Hi Rick, nicely done. Well done on showing the swinging of the metre movement. Nice old meter and no battery guff eating it away. A thing I've found on meters that have been 'played' with is that sometimes the guy has failed to realign the mechanical set zero screw on the front cover with the meter movement so you can't move the needle back to zero on the scale. 73's ... Andy
I just love the old stuff! You answered a question for me, I have a 20 year old analog multimeter and was checking some spark plug wires and coils. I didn't know what the extra black dial was for, so I played with it and it zeros out the ohms meter. I was getting a bad reading and was about to replace everything, now it looks like everything is well within spec! I also find these easier to read when the value jumps around a bit, the cheap digital ones don't seem very trustworthy. Thanks!
Rick, You just can't beat those big meter faces, especially at my age. Even then I have to squint a little. :-) You must have better flea marktes than what we have here in Arkansas. Our flea markets sell broken particle board furniture, old clothes and cracked dishes, although I did pick up a 1950 GE 417 am/fm console radio the other day at Good Will for $20. Heck of a deal. The tubes were worth that much. I'm looking forward to restoring that one. Regards, John
@macksledge You want your isolation transformer without an earth ground. You don't want any connections to commercial power and earth ground is part of that. Another rule to keep in mind when working with power is to only use one hand and put your other hand in your pocket.
I believe this meter is the same as a Superior 77 VTVM for which the wiring diagram is available. A couple of weeks ago I picked one up at an estate sale. The selection switch shaft was frozen, so after a couple days soaking with WD-40, I was able to get it to rotate. After lubricating the switch shaft plus replacing the electrolytic cap and cooked resistor, the meter now works fine.
Thanks AndyDaviesByTheSea Hey Andy, Yep, when I get back to the meter, the mechanical zero is one of the first things to adjust. This meter seems to be in good working order but as you saw it needs cleaning and polishing. I call it, looking through the dirt. Regards, Rick
Thanks SorinG2010 The analog meters, the ones with the pointer, uses a real-time amplifier no sampling. Digital meter use sampling and the sample rate will vary between manufacturers. Rick
Nice looking meter you got there! I've always wanted to get my hands on an analog meter, but isn't easy to find a cheap one around here. If I ever should come across one, you had some really nice points to check for. Thanks for the information and another great video! - Frank
@BlueFoxTV Usually the battery is use in the Ohms function of the meter, also could be used as a voltage reference or both. Without the diagram I can definitely say, but this is what I have found in the past.
Thanks joernone Hey John, Very glad to hear that you found that GE 417. And that was a great deal too. It will be a great one to use from OTR listening.
@SpeakerFreak95 That was a great fix. I think analog meters are interesting and sometimes very useful. A friend and I were working on a radio using a digital meter and were not getting anywhere. We switched to an analog meter and found that the digital had lied to us because of its sample rate. We then found the trouble in no time.
Both my variac and isolation transformer are ungrounded i.e they were made before three prong cords were the norm. Is this ok? It seems to me it would be as the isolation transformer isolates the variac from the house ac. I'm assuming a cheater plug is then called for to plug my devices into the variac? I just want to make sure I'm using common sense here. Thanks for the help and as usual great video.
Hi, I just bought a vintage Jana HJ-8005A analog multimetre (made in Japan, yay!). The ohmmeter settings are the usual RX1, RX100, RX1K and RX10K. Upon shorting the leads for ohms adjust, the needle swings to zero for all RX settings except the RX10K setting i.e the RX10K always measures open circuit even with leads shorted, nil needle movement from infinity. Everything looks OK inside there, no broken contacts or anything obvious. Batteries are confirmed to be good. Any ideas as to what might be going on there?
Rick I have a drawer full of digital meters, but I still prefer analog. The analog meter I most often us is Sencor's FET meter. It is superior to digital when testing for a peak or null voltage. Nice find and nice video too. 73 -- de Mick, WB4LSS
I like the old from meters ,I have two different heath kits ,One only need a cap and a new battery ,the old cap is probably good ,but because of its age I will change it,and I want to put in a good c battery.,my other from I have ordered the parts needed to make a missing probe .most of these vintage from meter are almost the same inside .
my needle is not working well since the fuse got busted. i have an analog multimeter when i set it to the lowest reading the needle wont zap to right like it used to it just went to the middle. please help. im just new on this thing.
