What was your first multimeter or voltmeter?

[Lawsen]

We all have our humble beginnings.  I remembered, when I was at San Jose State University, a Spanish woman civil engineering student, showed me her Fluke 77 Series One digital multimeter, that she won in her high school contest and her stellar grades, too.  She was pretty.  She started with a Fluke 77 Series one.  My start was humble, a Radio Shack Micronta analog multimeter.  I did not upgrade to a Fluke 8060A (broke and traded in), until community college electronics trade school.  What was your first multimeter?  I have relative who is an electrical engineer and licensed, but he used his Simpson 260 analog multimeter.  He never upgraded, that is all he use, even with the brittle plastic phenolic case. 

[david77]

I got my first multimeter sometime arounf 1990 but I couldn't tell you what brand or modell it was.
It was a simple yellow 3,5 digits chinese (or more likely Hong Kong back then) thing with just the
most basic ranges. The manufacturers name started with "H" I'm pretty shure.
It served me for the first 10 years of my electronic hobby then I upgraded to the Metex 3630CR
that I still have - and sometimes use - today.

[Alex]

First:


Second:


Third:


Fourth:


Fifth:



I regret not being around when the bakelite Avometers were popular!

[Kiriakos-GR]

My first one was an high quality Japanese analogue, I was just 15 years old (1985), accidentally I did damaged it,
I was clueless about repairing it, and ended up on the garbage can.

I was not so much in love with it, the damn scale on it was so narrow and hard to read. 

The replacement was a more tiny analogue, I kept it for two years and gave it as gift to another person,
as soon I got my true worthy digital one at 1988, the  Pros kit 03-9303C .  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4825.0

About 12 years  later (2000), I got my small UNI-T 30D, as small and compact.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4001.0

EEV blog time
At 2010 I got my first Fluke  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=258.msg42039#msg42039at the same year got and another three Fluke  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=718.0

At 2010 got also my analogue industrial Metrawatt. 
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=342.0

And at 2011 Agilent honored me by offering to me their latest U1272A for review.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3232.0

Some one should pull the plug from EEV , it cost me money !! 




 

[PetrosA]

I had the old black Amprobe clamp meters to use at work back in the 1980s, but the first meter i ever bought (c. 1989) was an RCC-350 made in Korea. It was not TRMS, but it was digital, and was pretty state of the art back then. I think I paid about $65 for it by mistake (about a day's wages), as I seem to remember that a day after I bought mine they had fixed the price in the supply house to about $140. At that time my supply house carried RCC and Hioki test gear, with the Hioki costing about $100 more for a similar unit.

I took it with me to Poland in 1992 and brought it back with me in 2006. I finally sold it at a yard sale about two years ago for $10. It still worked fine, had no issues with the LCD, and was a great little DMM.

Next I had an Extech EX830 1000A clamp meter, then an Agilent U1211A, then two Greenlees - the DM300 (to make up for the inadequate resistance range on the U11211A) later replaced by a DM810 that also did datalogging, then I got my U1272A. Lately I bought a Greenlee CM-450 clamp meter for getting into tight places and as a primary tool pouch meter (it's very small!).

[Lanman]

I started with a used Simpson 260 when I started college in 1981.  I don't remember what series it was but it was fairly new at the time.  Shortly thereafter I picked up a Radio Shack digital meter of some kind just for the novelty of it.  I used the Simpson most of the time.  I can't even remember what happened to that Simpson meter. 

HP recruited me before I finished my last year in college and that's where I met my first Fluke.  Had a rack mounted HP high precision umpteen digit nixie tube multimeter and a Fluke 75 (I think) on my bench.  Also had a Fluke 77 at one time.  Today I'm using the Amprobe AM-140-a. 

Wish I still had that old Simpson. That thing was built like a tank and it took a lot of abuse from me as a student.  I can still remember pegging that needle so hard I thought it would wrap around the stop. 

[AlphZeta]

MF10A

[EEVblog]

Radio Shack / Tandy Micronta 22-201U 20Kohms/volt analog

Dave.

