My first multimeter was for school, bought from Radio Shack. I've lost and replaced it over the years but last time I saw it, it was still in working order.

I'm not different from most of people here - my first measurement device was a multimeter. In my case it was a cheap, Chinese one, bought in a construction shop when I was 12 or 13 years old. It is a basic model, without diode tester or thermocouple interface.

My father bought me a quite cheap model because he didn't believe that I will really be using it - no one in my family had technical hobbies or abilities, changing a light bulb was the most technical thing that was done without calling a specialist.

However, things went different. Since then I got my MSc in Engineering, specialized in Automation & Robotics and IoT, I'm working in industry, I'm a hobbyist tinkerer, programmer, 3D printer.

I still have this multimeter and it is one of my most often used tools, I've been using it for my studies projects, converting old VW into an RV (I've melted one probe while doing it when I shorted a huge old diesel startup battery...) and all home repairs - yes, no more calling for a specialist!

My first two pieces of test equipment were Avo Meters.  My maths tutor was also an engineer and we talked about various electronic projects.  He gave me them as he knew I wanted a meter, having used my Grandad's Mighty Meter.  One was non-functional but the other still worked.  I used it as a general workhorse when testing fuses, cables etc. and repairing equipment, possibly one of the first being an amplifier.  They are still in my collection, but I have a third that I sometimes like to use for certain purposes... and nostalgia!  I took a tour of the Megger factory a few years ago and they still had examples in the repair department, so I am clearly not alone!

I made myself a magnetic gauss meter when I started winding pickups for electric guitars and wanted to know how strong different AlNiCo alloys were. It was all on perfboard and had a pair of scratchy wires that I had to physically hold onto the probes of a cheap multimeter while I held the end of the hall-effect sensor onto a magnet and read the display- definitely a three-handed job, please don’t ask why I didn’t solder and jig everything permanently! Because nothing was calibrated the units were completely arbitrary, and only useful for my own notes. That said I managed to wind some kickass coils for some of my favourite guitarists on the planet. I no longer have it, lost to time, but it barely survived the year or so I was using it so it would certainly have fallen to bits by now. It was brilliant.

My first measurement tool was a 5 dollar multimeter. It helped me to check the resistor values in my junior high school basic electronics workshop. I have no idea what happened with it   .  And, the first test tool was a logic probe, it was very helpful when i built an ALU for a Computing Architecture class in the college. The probe was very old,  20 year old , as i remember, and was a part of the Electronics Lab tool inventory.

My first test tool was a simple screw driver type live wire tester way back in 1977. I was 10 years old then. It was during the wedding preparation of my cousin sister. The outside of the house was being lit up with lots of running light, there was a team of electrician on the job, i hung around them as i was very facinated with the lights and the way they were setting it up. All of them had this screw driver that lit up when they touched a wire.. This really blew my mind.. I begged them to show me the tester and how to use it, the let me use it but it would not light up, they said that was because i was a naughty boy. Finaly one of them showed me how to use it, i was thrilled.

Few years later i got my hand on one Live wire tester.  I went around the house poking it into all the plug points.

I remember this tester came in handy when a wire had come loose in our house main fuse box, I switched off the breaker and tested the wire...it was DEAD, i managed to fix the wire back and restore the power supply to our house.  .  I must have been 15 then.

my mother and sister were reaIly proud of me.

Now I'm 53, a marine engineer and a Handy Man around my house and many friends and naighbours house too.

All credit to that simple little tester that lit my heart and soul.

I dabble with Arduino but am a security and automation technician by trade, so my multimeter is used daily. No fancy story, just a feel good story: Christmas Eve I came home and found the front LED Christmas lights display in darkness! My wife admitted she had broken the wires when closing the curtains but had tried to fix it to no avail. I found her connection which seemed solid (as she had picked up on the basics over the years).

I pulled out the trusty old multimeter and discovered it wasn't the only damage she had caused. In her repair attempt, she had also (unknown at the time!) damaged the transformer cable by shifting the babies cot over the feeder cable.

All is well that ends well, Santa's runway guiding lights were back on in no time, for him to make his scheduled deliveries!

Just curious, did your meter have a transistor test function on it?

I remember as a kid, I thought any DMM with that had to be super advanced! (now I realize, it was basically just the diode test mode!)

My first test tool would have been a battery tester strip. Much like the ones embedded into AA and AAA batteries now, but it came as a separate strip in battery packs.

I used to take apart anything that used batteries, my mother was smart and gave me screwdrivers to play with at 3 years old. So the first thing to check is always the batteries!

Multimeter is widely used entry level test/measure tool. And is the hot topic in comments. While, in my opinion, the voltage tester is the first test tools for most electronic or electrical engineer. I have lost my first votage test long ago. It is one flat head screwdriver as well, is broken one day and no longer functional.

Here is what the voltage tester looks like.

The voltage shall be used safely according to this picture. The tip head touch the electrified object and the other end shall be touched by tip of one finger. The maximum safety voltage is 500V, and is not accurate below 60V.

The priciple is simple, one Mega ohms resistor and one small neon nixie tube are key components. The resistor restrict the leakage current to several mA , which is enough to drive the nixie tube when electricity cirtuit is closed. The nixie tube acts as fuse as the same time, it blows off if overvoltage.

The voltage tester is gift from my school classmate . We share same fancy probing sockets in classroom. He share his spare one with me. By when I still do not understand fully what safety means.

It is stronly recommended that everyone shall have the voltage tester before changing lighting bulb or change wall-mounted sockets or switches.

It is not rare that the outer metal-clad case of electrical instrument or desktop computer is energized if grounding wire is not properly connected. For some precise instrument, such electro-magnetic effect can spoil the test results.

I have used one voltage tester to find out one desktop computer is wrongly energized before I am electro-shocked.

Now I have new voltage testers with upgraded functions.

Some sore of like https://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/2240/l/Multicomp-Pro-Non-Contact-Voltage-Tester.

Here is the picture I used now, the one on the right is new with many functions.

Here is the botton on top shall be touched while testing. This voltage is sensitive, it can detect the electromagnatic field by 220V wire on the wall. But the LCD panel can give rough voltage level it detected. Here is the demo,

• The socket for plug is not energized. The live wire is dead not being energized, while there are inductive voltage on the GND and Earth wire.The electrical system is not so safe and clean.

• The socked is energized. Not the live wire is energized and the voltage indicator on lcd panel reach top of 220V when top botton touched by finger. The video is not stable, since it is shot by left hand.

This voltage tester gives quick measure to check whether the electrical wire is safe for instruments. Of course, that is definitely important in fixing lighting and wires.