Date:         Tue, 17 Dec 2002 09:52:51 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Meter Recommendation
Comments: To: John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <3DFEC1A1.1000207@charter.net>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Tue, 17 Dec 2002, John Rodgers wrote:

> I need to buy a meter to do all my testing and trouble shooting on my
> van. Would some of  you enlightened ones on this list please give me
> some recommendations as to what's best, where to get it, what your
> experiences have been with them.

For basic troubleshooting on your van, just about any meter will do.
Fluke makes nice meters, but in my opinion they're overkill for this.  I
use a Velleman digital meter I got for $16 at BG Micro (www.bgmicro.com).
I've been pretty happy with it; my only complaint is the 'hold' feature is
useless.  Fluke's meters have a nice feature called 'touch hold', where
you can keep your eyes on the probes, and when the meter has a stable
reading it'll beep and lock it in for you.  To me it wasn't worth the
extra money, though.

BG Micro also has a $7 digital meter that would probably do just fine,
too, but I haven't used that one.  I'm not sure if it has a continuity
beeper.  The $16 one does, and it's handy for checking out wiring
harnesses.

One thing about the above meters is, unlike the Flukes, they don't
auto-range; you have to select the voltage, current, or resistance range
you want. I don't find this a problem (for automotive stuff you're almost
always using 20VDC) but if you care about that you may want to go for
something more expensive.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full.  To the
 |___/             pessimist, the glass is half empty.  To the engineer,
                   the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."