When replacing a VTVM two wire power cord with a 3 wire power cord, should I ground the green wire to the chassis. Seems to me that the ground probe lead will short to earth ground if I should touch line voltage by accident. Any ideas on this situation or am I wrong? Thanks , Chris
@@AllAmericanFiveRadio I have a Eico Model 232 vtvm. I have the schematic in PDF but I can't attach it on this post. The schematic is on many web sites . Thanks for all your videos ,Chris
May I ask, and maybe others.might be interested,whats the keyword for these old probes that some old meters have,they are not banana plugs. They look like a nail or like the end of a normal needle probe.
Hello. Hoping you're still here. I have a Simpson 260 Series 7 that I am trying to repair for a customer. Is there a place that you can direct me to for replacement resistors, or do you sell them? I need R17, 18 & 19. Thank you in advance.
Simpson will be glad the assist you in repair or parts. Contact them through this web page. Simpson simpsonelectric.com/technical-support/calibration-and-repair
maybe someone has an idea for my problem. I bought a used Triplett 60 type II of ebay....... bad idea by the way. The needle always returns to about a third of the way after i zero the ohms. Sometimes but not very often it will return all or almost all the way back, but as soon as i use the meter again, it returns to about one third of the way across the dial....... any Ideas ...... anyone?
Nice old unit there. I have an old bench top multimeter and I think they are simply the best. I don't use it but one day I will display it on my work bench. My current work bench is way too small... hahaha! Oh well ! : > )
@joernone The flea markets here are about the same thing. I bought this meter years ago when the flea markets had stuff like this. Now I go to the flea market mostly just to walk around. All the flea markets around here are not what they use to be. I think it is because of online actions. I hope the flea markets don't go out of business. But the walk is my only expectation when I go there. Regards, Rick
you are correct , everyone told me that this meter is garbage. but i will try. i do have the spring of the opposite side , maybe i can use this as a reference?
no i have 1 meter. its needle has 2 springs one on the front thats has problem , and one on the back which is still in excellent condition. thank you for your help sir
i took some pictures today , if you like to see what i am talking about (its hi-res you can zoom in): imgur.com/a/MtFJF checked all your links , thank toy very much. i already talked to a watch technician , maybe he can help. its really pity to scap the whole meter because of a hairspring , but more than this its the challenge and the joy of repair! i still believe that i can take for example a heirspring from a chinese cheap ebay analoga ammeter and the difference will be very low. maybe we can assume the donor ammeter spring from the full range mA of the meter?
sure i can solder the spring , i do have a stereoscope too! but the problem is that the spring i guess is valdalised , you can see in the pics. i guess its impossible to recover its shape.. but a replacement spring though, how difficult can it be? how different from ammeter to ammeter?
I purchased a very close match to this VTVM recently. Seems to need small adjustment of the ohms and zero controls as I switch ranges. Is this to be expected or is further clean up required? I made a clip to demo thisruclips.net/video/WpDtE9KLUng/видео.html
+Christopher Larwood Having to make small adjustments from one range to another is normal for an analog meter. I hope you enjoy using the meter, they are very useful. It is my analog meters quite a lot. Sometimes a digital meter will not lock onto the same result in a circuit, but when I use my analog meter I can see what the result is and why the digital meter was unable to give me a result.
I've done DC calibration and the meter is quite accurate, resistance measurement seems good also so very pleased with this 50 years old instrument - and I can clearly see the meter- it;s huge! I would like to make up a better set of leads for it - the ac/ohms and common inputs have odd pin type input jacks that won't accept banana plugs - any idea where these could be sourced? The DCV is closer to a RCA plug, but a little smaller. thanks for all the interesting and educational clips - well paced and explained
AllAmericanFiveRadio it's the odd type of pin going to inputs that I just don't know what to call so I can even start a search! Do they have a name? Leads are plentiful but not made with 50 year old VTVM s in mind! I'm in South Australia so no chance of local seller..
Hi Rick, nicely done. Well done on showing the swinging of the metre movement.
Nice old meter and no battery guff eating it away.
A thing I've found on meters that have been 'played' with is that sometimes the guy has failed to realign the mechanical set zero screw on the front cover with the meter movement so you can't move the needle back to zero on the scale.
73's ... Andy
I just love the old stuff!
You answered a question for me, I have a 20 year old analog multimeter and was checking some spark plug wires and coils. I didn't know what the extra black dial was for, so I played with it and it zeros out the ohms meter. I was getting a bad reading and was about to replace everything, now it looks like everything is well within spec!
I also find these easier to read when the value jumps around a bit, the cheap digital ones don't seem very trustworthy.
Thanks!
