[volt-nuts] More thoughts on the 3458A

[Jan Fredriksson]

One thing that strikes me reading old 3458A product datasheet from HP is
that they stressed the high measurement speed, 100kHz @ 16 bit, but not
empasizing much the DC accuracy. Now, the 3458A remains state of the art in
DC accuracy / liearity, but for high speed measurements and of course
frequency, the 3458 is now nowhere near state of the art any more.

As Tom pointed out there is a lot of characterizing around the 3458 and
also a high trust from other manufaturers. For example I have a precision
SMU and the calibration procedure is explicitly and with detail, pointing
to the 3458.

On price: basic price was perhaps once set by development and materials
cost. But after 25 years, a sales department sets the price, to whatever
they think is most profitable....