[Lightages]

Ok this thread has inspired me to finally post something with pictures.

I received this meter as a gift from my uncle when I was 11 years old in 1971. This was my start in electronics. I must have tested anything I could get my hands on back then. I left it one day with the test leads plugged in and they got bent beyond repair when I bumped it. My uncle replaced them without complaint. I have treasured this beginning instrument all my life.

I just tested it for accuracy while taking these pictures and it is within spec for everything except AC voltage. It reads far too low, 6.2V when fed a 6.5VAC signal. I was surprised that everything works as well as it does after all this time.

[FrankMc]

Hi Guys

My first multimeter was a  a japanese one...an Eagle K1400  20,000 OPV.....Was a poor mans AVO (back in 1977) cost me approx 50 quid....Still have it but dont use it much these days....

Frank

[saturation]

My first, and still have it.  I think many true nerds who have a 'first meter' often still have it and don't have the nerve to throw it away 

[BravoV]

My first, and still have it.  I think many true nerds who have a 'first meter' often still have it and don't have the nerve to throw it away 

As far as I know personally, most electronic nerds (me included) never throw away stuffs, thats why my wife called us a bunch of hoarders. 

C'mon, ever watched (in memoriam) Jim William's personal workshop at his house, forgot  which video, I think he was fixing some old Tek scope and when he needed a cap to replace the broken one at the tek scope, he was sort of searching it among those mountain gazillion of components laying on top of his table.  I'm pretty sure we all have this kind of space for those left over abadoned components either at the corner at our table or drawer. 

[ciccio]

My first multimeter, back at school in the late 60', was an ICE 680R, still in production  in Italy after more than 60 years.. http://www.icestrumentazione.it/ProdMultAnalog.html.
I was in use everywhere, from factories to small repairman's shops,   and in effect it was more complicated than the standard multimeter, because it did not have a knob...
In the army I used an AVO model 7, than at work again ICE 680R and AVO models 7 and 8.
We had a digital multimeter from France (don't remember the maker or the model, because nobody wanted to use it because it was so slooooow).
The first usable digital we got (about 1979) was a wonderful BECKMAN 3020: it used a custom converter, and was faster than the Flukes that we compared, that used Intersil chips.
The first one I bought for myself was a Chinese analog  "El Cheapo" that lasted 2 days before exploding, and was replaced by a digital 3 1/2 from Japan. The latter was sold after many years of faithful service, for being replaced with a 4 1/2 digits TRM  BECKMAN and maybe 10 other, mostly resold.
I'm still in love with the 3020 I used at work. The 4 1/2 digits had lower speed and higher battery drain.

[armandas]

Got it in the first year at uni. Hardly new anything about multimeters and could not understand how people can sell them so cheaply )

[Achilles]

Hmm, my first DMM contact has been in school by some old Metrix Analogue and DMM...... kinda liked the analogue ones with bakelite cases and so. A bit of old-school
My first multimeter then I bought was an Voltcraft. They just label, but they are very common around here and I think not thaaaaat bad for some general work when you don't work on high energy.... It's a True RMS with a little square wave generator (Very basic with just a few Hertz-Presets), Logic levels (TTL3V and 5V). Frequency counter and some buttons. The internal Temperature reading has always been shitty (about 5-6Deg Celsius above) but the rest still does work fine. So I still use and abuse it . It's been in use for about 12 years and was about 140Euro's.... so that has been OK all over the years....

[Kozmyk]

Too far back to remember ...
I have a vague memory of a cheapo from Marks electrical shop. Cardiff circa 1965.

It was a long time before I got an Avo 8.

I had a baby Micronta that I took in my backpack when I went to India.
That basic toolkit (all had to fit in one rucksack pocket) got me introductions to all kinds of interesting people along my journey.
A millionaire, an embassy guard, a gangster and more.

[Neilm]

My fist was a very cheap multimeter bought in the market when I started a serious interest in Electronics.