Rick,
You just can't beat those big meter faces, especially at my age. Even then I have to squint a little. :-) You must have better flea marktes than what we have here in Arkansas. Our flea markets sell broken particle board furniture, old clothes and cracked dishes, although I did pick up a 1950 GE 417 am/fm console radio the other day at Good Will for $20. Heck of a deal. The tubes were worth that much. I'm looking forward to restoring that one.
Regards,
John
@macksledge
You want your isolation transformer without an earth ground. You don't want any connections to commercial power and earth ground is part of that. Another rule to keep in mind when working with power is to only use one hand and put your other hand in your pocket.
I believe this meter is the same as a Superior 77 VTVM for which the wiring diagram is available. A couple of weeks ago I picked one up at an estate sale. The selection switch shaft was frozen, so after a couple days soaking with WD-40, I was able to get it to rotate. After lubricating the switch shaft plus replacing the electrolytic cap and cooked resistor, the meter now works fine.
Glad you got it working again. These meter are still very useful.
Thanks AndyDaviesByTheSea
Hey Andy,
Yep, when I get back to the meter, the mechanical zero is one of the first things to adjust. This meter seems to be in good working order but as you saw it needs cleaning and polishing. I call it, looking through the dirt.
Regards,
Rick
Nice find! Test equipment are like toys, you just can not have enough of them.
Thanks SorinG2010
The analog meters, the ones with the pointer, uses a real-time amplifier no sampling. Digital meter use sampling and the sample rate will vary between manufacturers.
Rick
Nice looking meter you got there! I've always wanted to get my hands on an analog meter, but isn't easy to find a cheap one around here. If I ever should come across one, you had some really nice points to check for. Thanks for the information and another great video!
- Frank
@BlueFoxTV
Usually the battery is use in the Ohms function of the meter, also could be used as a voltage reference or both. Without the diagram I can definitely say, but this is what I have found in the past.
Thanks joernone
Hey John,
Very glad to hear that you found that GE 417. And that was a great deal too. It will be a great one to use from OTR listening.
@ElectricSparq
Yes it is working great.
Hi Rick
Thanks for another interesting video I always pick up a few tips.
@SpeakerFreak95
That was a great fix. I think analog meters are interesting and sometimes very useful. A friend and I were working on a radio using a digital meter and were not getting anywhere. We switched to an analog meter and found that the digital had lied to us because of its sample rate. We then found the trouble in no time.
@k5cxo
Yes they are! Thanks.
@ElectricSparq
I think I paid $5 because the case has a crack in the top. But the meter works like it should.
cotton dampened with Kaol (metal polisher)... or Silvo (silver polisher) will polish till you remove scracthes from you meter protecting window cover
Greeting from Spain where I do follow your interesting videos. I'm like the vintage electronic.
Regards. Gerardo.
Both my variac and isolation transformer are ungrounded i.e they were made before three prong cords were the norm. Is this ok? It seems to me it would be as the isolation transformer isolates the variac from the house ac. I'm assuming a cheater plug is then called for to plug my devices into the variac? I just want to make sure I'm using common sense here. Thanks for the help and as usual great video.
Hi, I just bought a vintage Jana HJ-8005A analog multimetre (made in Japan, yay!). The ohmmeter settings are the usual RX1, RX100, RX1K and RX10K. Upon shorting the leads for ohms adjust, the needle swings to zero for all RX settings except the RX10K setting i.e the RX10K always measures open circuit even with leads shorted, nil needle movement from infinity. Everything looks OK inside there, no broken contacts or anything obvious. Batteries are confirmed to be good. Any ideas as to what might be going on there?
You'l need to get the wiring diagram and check all the resistors and connections in the RX10K circuit.
Good luck!!!
@@AllAmericanFiveRadio Ok thanks!
What's the purpose of the battery in a meter like this. Does it not get all the required power from the transformer?
Rick I have a drawer full of digital meters, but I still prefer analog. The analog meter I most often us is Sencor's FET meter. It is superior to digital when testing for a peak or null voltage. Nice find and nice video too. 73 -- de Mick, WB4LSS
I like the old from meters ,I have two different heath kits ,One only need a cap and a new battery ,the old cap is probably good ,but because of its age I will change it,and I want to put in a good c battery.,my other from I have ordered the parts needed to make a missing probe .most of these vintage from meter are almost the same inside .
Hope you get them working. Their still very useful.
@AllAmericanFiveRadio can you please tell me how can you tell when a meter samples the value? What exactly value sampling is? Thanks, Sorin
my needle is not working well since the fuse got busted. i have an analog multimeter when i set it to the lowest reading the needle wont zap to right like it used to it just went to the middle. please help. im just new on this thing.
