mpoulton
Senior Member
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
A friend's boyfriend just started as an IBEW apprentice, and she asked me what might be a good trade-related gift for him. I suggested a great multimeter, but since she's not technically inclined I'll need to recommend a specific model for her to get. Price is not a very important factor. Around here, most union jobs are industrial or complex commercial projects - lots of motors, controls, manufacturing equipment, etc. I get the impression that a new apprentice doesn't get into the details of that stuff for over a year at least, but his first project that he just started on is re-tooling of a semiconductor fab so he'll be surrounded by it all from the start. Even if he doesn't use it right away, it seems to me that learning with great equipment can't hurt. So the question is, what DMM would you recommend for a new apprentice working on jobs like this? I thought of the Fluke 325, and then realized that the 376 iFlex is available for almost the same price since they came out with the new "FC" version. That seems like a great fit for most uses on the kind of jobsites he's likely to be on, but am I missing anything? I've always been on the management/supervision side of things so my idea of what a new electrician would really use could be way off.