It had a glass fuse, a transistor tester connected to the terminal inputs and many other things not allowed by IEC61010. For a laugh, just after I started my current job I took it to work and tested it as it claimed it was CATII. The explosion was fairly impressive.

Neil

[Anders]

An old AVO 8 that someone had dropped, I got it for free and glued it back together. 

[deephaven]

In 1960 when I was 10 I had one of these.

[PStevenson]

when I was a boy of 8 my dad bought a Maplin Precision Gold meter, it has a beautiful leather case and I wanted it for my own so I hatched a plan. I would wait for a year so that the guarantee would run out and then disable it in a manner that he wouldn't be able to figure out - his electronics knowledge extends to "if it's broke and the fuse is okay, it's buggered forever"

so the day after the guarantee ran out (it was in my diary!) I located a resistor that was part of a DC to DC converter from the battery to the meter and snipped it with my side cutters halfway up the resistor leg (yes I was a very nerdy 9 year old) so the meter would not function. then the flaw in my plan emerged, I would have to wait for an occasion for him to use it to discover it didn't work. so I took the plug on the TV apart and removed the fuse, shorted it across my trainset power supply to blow it, then I put it back into the TV's plug (in the UK the fuse is in the plug)

so of course he found out it was broken and I ended up with it "to take apart" so once he had gotten a new one I soldered the resistor back together (yes, I did have a soldering iron at the age of 9!)  which meant I had my first multimeter and I still have it to this day!
it's funny, I actually owned an oscilloscope before a multimeter - didn't have a clue how to use it of course, some weird guy who lived on my road gave it me to take apart but it worked - well it turned on but thats a story for another day I think.

[IanB]

I have not seen mine yet, so here it is:



I think I bought it in 1977, back in those glorious days before anyone had heard of "safety". I never blew any fuses and I never electrocuted myself. In those long distant school days "Tandy" was an Aladdin's cave of things I could only dream about, but after admiring it for months that meter eventually fell within my budget and I took it home. I've kept it ever since.

[codeboy2k]

My first multimeter was back in the early 70's and I can't even remember the name anymore. 
It was of course analog, similar to the Micronta's but I don't think it was actually a Micronta. Maybe it was.

I was about 12 years old then, my dad bought it for me

Later we started getting a lot of HP and Tektronix stuff at home, power-supplies, scopes, bench meters, curve-tracers, spectrum analyzers,  I think he was stealing them from his work LOL.. just kidding, he was the VP of Engineering so he had the authority.  But it was pretty cool being so young and having all the coolest gear at home at your personal bench. 

[Gall]

I had this one:



It still works but I don't use them anymore.

[PetrosA]

I think that in both the "Way Cool" and the "You Gotta Have Balls To Use It" categories, the Pifco wins hands down Is it rated for line volt testing?

[tekfan]

I had this one:



It still works but I don't use them anymore.

My first one was actually nearly identical to that one. I still have it and occasionally use it. The only difference is that mine has lower voltage and current ranges. Nice quality russian design.

[eliocor]

When I was very young I was lucky to "use" the ICE 680R: it was my father's one (bought at the end of sixties).
Before I played with another model  (I remember it was in a wood box and the cable insulation was made of "fabric"): I will ask to my father which model it was... It should yet be at his home!!! 

[david77]

Oh yes I've got one of those ICE 680R's lying around somewhere too. The cap range is scary: They use the 50Hz power line frequency to measure caps. There's even a scary power cord included.
*shudders*

[elliott]

I think that in both the "Way Cool" and the "You Gotta Have Balls To Use It" categories, the Pifco wins hands down Is it rated for line volt testing?

No kidding, anyone who would go near 240V AC with that thing is nuts. I wouldn't mind having a safe, reasonably modern analog multimeter in the pocket watch form factor though.

Manual scan:
http://www.bygonebytes.co.uk/Meters/Pifco%20All-In-One%20Instructions.pdf

[Kiriakos-GR]

Unbelievable but I found pictures on the web of my first analogue, that I had when I was 15 years old. 

