Multimeters

At one point in time if you owned and knew how to use a multimeter you were most likely an electronics technician or an electrical engineers. Not so today, Digital Multimeters are a standard piece of equipment in most homeowner's toolboxes. This handy piece of test equipment can be used for a myriad of tests from checking for power at an outlet to checking to see if you have a blown fuse. Early Digital Multimeters were analog and used a moving needle to show you the reading you were getting while testing an item, these meters were difficult to read accurately as you had to be looking directly at the needle to get an accurate reading. Many early meters had a very small range of measurements they could take and a small range for each of these readings. These early multimeters were quite large and heavy making them difficult to carry around. Today's digital multimeters are state of the art electronic meters that while they may be small in size are big on performance.

They can now perform a huge range of functions and measure in much smaller and bigger increments that the old analog meters ever could. All of this technology is bundled into a meter that is often small enough to fit into your pants pocket or tool bag. Modern multimeters are designed to be tough enough to handle the rough treatment they are likely to see on the job. Many of them are encased in a rubber case to protect them from damage if they are dropped or banged up against anything. These new meters feature a large easy to read LCD display that may even have a backlight so that you can use it in dark areas. When you are looking at new meters you should take a good look at the display to make sure it is big enough for you to see and that it can be easily read in bright sunlight since most of the time you will be using in the light of day. When you look at the dial that allows you to switch measuring modes all multimeters use symbols to indicate where you turn the dial to change types of measurements.

You need to understand what each symbol means to make sure that you are in the right mode for the measurement you are taking. If you place the meter in the resistance position, indicated by a ?" symbol, and try to measure any kind of voltage you will ruin your meter. Today's multimeters can be used to measure more than just voltage and resistance; they can now be used to measure capacitance and duty cycles. Some of the better meters can now be used to measure temperature and frequency, which is used for diagnostic purposes in the automotive field among other places. If you are in the market for one of the latest Digital Multimeters, Tek-Inst has a full selection of meters to suit your needs. They have a full selection from basic models to full function testing models that are designed for the industrial testing world and offer free shipping for all orders over $300.