Agilent 34461A and 34460A 6½-digit DMMs

Agilent Technologies has introduced the Truevolt Series digital multimeters. These DMMs offer several advantages over previous models. They help engineers see their measurement data in new ways, get actionable information faster and document their results more easily. Truevolt technology reduces extraneous factors such as noise, injected current and input bias current for increased measurement confidence.

The Agilent 34461A DMM is a direct replacement for the industry-standard Agilent 34401A DMM and was designed to make migration easy for current users of the 34401A. The Agilent 34460A offers engineers a basic entry point to the 6½-digit class of DMMs.

Compared with the 34401A DMM, the 34461A offers expanded current ranges from 100 µA to 10 A. Both the 34460A and 34461A have a temperature measurement function (RTD/PT100, thermistor) and expanded diode measurement capability to allow engineers to measure a larger full-scale voltage (5 V) so they can test more diode types, such as LEDs.

Most DMMs show results on a low-resolution numeric display. With the Agilent Truevolt Series, engineers get a 4.3″, high-resolution, colour display to view numerical readings, long-term trends (34461A only), measurement histograms and statistical information. They can also set display preferences and pull them up automatically the next time they start up the instrument.

Driverless easy file access USB file transfer provides simple USB connectivity between an Agilent Truevolt DMM and a PC, using the standard USB media transfer protocol. Engineers can drag and drop measurement data, instrument settings and screen images into PC applications without any additional software.

The Digital Multimeter Connectivity Utility software lets engineers control, capture and view the Agilent DMMs on their benches. With a single click they can transfer data to a PC via USB, GPIB, LAN or RS232 (when used with older-generation Agilent DMMs).

Agilent Truevolt Series DMMs account for measurement errors created by real-world factors, so engineers can be confident in their measurements.

According to Agilent, the Truevolt DMMs have less than 30% of the amount of injected current attributed to the meter compared with DMMs made by other vendors.

In real measurement situations, input currents create measurement errors, adding voltages to DMM results. Truevolt DMMs take care of input bias current.