Just wondering. Anyone have one yet?
I must be getting behind the times. I hadn't even heard of it. I suppose having 2x 5720A/5725A, 1x 5520A/SC1100, 1x 5500A/SC600 that are all working fine kind of precludes my even looking into other calibrators. I'll have to check that one out.
I did a little looking yesterday and the DC volts section seems to be the exact same accuracy. The big thing seems to be better input protection to avoid people frying boards when they accidently hook it up to an output instead of an input. Anyone else know anything about these?
http://www.fluke.com/fluke/usen/Calibration-Instruments/DC-LF-Electrical-Calibration/5522A-Multi-Product-Calibrator.htm?PID=72074
I am going to get myself in to a little trouble here, but I am an ex-Army calibrator. I have a couple ex-Marine calibrator friends of mine and we are always in a branch rivalry. One of whom I gave a nice little shooting lesson too a couple years back.
So I am going to tell them this new 5522A is geared towards Marine Calibrators. It is a more ruggedized version of the 5520A. Harder to blow up if you use it as a load resistor with a new and improved carrying case.
The repair of a Fluke 5520A, when a user pumped voltage back into the calibrator is something like a $12,000 dollar repair.
Mike Schwartz
Ahhh, yes. The knuckle-dragger version...
Ha, ha, ha...very funny, guys... :-P
P.S. There are no ex-Marines.
P.P.S. Our 5520A was blown up by a flyboy.
What is all this new stuff y'all are talking about. Navy METCAL has just decided to upgrade us Navy folks to the state of art 5100B.
Lol ya right we had 5500A in the Marines back when I was in 1992 so I know the navy has better than that. Everyone knows the Marines are the last to get anything.
Here is what the Fluke rep had to say about it.
The major difference between a 5520A and 5522A is the input protection circuitry. The 5522A provides reverse power protection, immediate output disconnection, and/or fuse protection on the output terminals for all functions. This protection is for applied external voltages up to ±300 V peak. Additionally the handles are different which allow you to easily get cables into the connectors.
The price is slightly lower than 5520A series. The only spec difference is the low range capacitance which went from 190pF to 210 or 220pF.
Sounds like a ruggedized 5520A.
Aaaahhh, bring back the good old Fluke 760A (lets see how many on here have ever even seen one). We used the 760A to calibrate the AN/PSM-4's Tripletts and Simpson 260 (before the 6XLP). I am REALLY showing my age (hint: my avatar photo is circa 1995 or so; I was so handsome back then).
Did you say 1959???
When I got to my first duty station out of Lowry and got my start as a meter maid I learned on the HP 745A AC calibrator - back when HP was still competing with Fluke in the primary DC/LF AC arena. The DC calibrator was a 332A. Good times! We were still supporting 524 counters.
For the record, in 1959, I was in diapers. At my first PMEL duty station, we had Fluke 760A's, and we got new Fluke 5102B's while I was there.
Just joking no offense meant...
I still see an occasional 332 come through. I can't believe the darn things still work!!!!
How's things going? Gettin really busy here.
i saw one of these last week, Fluke says they have such confidence in the input protection circuitry they will guarantee the specification if you do blow the fuses. even monitors the output at all times and shuts it off if an input voltage is detected. the design came from their 5320.
Nothing is fool proof. We had a tech connect the input to a 115 volt line when they forgot to unplug the test set from line voltage when attempting to calibrate the Ac Amp panel meter.
I'm here at the MSC saw and spoke with Fluke. The 5522A is succeeding the soon to be discontinued 5520. They said it is spec'd the same but has the input protection circuitry and is about 900 dollars less.
Sounds like as with many such complex instruments, as some components get obsoleted, they come out with a new model (except the 3458A, how many years has that been around).
Why could they not put a couple more hours in it and increase that accuracy about 10%??? That would have made it possible to calibrate some of the higher end multimeters.
Remember the FLUKE/HP 3458A. It was only around for a short while. I think Fluke horsed up the 3458A with a better DC reference, and some better range resistors or something. I think it was right before the 8508A's came out.
Though they may look and act the same on the outside, there is a world of difference between circa late 80's vintage 3458As and fresh from the factory 3458As. The old ones had thru-hole PCBs with large ICs and discrete parts and was repairable in-house by a good tech, whereas the new ones have surface mount components that can't easily be repaired (unless you have a SMT rework station with a stereo microscope, as well as schematics for the latest revisions of the PCBs.
The 3458A-HFL was a "Fluke-ified" 3458A with a more stable internal DC reference, nowadays the 3458A can be ordered straight from Agilent with the higher stability DC reference if you ask for Option 002. I once heard through the grapevine that the DC reference in all 3458As will settle out and attain the stability of the Option 002 over the years; it's just that if you need the stability in a new meter, they pre-age and hand pick the DC reference that goes into the Option 002.
Back to the thread... I see where Fluke is now offering a 30% discount on trading in an existing 5520A for a 5522A, even if you trade one with no options for one with a scope or PQ option. (BTW, who uses the PQ option anyway?)
Back to the 3458A topic, I heard somewhere (might have been in a long ago conversation with a repair tech at Agilent regarding 3458A's).. that as you were mentioning how the DC reference would theoretically settle out after continuous on time (makes good sense), I remember hearing that it was also true that if you leave an HP 3458A "cold iron" (Navy term for leaving it unpowered for long periods), that the reference will get worse.
If I can remember correctly, I had just bought a new one at my previous job (opt 002 high stability). It went in to Loveland standards lab for the 90 day cal (we had it on 90 day interval). It came back out of tolerance for DC volts. I was concerned and I spoke with the tech there. I probably still have his emails. I believe he said if it is left unpowered (AC cord not even plugged in, for a year or more, that it can lose some of its stability, and it will have to be run for some months (maybe years) before it comes back to full stability.
I guess I need to get more miindful of such things. I am getting ready to fire up a very high accuracy DC reference bank (qty 4 each Fluke 732A's, 1 each 732B, 1 each Datron 4910 (4 output 10VDC references, with added average output).
May some of the high end DC reference types on the forum can fill in some good info on this topic.