Australia's Science Forum

I'm needing to purchase some more meters. Any suggestions of where to get good quality meters? We're wanting the bench type analogue meters but it looks as though they may be being phased out for digital models.
Kathryn

We bought Westlab analogue ammeters a while ago. Seem to be good so far.

I'll be seriously considering IEC Digital ammeters next time . Sure they are about $80 each but they are pretty bullet proof compared to the old analogue ammeters .We get so many analogue ones that are burned out when they are connected up wrong .Voltmeters are a bit more forgiving .

Only downside is it's another skill the kids don't learn . They are getting so used to looking at numbers . Many can't read an analogue clock

We purchased the IEC digital ones as well. Yes, reading a dial may be a skill that is lost but when I was at school I had a booklet of log tables etc (anyone remember that?) My older brother used to use a slide rule. Some skills maybe lost, sure, but is it a problem?
The digital ones are bomb proof.

So true bigmack,

Merilyn1 wrote: ↑03 Nov 2021, 08:42 We purchased the IEC digital ones as well.

Merilyn, curious about battery life in them ? What do they use? and how often do you need to replace them ?

That was a good question. I'm sure I checked before buying them but it was seems like so long ago - lockdown does that to you!
So I went and opened one up - just two screws and it has just a 9V battery. Nothing too complicated. We bought them last year and with lockdowns, they haven't been used much. As a result, I can't comment on how long the batteries last. The meters have an auto shut off which will save on batteries.

Thanks

We purchased a set of analogue ammeters and voltmeters from MTA last year. So far they are lasting well, but of course they haven't had a huge amount of use thanks to lockdowns...