That's a nice 28 years back,  travel in time .. LOL

The exterior is Bakelite.

[IanB]

I think that in both the "Way Cool" and the "You Gotta Have Balls To Use It" categories, the Pifco wins hands down Is it rated for line volt testing?

No kidding, anyone who would go near 240V AC with that thing is nuts. I wouldn't mind having a safe, reasonably modern analog multimeter in the pocket watch form factor though.

Manual scan:
http://www.bygonebytes.co.uk/Meters/Pifco%20All-In-One%20Instructions.pdf

Ah, it's designed for battery powered radios, DC only. That's not quite so terrifying.

[Ronnie]

Soar ME-540 made in Japan   

[vk6zgo]

Unbelievable but I found pictures on the web of my first analogue, that I had when I was 15 years old. 

That's a nice 28 years back,  travel in time .. LOL

The exterior is Bakelite.

My first multimeter was identical to yours,but it was labelled "Sanwa"--this was in the 1960s,they were around for a long time!

VK6ZGO

[Kiriakos-GR]

Well this analogue meter belonged originally to my father, he was an cars electrician and died when I was 15 years old.
Even so he must had it for a decade or more in his shop.
One wild guess would be that he go it around 1972 - 1975.

He had a major passion with tools, I bet that he is proud of me, I had double or triple the amount of tools that I had found from him.  

[slipjointed]

We all have our humble beginnings.  I remembered, when I was at San Jose State University, a Spanish woman civil engineering student, showed me her Fluke 77 Series One digital multimeter, that she won in her high school contest and her stellar grades, too.  She was pretty.  She started with a Fluke 77 Series one.  My start was humble, a Radio Shack Micronta analog multimeter.  I did not upgrade to a Fluke 8060A (broke and traded in), until community college electronics trade school.  What was your first multimeter?  I have relative who is an electrical engineer and licensed, but he used his Simpson 260 analog multimeter.  He never upgraded, that is all he use, even with the brittle plastic phenolic case.

I started with a Micronta almost identical to yours. Even the cardboard box was the same.

[deephaven]

I think that in both the "Way Cool" and the "You Gotta Have Balls To Use It" categories, the Pifco wins hands down Is it rated for line volt testing?

No kidding, anyone who would go near 240V AC with that thing is nuts. I wouldn't mind having a safe, reasonably modern analog multimeter in the pocket watch form factor though.

Manual scan:
http://www.bygonebytes.co.uk/Meters/Pifco%20All-In-One%20Instructions.pdf

Ah, it's designed for battery powered radios, DC only. That's not quite so terrifying.

I remember getting it as a Christmas present. My parents also bought me a 'magicians' set and were really dissappointed because all I wanted to play with was this meter. Little did they know what this was a start of 

[lmester]

Bummer,  I was looking for my first analog multimeter. It's stored here somewhere...  A basic analog meter.

 My next meter is an NRI  VTVM. I still occasionally use this meter. VTVM's  have some advantages. A really high impedance.

 Next was my first DMM.

 A BK 380 Multimeter. I inserted four C batteries. Last power up for this meter was about ten years ago. It's still working!

[cheetahkid]

Avo 8 mk5 I think it was first multimeter.

[oldway]

It was not my first multimeter but the oldest I remember: Hioki AF-105

I then bought an electronic voltmeter that was so complicated that I never used all its possibilities: Hansen UV47

While saving my pocket money for a long time, I was able to buy a multimeter of quality which was very useful to me: avometer model 8.
I still have one now.

My first digital multimeter purchased used in 1993 was a Fluke 73.
I modified it to have the choice of the range (like 75) because the automatic range was annoying with variable voltages.
I still use it today.

[VK5RC]

An old analogue  Sanwa 460-ED, 100,000 Ohm/V,  I still have it and it works.

