What was your first multimeter or voltmeter?

[HighVoltage]

I'd forgotten that technique! But then, presuming those batteries were for bicycle lights, that's probably because I do my best to forget those dreadful lights.

Oh yes, best to forget about those lights that almost did not produce any usable brightness.

This is a picture of a typical light and battery of my childhood.
Pertrix = Varta
And these two flat metal connectors worked perfectly on my tongue.

[mairo]

I was given initially one of these little yellow $5 DMMs, but later bought myself a Protek 506

[tggzzz]

I'd forgotten that technique! But then, presuming those batteries were for bicycle lights, that's probably because I do my best to forget those dreadful lights.

Oh yes, best to forget about those lights that almost did not produce any usable brightness.

I found they were bright enough - but only until you really needed them. Either the bulb had broken, or the battery run down, or the contacts corroded, or the torch fell off its holder and broke when it was run over by a car, or...

This is a picture of a typical light and battery of my childhood.

Thank you so much for that - not. (Details omitted to avoid giving people "of a certain age" a heart attack).

On second thoughts, there is an advantage to your post... Whenever someone claims it was better before, then I can use those diabolical devices as a counterexample.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Micronta 22-195

Some guy broke into my apartment years ago and stole that, and a pair of pants.

[lowimpedance]

Micronta 22-195

Some guy broke into my apartment years ago and stole that, and a pair of pants.

Jeez that's rubbing salt into the wound, the two most important things for a bloke  .
Sure it wasn't another engineer 

[lowimpedance]

And these two flat metal connectors worked perfectly on my tongue.

A perfect way to test for usable charge !  .

[borjam]

In the 80's an ICE Microtest 80. It was the very best a teenager could afford at the time. It died after so much abuse in the field. Now I look at the ICE multimeters and I feel terrified about the safety issues. But at the time a Fluke was just a distant dream.

In 1990 a big part one of my first salaries (first or second) was given at a store in a check. In return I got a shiny Fluke 77 (series 1, the original) which served me faithfully until it was stolen during a concert in 2005 or so. Next one I purchased, Fluke 87-V

[Alex Eisenhut]

Micronta 22-195

Some guy broke into my apartment years ago and stole that, and a pair of pants.

Jeez that's rubbing salt into the wound, the two most important things for a bloke  .
Sure it wasn't another engineer 

Actually I was opening the door and it scared him off, he was about to steal my precious Commodore 1581 drive in its box. THAT would have been a much bigger loss! I didn't feel like running after a guy who needed pants...

[Alex Eisenhut]

I'd forgotten that technique! But then, presuming those batteries were for bicycle lights, that's probably because I do my best to forget those dreadful lights.

Oh yes, best to forget about those lights that almost did not produce any usable brightness.

This is a picture of a typical light and battery of my childhood.
Pertrix = Varta
And these two flat metal connectors worked perfectly on my tongue.

The problem these days is that any clown can now buy lights for his bicycle that previously were only available for the landing gear of a 747 (or A320 if you prefer).

Have you ever biked on a completely dark, non-illuminated path and suddenly some jackass with about 500 watts of LEDs pointing STRAIGHT AHEAD comes at you?

What is the purpose of that? Bike lights should point down so you can see the road for about 30-40 feet in front of you and not blind the shit out of oncoming traffic.

With dark-adapted eyes all I need are two white LEDs on the handlebars pointing a bit down.

[tggzzz]

I'd forgotten that technique! But then, presuming those batteries were for bicycle lights, that's probably because I do my best to forget those dreadful lights.

Oh yes, best to forget about those lights that almost did not produce any usable brightness.

This is a picture of a typical light and battery of my childhood.
Pertrix = Varta
And these two flat metal connectors worked perfectly on my tongue.

The problem these days is that any clown can now buy lights for his bicycle that previously were only available for the landing gear of a 747 (or A320 if you prefer).

Have you ever biked on a completely dark, non-illuminated path and suddenly some jackass with about 500 watts of LEDs pointing STRAIGHT AHEAD comes at you?

What is the purpose of that? Bike lights should point down so you can see the road for about 30-40 feet in front of you and not blind the shit out of oncoming traffic.

