Multimeter question...

[Prairie Dawg]

I have 2 Flukes but funny as it seems I've always used my Triplett 2103 for years now first...works great...never screwed up!

I never met a multimeter I didn't like. In no particular order I have a Craftsman DMM, a Centech DMM, a Beckman Circuitmate-this one is autoranging and fits in a shirt pocket-a Hewlett Packard VTVM, a Triplett VTVM, a Fluke 8000 with nixie tube display, a Systron Donner with nixie tube display, and the real workhorse, a Valhalla Scientific multimeter-counter.

this last one I got new surplus for fifteen bucks, and I know that they cost over 2 grand back in 1985 because my boss had to buy one for in flight engine control computer adjusting we did on Cessna Conquests.

the H-P VTVM is an elegant piece of equipment and it is most useful in measuring very high resistances. If I had to have only one multimeter for the bench it would be the H-P.

I've also got an insulation tester (megger) and a newly acquired ESR Micro 3.1 which I got from the manufacturer.

All of this stuff is useful and was relatively inexpensive to acquire.

[Structo]

The problem with the cheaper meters is they have difficulty reading small values.
If you touch the probes together on the resistance setting and get a reading of greater than 0 then it won't be suitable for measuring small values.

The Meterman meter I have will read small values of resistance and capacitance.
I have measured 15pf with this meter as well as 1 ohm resistors.

So you do get what you pay for in a good multimeter.

[David Root]

That's right Structo. The 1 ohm cathode resistors for measuring cathode current are a real test. Shorted my Meterman reads 0.00, my Fluke 0.09. Need to get that recalibrated I guess!

On reliability, I have a Wavetek LCR55, which recently appears to have gone wonky on me. Won't measure capacitance or inductance any more, just wobbles about and won't sit still. It is no more than 5 years old, and it was not cheap. I don't know if it's salvageable or not. I hope so.