[SeanB]

Hioki 3001, and still have it. Abused a bit over the years, and had a few "incidents" with it as well, but it has survived and still is reasonably accurate on DC volts, so so on AC volts ( what do you expect, very non linear scale and not good below 5VAC really), and the resistance ranges have had a few little repairs over the years, due to leaking batteries and such.  I keep a pack of 0.5A glass fuses in the one battery compartment inside, just in case I need them.

[cdev]

My first voltmeter was homemade with parts scavenged from a the dumpster of a local factory.

My first real multimeter which I still have was a Micronta 22-203u. After I got my first DMM I removed the batteries so no worries about them leaking.

Its very handy to have an analog meter sometimes. I've checked the accuracy and its still good.

[Kleinstein]

My first meter was a Russian build µ4324 analog one from the early 1980s. It did not like measuring the resistance of a 160 V transformer output - but was repairable and still working. It has quite a lot of ranges, though the mirror scale is missing. I still use it from time to time.

[ocw]

I think that my first meter was a Lafayette 99-5004 multi-tester.  It unfortunately didn't survive a bounce test on a concrete floor.  However, I still have its instruction sheet.  That didn't rate being called a manual, however it included a schematic diagram of the meter.

I've attached portions of the instructions.  Note that for resistance measurements it required a Burgess Y10 15 volt battery.  It had a 33 uA full scale meter.  "The best components have been used in the assembly for accuracy and long life."

[SingedFingers]

This. I murdered it, several times and repaired it.



Then the cat pissed in it and I couldn't bear to use it because of the awful smell, so I bought another one with about 6 months of pocket money:



Ironically now I use a Fluke 8021 I picked up last week which was made BEFORE both of them were!

[Housedad]

God, I don't know which model, but it was a Radio Shack purchase back in 1974.   Too long ago and long, long gone.

[joeqsmith]

Some sort of VTVM that was given to me.

[D3f1ant]

Some DSE (or maybe it was David Reid) brand thing when I was about 10, it exploded when  I  stuck it into the mains with selector on ohms.
Needless to say my daughter's first multimeter has some safety features.

[nanofrog]

RadioShack/Micronta 22-201A analog in my case (long gone).

[med6753]

Heathkit V-5 VTVM. Still have it. It's been re-capped and any out of tolerance resistors replaced. Also ditched the selenium rectifier for a silicon diode in the B+ supply. Fully calibrated


My first DMM was a Fluke 77 which unfortunately was permanently damaged by a leaking battery.

[Brumby]

It was a long time ago and I don't remember the make or model - but there are a few things I do remember...

It was early to mid 70's - and I bought it from George Brown in Sydney.  Analogue, of course, but I made sure it was 20Kohm/volt.  It cost me $20 - and I can remember laying out five $2 notes and two $5 notes to pay for it.

It served me well until one unfortunate event when set on a current range.  The was no fuse protection and the exercise proved fatal to the meter.  The ensuing vapour deposition was contained within the case, producing a very nice circle of copper about 15mm across on the inside of the back cover.

Until then, it had served me well.


Oh yes ... it had a mirrored scale, of course.

[rrinker]

 This was my first, the kit was $1 or $2 cheaper than the assembled one so I got the kit.


It might be buried in a box somewhere, I'll have to look. Love that top voltage range, 1000V - not on your life. Even then I knew better than to try and use that thing for even 120V. (I got this when I was about 9)

[Conrad Hoffman]

I can't remember my first meter, probably a Heathkit VTVM, the horizontal one, but my first DVM was the Fluke 73 when it first came out. It's still on my bench, still accurate and still the most used tool I've got.

[artag]

Mine was a tiny cheap Japanese 1k/volt, very commonly rebadged at the time. I was very proud of it (I was about 10) but killed it fairly quickly : I tried to measure spark plug voltage which it appeared to survive, but the next use on mains vaporised the pcb. I think I'd blown the rectifier.

The replacement was a secondhand AVO multiminor, probably already 20 years old when I got it. It was made of tougher stuff, and I still have it.

First digital was a fluke 75, bought faulty at a hamfest. Fixed it and still use it regularly - I love that form factor. Many clones have failed to beat it (I still prefer it to my series II fluke 79 - they made the mistake of putting Hz before DCV. Which do you use most ?)