With dark-adapted eyes all I need are two white LEDs on the handlebars pointing a bit down.

There are 2.5 reasons for bike lights: to see, to be seen - and to wake up the dozy bugger that thinks (and I use that term inadvisably) you are zero width.

[ivaylo]

[bjcuizon]

This was mine:

The image was from google but from what I remembered, it was something like that. Its a wun hang lo meter which I bought with my savings from a local hardware store (not in New Zealand).

[schmitt trigger]

The Output Jack!
I had forgotten about it.

It was used to remove the DC component from an audio signal and only read the AC component. If I remember properly, it was a non-polarized capacitor in series with the input.

[Neomys Sapiens]

What about the 22.5V Anodenbatterie? Tongue testing might lead to prolongued Ohrenschlackern!

[Neomys Sapiens]

What? Don't own a Testboy?
For the non-germans: it is a combination of a crappy flashlight with a continuity tester. Center to left=Light, Center to right=Buzzer and any of the three to rearward  clip=Mains indicator. It makes a disgusting sound (Wäääähhh!) and nearly every german electrician has one. It is probably the reason behind the continued production of the 4.5V battery!

[lowimpedance]

My first multimeter was made by an  Australian company, ' University ' . A present from my parents for getting my apprenticeship. It had extensive use in repairing junk from council cleanups , and when building kits etc. (also got the 25KV probe for those modern CRT repairs  ).
Next was the Fluke 77 bought from Geoff Wood electronics for $330 of my hard earned apprentice wage and it has had the most use of any DMM I own. Still love using the simplicity of its UI, for those quick measurement tasks. 

It will need to be pried out of my cold fingers after my terminal breath   .

[bjcuizon]

The Output Jack!
I had forgotten about it.

It was used to remove the DC component from an audio signal and only read the AC component. If I remember properly, it was a non-polarized capacitor in series with the input.

Dave also talked about it somewhere in his video about a teardown of his three analog meters.
https://youtu.be/S00c_qQB-hA?t=17m41s

I also think the output jack goes to the input of a scope. Maybe you would like to measure ripple on HV PSUs (like on tube radios).. You can measure the DC component of the power supply's output via the meter while measuring the AC ripple on the scope.

[T-Reu]

This is my very first multimeter. I bought it in 1990 when I was 14 years old. Back then it cost DM50,- (Deutsche Mark in West Germany). It still works, though I don't really use it anymore. Its best feature is its instant continuity buzzer.

Today I use a Fluke 177 and the EEVblog multimeter. 

[Tepe]

Mine was this TMK 200 bought in November '79:

[Rbastler]

I had a meter like the one in the picture. It was STAR branded. The local electronics shop was selling these. I remember buying another one, after it broke.
Damn, was I stupid back then.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[tggzzz]

Mine was this TMK 200 bought in November '79:

Still got mine, but it has been dropped so that the movement has more than a little hysteresis.

[Tepe]

Mine was this TMK 200 bought in November '79:

Still got mine, but it has been dropped so that the movement has more than a little hysteresis.

I also have mine. The photo was taken today
The box still contains the instructions, the spare fuse, and the not so wonderful probes.

[johnjanovyak]

Yep, I bought the same model Lafayette 99-5004 meter when I was 15 I think. (I'm 65 now) I still use it occasionally- sometimes an analog needle is better than digital numbers. I guess I got my use out of it- paid $16.88 for it, 'tho it's had an easy life since I used it only at home for projects and such. I really like it when things last a LONG time. I'm such a Slovak, I guess.

[Red Squirrel]

I don't recall exactly because I accidentally blew it up, but it was one I got at Radio Shack.  It was a decent one, like I probably paid close to $100 for it at the time, so not super high end but not super cheap either.   Basically I used solder to replace a fuse because this is before I knew about sites like Digikey so had no idea where to get a proper replacement.  Then I accidentally used it in current mode to see if an outlet worked.  It worked.

[ferdieCX]

I got this Sanwa U-50D in 1971 at age 13, after 3 years of yearn for a meter. It was a present from my aunt Lucia.
It still have both of them.
The meter still works, and aunt Lucia celebrated her 102 birthday some days ago