Great to see the Solartron 7081 being given an airing! I designed the analogue circuits (1979-1983) and Brad Wilson did a lot of the software - all assembler in those days. It was a treat to work on it under the late John Bloomfield. The voltage reference had an analogue quadratic temperature correction circuit. Production testing and calibration was automated using Commodore Pet computers - leading edge stuff, believe it or not!

@reps

4 жыл бұрын

wow really? awesome! I happen to be in the middle of a little follow up right now ... I hope I am not messing up your analog section too badly :)

On the question of "Re-Cap or not?" my answer is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I always enjoy your videos.

@meeder78

5 жыл бұрын

I agree but those tantalum capacitors can be timebombs.

@AppliedMetaphysician

5 жыл бұрын

Good point. Really puts the "prevention" in "Preventative Maintenance".

@geovani60624

4 жыл бұрын

It's not really fixing, just destruct prevention

@DaveTheResurrector

4 жыл бұрын

Most (but maybe not all) of the axial-lead caps are hermetic tantalum which will outlive us all.

Let me remind you of the 1st rule of engineering; Don't fix what's not broken. Thanks for the videos and your subtle humor.

@leonardmilcin7798

4 жыл бұрын

@@LenniL-ob4ll Not an engineer? There is innovation and there is engineering. Engineering is focused on making well designed, well working, durable things within a budget. There might be some innovation involved but even most innovative products are actually old designs mixed up with a very small amount of innovation sauce.

@Storm-Chaser

3 жыл бұрын

The 1st rule of youtube engineering: if it isn't broke, keep fiddling with it until it is. You get more views that way.

@Alpine_flo92002

2 жыл бұрын

Let me remind you of the 1st rule of recieving new things. Taking it apart and playing with it till its broke

Idk why, but your video style is some kind of German ThisOldTony! I love it!

Love the Brymens! My 869S is my favourite handheld unit. Found Welectron yesterday, will try to buy from them next time.

I love your videos and I already binge watched them all shortly after subscribing a few days ago. keep posting often please!

Marco reps posted, time to drop everything!

I added a Brymen BM869s to my kit about 2 years ago. It is a TANK. It's been dropped from an antenna tower and it just bounced. It is one of my very best and favorite meters of all times...

@Tonyplat98

Жыл бұрын

Hey glad to hear it the BM869 is truly remarkable meter. It's becoming my favorite meter as well. Fluke and their overpriced units can take a hike.

@derf213

Жыл бұрын

wish they shipped to the US. Id get one

@Tool-Meister

Жыл бұрын

@@derf213 TME of Poland will ship to the USA. I’ve never needed the warranty, but suspect I’d have to ship it back to Poland for service.

@dragonfireproductions790

7 ай бұрын

my friend from munich gave me a bm869 as a gift, I accidentally dropped one when i forgot i was bringing it while responding to a house fire the thing survived despite it being partially burned

I love these videos. Educational and calming. 🤗

Thanks for the info on the Brymen! I've been looking for so long to a multimeter that will serve me well but that doesn't cost an arm and/or a leg and/or a kidney. Now if only I knew what I was doing.

Love the video and your incredible sense of humor. That take on opening up the meter... its what i do... I LOL for a good minute. Really put a smile on my face.

I know it's an old video but such a nice, informative and tastefully entertaining one; thank you.

Love the fresh humor, very cleverly done... well done .

A distributor sending you an old, used piece of gear for a video? That's actually really cool of them! It may also be not the best idea to recap the meter, since you may not be able to recalibrate it.

There is something about your videos, that makes one feel at home and cosy.

Worked with same model Solatron back in about 1987. We had one as our local primary standard in a repair lab in Silicon valley. Was a nice meter, but as you say very slow in highest resolution mode.

Love your commentary and humor while being very informative.

On the topic of the front panel connector, it needs a Fischer Connectors - S 104 A053-130+ I believe to plug into that mystery connector. Someone else did the repair for one and documented finding the connector. That is one hell of a cool meter.

2:42 - I almost invariably take things apart before powering them up, particularly with mains-powered devices to make sure that they are safe. Non-mains devices are opened up just to satisfy my curiosity.

Great review Marco, could you post details of your little test jig with the binding posts they look as though they are floating. Class set up.

Wonderfull Sunday entertainment. Great video, great sense of humor too !

Ive Brymens 867S and 257S, used Fulkes many many years (nope, I was happy too and keep my nice-old Fluke's). Brymens are really nice multimeters and everyday-horse guys: no any issues, all works fine (its maybe 6 moths daily work with). 257s is a little bit faster compared to 867s, but 867s is more accurate as well, so, its ok for me. I ordered Brymens at Welectron too..;-)

Nice little review. I’ve had my Brymen 869s for nearly 2 years. It has been flawless. It my favorite multimeter, mostly because it has a logical layout and an awesome display. I don’t dislike my Fluke 87v or my 28ii. I just like the usability of the Brymen better.

