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What was your first multimeter?

cstanton

It doesn't matter if it was bought within the last year, or the last 70 years, you probably remember the first multimeter that you used.

My dad worked as an electrical shift engineer at British Steel / Corus / Tata Steel in the northeast of England, and at home, we of course had all sorts of equipment as I grew up.

He still has this multimeter, and it's the first one I used, I don't remember the exact model, but a trip home would quickly find out. It was a Fluke 8020b type of series, it looks something like this:

image

The photo is from this ebay listing, I am quite surprised at the second-hand price.

But I'll always remember the distinctive clunks as you pressed each button/switch to make your selections. I mainly used it to verify if the batteries for my toys were fully discharged or not, and if the rechargeable batteries needed more power.

So, do share your photos and anecdotes, what was your first multimeter?

Parents

  • Radio Shack DMM

    Technically, this was not my first DMM. However, my first was something that cost less than $20 and was unremarkable in every way. I got it when I was about 12 years old. A few years later, when I was a high school senior, I knew it was time for an upgrade--especially since I'd be going to college the following year. So, when Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, i showed her the 22-168A Digital Multimeter from the Radio Shack catalog. What a terrific product name: the 22-168A. It just rolls off the tongue.

    It just seemed like the most advanced piece of test equipment I could ever get my hands on! Not only did it do the expected voltage, current, and resistance stuff... but it also had a Transistor Tester! And could measure frequency. And a capacitor measurement? It measures both "HI" and "LO" value caps! It even had a built-in high/low logic-probe-like function (that, to this day, I have never used.)

    But, perhaps, the most exciting thing of all. It came with an RS-232 compatible interface so that measurements could be "streamed" (IN REAL TIME!) to a PC! I don't know what data logging is, but I cannot WAIT to save all of my measurements to a floppy disk!

    As I recall, it was in the 100-dollar range. And this was a time when money was tight. So I was asked several times if THIS was the meter I wanted. After all, Radio Shack had several others, all with a more attractive price.

    When I received it, I probably measured every battery in the house at least twice. And then all of the components in my tiny (compared to what I have today) parts box.

    So, that was 1996. And I still have it.

    True story; I used it up until about eight years ago when I finally got an auto-ranging meter.

    Sadly, the original manual, disk, and case are lost. The flimsy box only lasted for about 5 or 6 years. However, I still have the serial cable for it, so that's a plus. And it works fine. Even though I swear, I've only changed the battery 2, maybe 3 times in the past 26 years.

    As I said, not technically my first meter, but the first meter that made a significant impact on me. And I'm very grateful to have it still.

Reply

  • Radio Shack DMM

    Technically, this was not my first DMM. However, my first was something that cost less than $20 and was unremarkable in every way. I got it when I was about 12 years old. A few years later, when I was a high school senior, I knew it was time for an upgrade--especially since I'd be going to college the following year. So, when Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, i showed her the 22-168A Digital Multimeter from the Radio Shack catalog. What a terrific product name: the 22-168A. It just rolls off the tongue.

    It just seemed like the most advanced piece of test equipment I could ever get my hands on! Not only did it do the expected voltage, current, and resistance stuff... but it also had a Transistor Tester! And could measure frequency. And a capacitor measurement? It measures both "HI" and "LO" value caps! It even had a built-in high/low logic-probe-like function (that, to this day, I have never used.)

    But, perhaps, the most exciting thing of all. It came with an RS-232 compatible interface so that measurements could be "streamed" (IN REAL TIME!) to a PC! I don't know what data logging is, but I cannot WAIT to save all of my measurements to a floppy disk!

    As I recall, it was in the 100-dollar range. And this was a time when money was tight. So I was asked several times if THIS was the meter I wanted. After all, Radio Shack had several others, all with a more attractive price.

    When I received it, I probably measured every battery in the house at least twice. And then all of the components in my tiny (compared to what I have today) parts box.

    So, that was 1996. And I still have it.

    True story; I used it up until about eight years ago when I finally got an auto-ranging meter.

    Sadly, the original manual, disk, and case are lost. The flimsy box only lasted for about 5 or 6 years. However, I still have the serial cable for it, so that's a plus. And it works fine. Even though I swear, I've only changed the battery 2, maybe 3 times in the past 26 years.

    As I said, not technically my first meter, but the first meter that made a significant impact on me. And I'm very grateful to have it still.

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