Old analog meters

Not an AVO Model 8? Still made up until recently - cost about 650 gbp.

--
*On the seventh day He brewed beer *

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I am still using an AVO 7 in leather carrying case and an AVO 25 multimeter.

Apparatus,

Have you ever tried repairing one ? Or even ,for the experience, removing the movement and replacing it without spring/seating/ bias problem ? Once you master that then coil winding must be a sinch

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

Apparatus,

Here's an oddity, 5 inches across in a 10x10x10 inch case

Don't know what make, says Model 32 , surprisingly in a wooden not bakelite case and porcelain terminal insulators, as it says "Tropical" on the legend. I used to use it along with a couple of circa Gohm glass encapsulated resistors for measuring EHT, now use a purpose made EHT 100:1 divider

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

AVO 8 Mk IV. Never did like the ones that they scaled in 3s and 10s. The Mk IV is 2.5s and 10s. It was issued to me on my first day as an apprentice on my very first day of work out of school nearly forty years ago, all fresh-faced and ready to take on the world ...

Both me and the meter look a bit longer in the tooth, and battered around the edges now, but we both still work, just about ! d;~}

Arfa

Yeah, sometimes the scales are a bit disappointing for the type of stuff we use these things for. I mean a 300 volt scale to measure 120 AC gives a less-than satisfactory indication, as does 12 volts DC on a 50 volt scale. Still usable of course, but accuracy may suffer a bit.

These days it seems there is less and less actual troubleshooting with meters and 'scopes, though. We have a Sony guru who only grabs the DMM maybe once every month or two. Any more it's mostly boards, lamps, fans, panels, etc.

I might keep an eye out for a Mark IV...I think I've seen them on eBay a time or two.

Mark Z.

Just a Simpson 260.

--

aioe.org, Goggle Groups, and Web TV users must request to be white listed, or I will not see your messages.

If you have broadband, your ISP may have a NNTP news server included in your account:

There are two kinds of people on this earth: The crazy, and the insane. The first sign of insanity is denying that you're crazy.

Yep, What modern general purpose DMM has a 5 kV range?! :)

-- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Repair | Main Table of Contents:

+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: | Mirror Sites:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

What modern general-purpose DMM has room for such a big range resistor?

Well, I do have an RCA WV-38A with 5 kV ranges, but I virtually never need any of that. About the highest I ever go on a regular basis is the 200 volt line on a CRT set or the Vs voltage in a plasma.

I might just pick up a Simpson of some variety or other though. The 260 XLPM looks pretty good - I like the extra ranges compared to a regular 260 and I must confess that between my advancing old age and laziness from using a DMM the past 20 years, simple precautions I learned in tech school need to be relearned. The other day I inadvertently put my Fluke 8800A probes across a

50 volt DC source while on a 200 ohm resistance setting. Didn't seem to damage it, but boy, I sure gotta watch that stuff. Hopefully the relay protection on the Simpson would prevent damage from any such stupidity.

Mark Z.

Doesn't make much sense if using standard test leads. Far better to use specials for EHT which include an attenuator.

--
*What do little birdies see when they get knocked unconscious? *

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I have a Fluke 85 series III and like it a lot - it's my "standard" to compare others to.

Mark Z.

My problem with the 8P and some other later Simpsons is those stupid inverted banana plug inputs. I need to be able to use conventional banana types.

Mark Z.

Only on extra low voltage, I hope? ;-)

--
*Seen it all, done it all, can\'t remember most of it*

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Extra low? Never had a standard banana type arc or cause a problem this way, and used them up to at least several hundred volts. The Simpsons used them from the 3 series until the 7 series, IIRC.

Mark Z.

Website specs would suggest that fully insulated ones are good to 3.5kV RMS minimum. I have a pair on the end of a cable feeding HT of around 2kV to a

144MHz tube based linear, and they have never given me any problems.

Arfa

:Started collecting them pretty recently - Weston, Eico, Precision Apparatus, :etc. Even a Japanese JRC vom from about 1950. : :Wondering what cool old meters you guys have at work or at home? : :Care to share thoughts / reminiscences? : : :Mark Z. :

If you check out the list of manufacturers here

you can get some good info and pictures on old analog meters among other stuff.

I managed to pick up a 60's era Unigor 3 made by Goerz (Austria) on Ebay and this has a 5kV input range on it.

Not a question of them working - but one of safety.

--
*Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.