@TheWpruden

2 жыл бұрын

Steve I have an 87v, 289 and 1520 fluke megommeter. I like the fluke 1587 but it's $$$$!!! Brymen 880 is affordable. I've heard so much about brymen. Is their equipment good as people say. Thanks

@Tool-Meister

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheWpruden - Brymen meters are Top Tier. A given model might exceed or be exceeded by its competitive counterpart. My experience is with the BM869s, BM786, and BM789 models. The BM789 is really great with TWO temperature inputs, a Fluke-Like auto-hold function, and a full 60,000 counts. Its little brother, BM786, does not have the dual temperature feature, but is otherwise about the same as the BM789. This series of meters have a single display, The BM869s has a multiple display which allows frequency and voltage to be displayed simultaneously, etc. It competes nicely with the Fluke 50,000 count meters. It DOES NOT have the Fluke-style auto-hold feature, and I REALLY like this feature a lot. It does have a 500,000 count DC Voltage range. THIS IS NICE IF YOU REALLY NEED MILLIVOLT RESOLUTION! All three meters have been bullet-proof and have not needed service. I can recommend them without hesitation. That said, my FLUKE 189 is still my favorite meter, hands down... Too bad it's out of production and used ones command a terrific value retention. Few bargains on Fluke 189s.

I really liked you replacing that old Varta battery with those supercaps.

YEA ! All the new meter must be dissected to replace the fuses . I like this set up..

Received a new BM257s from Welectron at today. It was sent exactly in same cardboard box with same packaging paper around as you had yours :)

lmao the reaction to those hand soldered spots ^^

I’ve got a fluke 89 4 that seems to have more functionality than the 5 you have. Also has the dual display and takes AA cells. And you can replace the fuses without breaking the calibration seal.. 89 5 seems a backward step, although I think they Marigot have renamed it a 189 when the the 89 v was released.

I just realized that I have a Solatron 7071 its 7 1/2 smaller brother just laying around... It was throw in the trashbin at a reorganization of the R&D department, I did put up a hard fight to keep it in the inventory. But it was decided to go as "old and obsolete"... Now it resides at my home lab instead.

My probemasters just arrived today and WOW they were so soft and flexible and just luxurious.

After Meter Joe gave his stamp of approval to the bryman i got one. I have an 87v as well. I find myself grabbing the bryman more often though it might be because i use my meters in pretty dirty places and i dont want the fluke getting messed up:)

@reps

5 жыл бұрын

So the guy who puts a lot of effort into actual realistic and potentially destructive tests is now more credible than the one with the goofy video edits eh? Ts ts ...

@DoRC

5 жыл бұрын

@@reps honestly I respect your opinion and his equally . You both have kept true to yourselves and honest in reviewing. That's very very rare these days (you better not sell out!) Thanks for all your hard work and funny edits!

@kwpctek9190

5 жыл бұрын

@@reps Is that the same credible guy who shows off his Pace just to make JBC fans angry? Bet he's not running it on firmware 1.4 yet.. Too bad.

At 3:12 I had to rewind this video several times and still can't stop laughing. This really made my day! :-)

Those will keep rain, dirt and falling video lights off the sensitive circuit....? Wait what? Oh never mind.

Marco. Love your vids. Absolutely top notch wizardry. I have a question. I bought a cheap bench power supply. Topower chinese brand. It malfunctoned recently. I turn it on and it spike to 24v and then nothing what so ever. I have basic electronic skills but no diagram for this. Do you have a tip to lead me in the right direction ? Thanks

The Brymen meter looks OK but it's just another DMM - another halfway there test tool. I keep hoping that a DMM will come out that includes inductance, cap ESR, *cap EPR*, and cap polarity tests. These are very common test requirements for electronics work, and I can think of no reason why a DMM can't do them all in a similar form-factor. Grr.

@somanyfnbananas2774

5 жыл бұрын

*cough* Mastech MS8269 *cough* But there should be a few more very similar also by Mastech

I always support welectron. Best prices in Europe and outstanding personalised service. Not once but 5 times!

@reps

5 жыл бұрын

Oh did they bribe you with vintage test gear as well? 😇 Jk, lovely people who are actually into this stuff and not just businessmen

@billywhizzy

5 жыл бұрын

@@reps nope.. just bought lots of brymens. Very robust input protection throughout.

Marco great video, I am very interested on your high voltage capacitor tester set up. Do you mind to share the diagram? Thank you.

