Yeah, makes sense.<div><br></div><div>I've used a lot of $4 meters in my day, but I recently bought a Fluke 233 and I am *so* loving it.</div><div><br></div><div>Those $15 sears meters really are good though. At least, they feel like it. Even they might have a tendency to "walk" because they feel nice.</div>
<div><br></div><div>What about gluing something awkwardly large to a meter, so people can't easily pocket them? Like what they do with bathroom keys at some places. Like attaching an ~18" strip of wood or plastic? That's a bit childish, but if it prevents someone from throwing it in their pocket or backpack, maybe its worth it? You'd also need to allow for replacing batteries.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Its a tough problem - having an open space where everyone is treated evenly, without losing nice things or making it feel like a prison. Its also a problem I don't really expect to solve, short of tossing out my "glue big things to it" idea.</div>
<div><br></div><div>-Taylor</div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 1:47 PM, jim <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jim@well.com">jim@well.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<br>
my guess is it depends on whether the fuse blows<br>
before something inside fries.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
On Mon, 2011-01-24 at 13:29 -0800, Taylor Alexander wrote:<br>
> If you break a meter by measuring current, doesn't that just pop a<br>
> fuse?<br>
><br>
><br>
> Also, I just remembered that these Sears meters are pretty decent for<br>
> $15.<br>
><br>
><br>
> <a href="http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482146000P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=03482146000P" target="_blank">http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482146000P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=03482146000P</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> No capacitance on that model and not Auto-ranging, but they're cheap<br>
> and well-constructed. We have one at work for basic stuff.<br>
><br>
><br>
> They have some nicer ones for $30. This one has capacitance, though it<br>
> doesn't say how much it measures, or at least not with a quick look on<br>
> the page.<br>
> <a href="http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482344000P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=03482344000P" target="_blank">http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482344000P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=03482344000P</a><br>
><br>
> So maybe the Sears ones are a good cheap alternative to Fluke?<br>
><br>
><br>
> -Taylor<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 12:15 PM, Dr. Jesus <<a href="mailto:j@hug.gs">j@hug.gs</a>> wrote:<br>
> On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 11:06 AM, jim <<a href="mailto:jim@well.com">jim@well.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
><br>
><br>
> > Holy Moly! Thanks for the link to the $6 MPJA meter!<br>
> ><br>
> > For me, el cheapos work great, but i do power supply<br>
> > and audio work where most of the measurements are<br>
> > discovering catastrophic failures and continuity.<br>
> > I'd love to know detailed criteria for assessing a<br>
> > multimeter. One approach might be to point to the specs<br>
> > of a good model (fluke 17{5,7,9}, which i looked up).<br>
> > But it'd be really helpful to understand the why of<br>
> > each criterion: in measuring capacitance, what are the<br>
> > use cases and acceptable tolerances? For me, if the RC<br>
> > figure allows, I can look to see if the "needle" moves<br>
> > to know if it's working (can't do that with pfs, of<br>
> > course); cap tolerances for me are +-50%, give or take....<br>
> > Is there a need for a does-all meter or is it<br>
> > acceptably useful to have a reasonably good VOA meter<br>
> > along with separate cap and L measurement tools (maybe<br>
> > a frequency generator and scope...)?<br>
> ><br>
> > As to "Why We Can't Have Nice Things at Noisebridge",<br>
> > that issue makes me furious!<br>
> > It's horribly inconsiderate to take things away: I'm<br>
> > guessing mainly it's a sloppy, selfish mentality to the<br>
> > effect that "I'll just use it and bring it back after<br>
> > I'm done", which very often fails to "I'll just use it<br>
> > and let it sit around unused and forgotten somewhere at<br>
> > my house forever more after I'm done."<br>
><br>
><br>
> Sometimes people break meters at NB because they don't know<br>
> how<br>
> current sensing works. Then they get thrown away.<br>
> Noisebridge's<br>
> mission is more about education than running a multimeter<br>
> farm, so<br>
> this doesn't bother me that much.<br>
><br>
> I guess I'll make another poster showing how to use a<br>
> multimeter<br>
> without breaking something. That might help.<br>
><br>
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><br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>