[wraper]

I had one like on the picture. IIRC it was made in 1964 or 1966.

[mmagin]

Radio Shack / Tandy Micronta 22-201U 20Kohms/volt analog

Dave.

I think I had a very similar model.  The crappy test leads were always breaking.  I guess it wasn't terrible otherwise.
It was so much better when my Dad got a Fluke 77 a couple years later (which I had unlimited use of).  That meter is still working just fine, some 33 years later or so.

[jhalar]

My first multimeter was a Tandy kit I put together in 1980 when I was 13.
This was my first kit. It still works.

[HighVoltage]

My first Multimeter came from the German Army
Made by Hartmann& Braun in Frankfurt Germany, probably in the early 1960s

Here are some pictures of it

[mtdoc]

[Cubdriver]

My first multimeter was a Tandy kit I put together in 1980 when I was 13.
This was my first kit. It still works.

Perfect!!  You saved me from searching for a picture - that's the exact same one I started out with, too, though a few years earlier than you ('77-'78ish).  It's lurking about somewhere, though at some point 30+ years ago I was carrying it down stairs on a pile of stuff (lazy man's load) and it took a header.  The plastic faceplate popped off the meter movement when it hit the ground and the pointer got mangled.  I straightened it out as best I could, but you still had to rezero it for every scale as it was not exactly straight when I was done.

-Pat

[HP-ILnerd]

This guy (still works fine, too) :

[tkuhmone]

My first multimeter was from Hung Chang. Cannot remember exactly the model, might have been "HC3500T"

[TiN]

My first, soviet meter



Second, noname 890G



Third, F87V (still have it)



Forth,fifth,sixth,seventh... K2001s.  (still have them all, about to sell this year)



Eigth (and nine), K2002 (still have these)



Ten (and eleven) 3458A (keepers)

[CatalinaWOW]

My first meter was an analog, house brand from Allied Radio.  It failed a concrete floor drop test by breaking the meter pivots, and was replaced by another analog meter, similar to one of the Radio Shack models shown above.  It was a long time before I saw the need for the transistor test function in the new DMMs, but did envy the capacitor test function.  The hobby budget was small at the time and so the first DMM was picked up as a pile of parts at an electronics swap meet.  There were pieces of three Beckman Instruments Circuitmate DM27 XL deemed beyond economic repair that I picked up for about $5 as I remember.  The photograph is the working result.  The counter feature is an occasionally useful bonus.  No back was in the parts pile so this meter has had a back off and on through the years as I build something sort of workable that then falls by the wayside.  You can see the remnants of tape around the meter used to hold some of the back candidates on.   It has since been replaced by newer and better meters (I may have more but definitely not better than TiN), but still worked until the nine volt battery connector negative lead fatigued open.  Just haven't gotten around to fixing.

[HighVoltage]

This was my first digital meter
Supertester 680 D, Made in Germany by ICD

And it still works
A long time ago, I installed new Hirschman 2 mm plugs and replaced the cables a few times but the tips are are still original.

[hendorog]

My first multimeter was from Hung Chang. Cannot remember exactly the model, might have been "HC3500T"

Same here - HC-3030S. I haven't seen this for years and just found it. The batteries still have some charge and haven't leaked too badly.
It still works on the original batteries - although the ohm adjust pot was seized and needed to be freed up.

[cat87]

When I was knee high, I managed to scrounge up enough money to get me a cheap  Chinese Sanwa clone. This was somewhere in the late 90's. I blew up the meter in so many ways, that even now I'm amazed of how it performed. Also, in many cases, I had no idea what the hell I was doing, so you can imagine that poor multimeter  had it's share of   

Growing up, I felt the urge to go digital. I had my sights on what seemed like the best multimeter on the market ( flea market, that is) It was a DT 9208A.  Complete with transistor tester and capacitance meter.