That abstractions are on point :)

Wet tantalums don't bother, they will be fine so long as they are the glass seal type. Rubber seal ones replace on sight, they will be dead. Wet slug ones work till the point they leak through the case from the outside corroding away, inside the silver plate and the PTFE carrier holds the slug in place well, and provided you do not over volt them or reverse polarise they will be fine.

That bit at 5:00 had me laughing out loud at work, thanks for making me feel awkward when looking at my colleagues surprised faces.

I'm still working on my 7081. The supercap mod is ideal, though we chose somewhat different part numbers. Half of the capacitors on my board were bad, so I suggest replacing all the electrolytics, shotgun style. The power line detection PLL had high jitter, so I implemented a slower digital FLL circuit. Replacing the power line inlet module is also a good idea.

@reps

5 жыл бұрын

> power line detection PLL had high jitter Oh did you post something about that in the EEVBlog forum? That's what cause me to say 'it may still be' with so much going on behind the scenes of that meter :)

@pigrew

5 жыл бұрын

@@reps Yes, It's me that has 7081 SN718, and posted a thread on EEVBlog. Mine was received in quite bad shape, and I'm just now getting it back into one piece. Feel free to post on my thread if you would like more details on any of my mods/changes.

Have a similar Bryman. find it a bit annoying in daily use, particularly the combined resistance/conductivity/contunity setting where you have to cycle through the almost-never-used conductivity to get between the very commonly used resistance and continuity.

That meter is older than you? Thanks, I feel old now. Great video. Thanks kid :)

I would check the caps. They are deceptive, too, one in a Keithley 2001 started sneakly leaking

Thanks for another great video Marco.

Have you ever used a Testo multimeter? I've had one for a while now, and I'd prefer if it had a rotary dial, but other than that I think it's actually better than the Fluke's we have at work. I almost exclusively use DC volt, resistance and continuity checks.

I just came to see the solartron. I have fluke and field piece on my bag for meters. That thing looked like a beast

Tektronix made a beautiful 500,000 count multimeter in about 1999, dual display for volts and frequency, or AC & DC, with a protective case design that is still the best I've seen, and, yes, AA cells for power, batteries and fuse accessible, but interlocked with the input sockets, so that the "hot" section was not accessible with a probe in any of the sockets...optical data port, too...just too bad that I can't find one. Cheers!

Noticed one of the resistors (the big green ones) was covered in heat shrink, what would be the purpose of this? the others directly adjacent didn't have the same...

Always reliably awesome. Here is my question for you,: in what common applications are nanovolt measurements handy? Thank you.

@absurdengineering

3 жыл бұрын

When evaluating linearity of 24-bit D/A converters :) (that’s just one of many possibilities of course)

I use Solartron 7075. Had to replace that front Fischer probe connector with DIN-5.

Hi. What is the motorized screw driver, very nice and small factor, and what is the name of that one

Your vids are always the best, I love watching this while I eat my lunch (Rain, Dirt and falling video lights LMAO)

Nice to see AA batteries in the Brymen 839. I have the big brother 869s and it uses a 9V battery.

hahaha! I completely lost it at the "Right here at your fingertits" bit xD

LOL love your humor!! That about the digits were particular funny:-)

Oh look! It's a Marco Reps video; always welcome.

@Marco Reps Keysight is just about the only one who does handheld dmms discretely

The Fluke 87 V is an awesome mulitmeter, but I always considered the 189 as the gold standard.

Watching your videos is a constant dilemma, either what you are saying is sarcastic or real😂😂 And I still struggle to differentiate😛

Really nice meter. Didn’t know about them. Would love to get such a thing of beauty in m lab

that clip of the multimeter falling down was from a video by "I Did A Thing"

So true about nanovolts. And it's not the worst, try Fluke 8508A in resistance. 3 minutes per sample :P. Recap ofcourse :) If you up to the challenge (in shipping, that is), I can calibrate your K2001 at no charge.

@reps

5 жыл бұрын

That settles it, recap it is 😇 K2001 is still waiting for it's new oled display, but you bet I'll remember that offer ...

@movax20h

5 жыл бұрын

Can flux and thermals stresses when desoldering and resoldering caps, impact accuracy of high value resistors in this box of voodoo?

@hyperhektor7733

5 жыл бұрын

why do you need nanovolts? is it a special kind of fetish or are there other practical applications?

@reps

5 жыл бұрын

Both and that makes it even better, mostly metrology and biopotential stuff

@xDevscom_EE

5 жыл бұрын

Measuring low voltages can be useful to measure high-current shunts (e.g. 100Amp or 1000Amp) using low test current (so shunt does not heat up and drift). Another example - thermocouple or resistance bridge measurements, when you trying to detect little deviations. Calibration is another application, very useful if you in measurement device design business.

Looking for a padded case for my BM869 meter. Ideas?

