OT: Master Instruments Multimeter specification and schematic

Aug 30, 2012 3 Replies

Many here will know the name Master Instruments Pty. Ltd. Back in the era of analogue measuring instruments they made very good meter movements and even produced a general purpose field multimeter for use by the PMG Dept and the defence forces. As supplied to the PMG it was designated APO Multimeter No. 3 and when supplied to the military it was designated Multimeter No. 4. I recall that in the 1950's to mid 60's there were earlier iterations dubbed APO No.1 and No.2.



I have an APO No.3 which was originally supplied to an engineer mate of mine back in 1971 at a total cost of $68.50 without the carrying case. A leather carrying case was added later.



Since I wanted to have some manufacturers literature on this meter I prevailed upon Master Instruments to supply me with whatever documentation they may have retained, but I was not expecting anything. I was rather pleasantly surprised when they were able to supply a copy of the specification and a schematic. Master Instruments no longer manufacture analog meters (or any other kind), and



95% of their business these days consists of supplying batteries.

Unfortunately, the quality of the documentation was not good enough for printing with any degree of clarity so I have retyped the original specification in Word format and added a hand drawn schematic of the meter.



If anyone would like a copy of this documentation feel free to email me for a copy.


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**Great service. I found the same thing with Iwatsu. I required a schematic to track a fault in a 100MHz Iwatsu CRO a few years back. An email to Japan elicited an instant response with a full manual in .pdf form.
Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au

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Hello Ross. I have a No. 2 bought from a surplus shop in Albury Wadonga in the early 90's. I've given it a fair bit of use but have never had the bene fit of resistance measurement as I've never known what batteries to use. Co nsequently I've mostly had a digital multi meter as well. I'm studying elec tronics - an elective as part of a teaching degree this semester and I want to improve its utility on my test bench by adding some batteries to it. Ca n you advise on what may be still available. I see you can still get the 15 v dry cells for the English AVO's but their dimensions don't fit those of m y No. 2's battery compartment, which has two different types of battery (po ssibly 3 cells). Also, if the schematic for the No. 3 relates in any way to the No. 2 - I'd love a copy of that. If you can still find it in your comp uter after all this time?

Thank you Kind regards Gilbert Louttit

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** I note you are responsible for this page too:

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From the pics, it looks exceptionally well made.

From the specs or your own testing, can your say what the frequency response of the 10VAC range is like ?

Is the 400uA movement "Taut Band" ??

Protected from overload by reverse parallel diodes ?

.... Phil

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