One late evening, its life was cut short due to it being exposed to 220V AC....while being in continuity mode. I thought I had it in Volts mode. Oooops. However, when I took it apart, despite having no real input protection, the case somehow held the angry pixies inside. No fire, no nothing.

Since then, I've had a pair of the cheapest smallest Uni-t DMMs for regular use


...and use an HP 3478A for precision work.

[gamalot]

MF10A

me too

[schmitt trigger]

For me, it was a Micronta 22-206 FET VOM like the one on the photo. (photo came from an Ebay auction)

I was still in college, and I had to work many odd jobs to save enough to purchase it.

Worked fine for many years, but the plastic case started to disintegrate. To this day I ignore what happened, but the plastic material simply started to fragment.
Patched it up with tape until one of the banana connectors failed.

[joeqsmith]

I have not seen mine yet, so here it is:



I think I bought it in 1977, back in those glorious days before anyone had heard of "safety". I never blew any fuses and I never electrocuted myself. In those long distant school days "Tandy" was an Aladdin's cave of things I could only dream about, but after admiring it for months that meter eventually fell within my budget and I took it home. I've kept it ever since.

This was my first brand new meter I received for my birthday.  Before this I had an old VTVM that was given to me.

[NiHaoMike]

Started out with a basic Radio Shack mini autoranging DMM, back in 3rd grade or so, when I moved on from building kits to designing my own circuits. It didn't measure current, so it wasn't long before I got a cheap Harbor Freight for that. Ended up using those meters for many years, then in high school, I got a Mastech since the "kid's toys" I have been using were easily confused by noise, plus having temperature measurement, capacitance measurement, and data logging was nice. That ended up being my primary DMM throughout college. After that, I got a Radio Shack AC/DC clamp meter since I had to do some automotive work. Most recently, I got a Mooshimeter mainly for its power measurement capability.

[tggzzz]

My first voltmeter was an incandescent lightbulb. Seriously. I used it for half a decade until I could afford something more conventional.

At school, when we needed to measure voltage to 0.1%, we used a NiFe cell, a 1m piece of resistance wire and and ruler, and a 1.0186V standard cell.  Seriously.

See my .sig and change "span" to "voltmeter

[HighVoltage]

My first voltmeter was an incandescent lightbulb. Seriously. I used it for half a decade until I could afford something more conventional.

At school, when we needed to measure voltage to 0.1%, we used a NiFe cell, a 1m piece of resistance wire and and ruler, and a 1.0186V standard cell.  Seriously.

See my .sig and change "span" to "voltmeter

How funny

On that level, my first voltmeter was my tongue,  , long before I had a real multimeter, I knew how full a 9V battery was. Also, we had a lot of 4.5V batteries in Germany in those days of my childhood and the tongue pretty much measured them as well.

[VK5RC]

One of the EEs in my Ham Radio Club seriously built a Tube transmitter many years ago without a multimeter - estimating the voltage by the kick off the back of his hand FFS

[tggzzz]

My first voltmeter was an incandescent lightbulb. Seriously. I used it for half a decade until I could afford something more conventional.

At school, when we needed to measure voltage to 0.1%, we used a NiFe cell, a 1m piece of resistance wire and and ruler, and a 1.0186V standard cell.  Seriously.

See my .sig and change "span" to "voltmeter

How funny

On that level, my first voltmeter was my tongue,  , long before I had a real multimeter, I knew how full a 9V battery was. Also, we had a lot of 4.5V batteries in Germany in those days of my childhood and the tongue pretty much measured them as well.

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.

[schmitt trigger]

One of the EEs in my Ham Radio Club seriously built a Tube transmitter many years ago without a multimeter - estimating the voltage by the kick off the back of his hand FFS

In that regard, we can claim that the world's first voltmeter was Galvani's frog legs. 

[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

[geekGee]

The first I bought myself was a Fluke 83 (no suffix).

The first I had I can't recall exactly but think it was a Fluke 8020B which I inherited from my father when he died in '87.  I used it for a few years in IT then the display went which led to me buying the 83.