What was the manufacturer name on the mystery mahogany oven? It was made near me.

Would you install a better capacitors in bryman

Hi Marco Reps. Do you maybe have a link to the Probe Masters- the one you provided after these "many" years has expired :(...

Bit off-topic, but do you still use the iMortor ebike kit? Looking to get an ebike kit for my commute, wonder if you still think it's a decent motor.

@reps

5 жыл бұрын

Nope, sold it - But I do still thing it's a decent motor! I might get the opportunity to show a 2000 EUR swiss-made e-wheel kit soon, might be an interesting comparison

1:18 that sudden switch made me jump a little inside because I thought you were touching the tip of the soldering iron, was that jump cup intentional?

Special oven for testing thermocouples?

Hi.Marco I have old Fluke 87 True rms. Its has abit of a problems with the display and reading frequencies. AC and dc are ok. I need a multi meter that can measure output voltage from switch mode Transformers . I now have a UNI-T UT210E witch will not measure AC from switch mode transformer AC out. I aso have the UNI-T 139C witch also das not measure AC. they will only work on measurein AC mains house voltage. will the BM839 work better then what I have. Let me know if have any good advice about the Bm839. Thanks Yannis

@leocurious9919

5 жыл бұрын

So why cant they measure the AC voltage of these transformers?

@yannis92preloude

5 жыл бұрын

I suspect is because of the high frequency switch mode power supplys have . but my old banger fluke 87 read the voltages correct. am looking for a budget not too expensive multimeter to replace my fluke 87. I have not tried a brymen multimeter yet . If the BM839 reads I would lake to buy one.If some who has could please try and let me know. Thanks

I haven't actually "laughed at loud" while watching a video in a long time, but "Protected by the thick chin on the Hell Boy bumper" got me. Thank you

I am left with one burning question. What is in the mahogany mystery oven?

Yes for the recap, maybe video about it together with the mod?

Thanks for sharing. Interesting as allways :-)

The Brymen can be started with a key combo press and then it stays on and does not auto power down.

Marco reps and GreatScott! uploaded videos together Yay!

The 87v also has a conductivity mode.

I use to be a Fluke only guy but after getting my first Brymen that has changed! Now I'm not saying the Brymen is better because they are really equal, BUT the Brymen gives more bang for your buck and is very well made so in that respect I would say the Brymen is a better.

Can you say something about Brymen BM236R?

I am probably way wrong, but I say don't recap the radials. I have repaired a bunch of early 80's arcade boards and always suspected the caps. The only cap that I *had* to replace was physically beaten with a leg ripped off. However, more modern equipment I wouldn't hesitate.

@GodLike-pe6kj

5 жыл бұрын

Never change a running system :) Yeah, don´t replace the caps.

I couldn't stop laughing when you seen the manual soldering inside and made that puke sound 🤣

You got to love the Solartron. It has that '80s character.

3:12 best part of not just this video but any ever produced. 😂😂😂😂😂

Thanks Marco

I have a Japanese calculator built in 1972 with the original electrolytic caps in it, they still work fantastically. Yes 47 year old electrolytic caps that still have a very low esr, wish I could get a hold of more of them built that well.

Was this a model only available in Europe?

Was that solartron built in farnborough??

That vintage multimeter is ❤️❤️❤️

Herrlich wie immer :D:D

Which one is the best multimeter for everything. ( home, industrial, electricians and for electrical users)

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

The Unobtainium BS1234 v9784-356-B, but make sure to purchase the Internet Add-On.

GOOD TO DAY TO YOU SIR , I HAVE A BELOVED FLUKE 192 SCOPE METER IN NEED OF SOME SCREEN REPAIRS AND CALIBRATION . I WOULD BE GRATEFUL TO KNOW IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THE REPAIR OF THIS FLUKE AND THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT VIDEOS AND YOUR TIME !

The caps look like Sprague caps. So I would keep them. The old Sprague seemed to me very robust. Had them in an HP power supply from 1960. All in perfect condition.

That's a lovely desktop multimeter

Appears you're comparing to the Fluke 87V (6,000 counts or 20,000 hi-res). There's the Fluke 189 with 50,000 counts, dual display, and lots of other goodies which can be purchased used for similar cost of the Bryman.

I’ve had my Brymen since 2016. My only complaint is the lack of the Fluke-style Auto-Hold function.

how much is the suggested price?

Tony Stark after watching Nat Romanoff: 'I want one!' Me after watching Marco's ES121: 'I want one!'

What's that ducted Fan thing you tested with the brymen?

@dasstackenblochen9250

5 жыл бұрын

Looks similar to the ducted fan used in the "ikarus electric rocket" by tesla500. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hIGZp8puf7jHdNY.html

The "hurk" at the bad soldering got me xD