New Multimeter Purchase

Easy. I can buy a case of LCD cheapo Extech type DVM's for the price of a proper 5.5 digit bench multimeter. If you can't see the LCD display from the other end of the bench, just buy a 2nd cheapo meter and attach one to each end of the bench. Maybe one in the middle if necessary. They're cheap enough. Extra credit for running them in parallel.

I hate to admit it, but I mostly use my various DVM's for continuity testing and measuring the charge state on batteries. I could probably do as well with a buzzer and a light bulb, but a DVM gives the impression that I know what I'm doing. It's probably all those buttons and switch settings that I never use.

For a status symbol, I would show off with my tiny Tek 213 oscilloscope with a built in DVM. It scribbles 7 segment digits on the CRT screen. Battery powered and really cute. I would use it today but the batteries died and I keep forgetting to get some NiCd D cells with tabs.

Jeff Liebermann wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

It's amazing you have a 213 that's still operational.

One thing to watch out for with them is that the circuit boards are all held in place by 4 little plastic pins in the case halves. Under the treatment field service people would give the 213,those pins sheared off or came out out of the case halves,and then the PCBs shift and spread open the female connectors on the PCB edges,and little metal spring leafs fall out and short out circuits. sometimes with catastrophic results,like internal fires and/or melted case.

Well, I've taken fairly good care of it. (400KB) Having the DVM in the scope was rather handy as it was yet another piece of junk I didn't have to drag around. At the time, the fashionable (analog) meter was a Simpson 260 which about the same size as the scope. The only problem was seeing the CRT when outdoors, which I solved with a cardboard or black towel hood. When I graduated to a service monitor, the scope became redundant. These daze, I use my laptop as a scope with either sound card based software for audio: (Free) or a USB scope: ($190)

Thanks for the warning but I don't recall seeing any broken plastic pins or spring things floating around inside. However, I will be a bit more careful now. I'll be going inside shortly to replace the batteries.