WVDC caps. If anyone would like a copy, let me know.
The ultra-high Z tool you mentioned may have been the first implementation in a DMM. Nice for DC work, but of course, an isolating-tip probe is still needed for many Hi-Z RF measurements.
Paul, W9AC
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Robert N0GGO
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2024 7:37 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [DRAKE-RADIO] Dumb question of the day.
Paul, you may already know this, but the 8060A has a special high impedance mode for DC voltage measurements. However, it only works in 2V and 200mv ranges. To put it in high impedance mode, you select either 2V or 200mv range and leave all the other switches out. If I remember correctly it offers several hundred Megohms of impedance. With a shunt you could use 100:1 to cover a more useful voltage range. May not offer much in the way of resolution though.
I love that meter. I was issued a brand new one in my Eastman Kodak toolkit in 1982 when I went to work for them as a service rep in 1982. When I saw an 8060A on eBay a few years ago I snagged it. It has become my go to meter around the shack. This is at least partly for nostalgic reasons, but it is also a fine meter. The guy who designed it used to hangout on EEVblog I think his name is Dr. Taylor. That is where I learned about the High impedance mode. It is in the manual, but you know how that goes.
73,
Bob N0GGO
Jim Shorney