I think I may have thrown out the 8020B back then which I now regret 30 years later.    I keep hoping I didn't and will eventually find it stashed somewhere around the house as it is likely repairable.

I still have and use the 83 but have to give the zebra strip a cleaning periodically when the display starts fading.  At some point I'll probably replace the strip.

[bitwelder]

My first multimeter was an ICE 680G, which I bought when I was still a kid. It was definitely one of the my first serious investments in electronic gear, which I committed to through only after a friend of mine got it.

[Terry01]

My 1st meter was a £28 Hyelec MS89 from "Banggood".
I still have it now and it is as close as damn it when I compare it to my other "proper" meters. I popped a fuse in it a while back which also melted a bit of the trace so I bridged the trace with a small wire and replaced the fuse and it works great again.
I know the Chinese stuff is hit and miss but that was defo a "hit" 

[Calambres]

My first multimeter was the venerable ICE 680R.  I bought it circa mid 70's and still have it in perfect working condition.

Very good meter indeed!

[FrankE]

First:     Micronta 22-195  Fate: Broke can't remember failure mode.
Second: Appa 101.           Fate: Broke - rotary tracks lifted
Third:    Fluke 189            Fate: Stolen by employer
Fourth:  Fluke 289            Fate: Still in regular use
Fifth:     Fluke 117            Fate: Still in regular use

[6PTsocket]

My first meter was a PACO kit vacuum tube voltmeter. You had to plug it in to the wall and it had these funny glass bottles inside that glowed. The RCA Volt Ohmist was also popular at the time. Simpson analog voms were popular and Tripplet made a pocket VOM. Surprisingly the Simpson and the Tripplet are still around.I went years without a personal digital though I had them at work. I finally broke down and bought a Tektronix TX3 that was their attempt to compete with the Fluke 87. It is a great meter and still going strong. Fluke bought Tektronix and reissued the TX3 under a new model number and switched the blue boot for Fluke yellow. It was a high end Fluke at the time.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Vtile]

In 1960 when I was 10 I had one of these.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5037.0;attach=15795;image

I do wonder what is the CAT rating for that meter. 

[Tepe]

I do wonder what is the CAT rating for that meter. 

Electricity was less dangerous back then.
Just like X-rays and asbestos.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I do wonder what is the CAT rating for that meter. 

CAT -1 = do not use with a cat in the same building!

[alpher]

Sanwa sranwa, try this for the proper analog mechanical beast:



For a short while graduated to this:




Then at the beginning of eighties I bought a first digital meter, don't remember the make, some sort of generic manual ranging ICL7106 chinesium (or taiwanesium at the time).
Too bad didn't save it, served me well into the mid 2000's.

[JugglingElectrons]

This Tekpower TP2844R served me quite well throughout University for my EET degree. Doesn't have the fastest update rate but the autorange was convenient. Might be developing some issues with the selector switch now though. Decent build overall and I'm happy that I was able to get the use of it that I did and that it's still a great tool to have.

[Leandro Prusch]

Wow, this is amazing. This was my first multimeter as well, I am glad to find your post.

I remember it was (it seemed to be anyway) such a large display, and I had a lot of fun adjusting the zero when measuring resistance.

Its a shame I lost mine. I dont recall if I got another analog after this one, or if my next one was a digital (which I already have in working condition).

Thanks for sharing

[shakalnokturn]

Metex M-3650 some time in the beginning of the '90s.

[MosherIV]

Wow, did not know this topic existed. Always love threads about multimeters 

I was given initially one of these little yellow $5 DMMs,

I am  surprised more people have not mentioned something like this.

My first multimeter was the infamous DT830, in yellow of course.



Got it from Maplins. Still has the original crappy probes.
Still works but the dial is a little temperamental now. Never 100% certain if the volt reading is wrong or the dial needs a wiggle.
Replaced it with the best ( most expensive dmm I could afford from Farnell - Tenma brand. Turned out to be a rebadged UT70b ) dmm I could get.  Still use this one along with my favourite dmm - Fluke 187