When replacing a VTVM two wire power cord with a 3 wire power cord, should I ground the green wire to the chassis. Seems to me that the ground probe lead will short to earth ground if I should touch line voltage by accident. Any ideas on this situation or am I wrong? Thanks , Chris
I would need to see the schematic of your meter before deciding where the Earth Ground should be connected.
@@AllAmericanFiveRadio I have a Eico Model 232 vtvm. I have the schematic in PDF but I can't attach it on this post. The schematic is on many web sites . Thanks for all your videos ,Chris
Your videos are very niced...i'm your fan
May I ask, and maybe others.might be interested,whats the keyword for these old probes that some old meters have,they are not banana plugs. They look like a nail or like the end of a normal needle probe.
They are early probes.
Thanks togst
Hope you can find one. As you can tell by now I like test equipment.
Rick
So how does it cost now (working)?
How much is an analog meter like this one?
Rick - I really enjoyed this video. Thasks for do it. Doug
'
Hello. Hoping you're still here. I have a Simpson 260 Series 7 that I am trying to repair for a customer. Is there a place that you can direct me to for replacement resistors, or do you sell them? I need R17, 18 & 19. Thank you in advance.
Simpson will be glad the assist you in repair or parts. Contact them through this web page.
Simpson
simpsonelectric.com/technical-support/calibration-and-repair
maybe someone has an idea for my problem. I bought a used Triplett 60 type II of ebay....... bad idea by the way. The needle always returns to about a third of the way after i zero the ohms. Sometimes but not very often it will return all or almost all the way back, but as soon as i use the meter again, it returns to about one third of the way across the dial....... any Ideas ...... anyone?
Thanks karljay01
It is possible for digital meters to give wrong results because they sample the value, but it is rare, but it has happened to me.
Great tips that I will use at the next swap meet.
Sometimes an analog meter will show things better than a oscilloscope. Good luck at the swap meet. Thank you.
Thanks Tobinindustrial
Nice old unit there. I have an old bench top multimeter and I think they are simply the best. I don't use it but one day I will display it on my work bench. My current work bench is way too small... hahaha! Oh well ! : > )
This VTVM looks suspiciously similar to Radio Shack model 22R148, late 50's -mid 60s...
That is possible, Radio Shack never manufactured anything.
@joernone
The flea markets here are about the same thing. I bought this meter years ago when the flea markets had stuff like this. Now I go to the flea market mostly just to walk around. All the flea markets around here are not what they use to be. I think it is because of online actions. I hope the flea markets don't go out of business. But the walk is my only expectation when I go there.
Regards,
Rick
Thanks guerramar, Gerardo
Regards
Rick
dear sir , please do you have any idea how to fix the copper spring of the needle of an analog multimeter? i try to do a restoration too.
you are correct , everyone told me that this meter is garbage. but i will try. i do have the spring of the opposite side , maybe i can use this as a reference?
no i have 1 meter. its needle has 2 springs one on the front thats has problem , and one on the back which is still in excellent condition. thank you for your help sir
glyn hodges you are an amazing person! Thank you so much!
i took some pictures today , if you like to see what i am talking about (its hi-res you can zoom in):
imgur.com/a/MtFJF
checked all your links , thank toy very much. i already talked to a watch technician , maybe he can help. its really pity to scap the whole meter because of a hairspring , but more than this its the challenge and the joy of repair! i still believe that i can take for example a heirspring from a chinese cheap ebay analoga ammeter and the difference will be very low. maybe we can assume the donor ammeter spring from the full range mA of the meter?
sure i can solder the spring , i do have a stereoscope too! but the problem is that the spring i guess is valdalised , you can see in the pics. i guess its impossible to recover its shape.. but a replacement spring though, how difficult can it be? how different from ammeter to ammeter?
I forgot we had vacuum volt meters, many years ago.
Thanks SpeakerFreak95
Thanks wolfhawg
Thanks MrDennis8805
Thanks Doug dmottern1952
Thanks dreganism
I purchased a very close match to this VTVM recently. Seems to need small adjustment of the ohms and zero controls as I switch ranges. Is this to be expected or is further clean up required? I made a clip to demo thisruclips.net/video/WpDtE9KLUng/видео.html
+Christopher Larwood
Having to make small adjustments from one range to another is normal for an analog meter. I hope you enjoy using the meter, they are very useful. It is my analog meters quite a lot. Sometimes a digital meter will not lock onto the same result in a circuit, but when I use my analog meter I can see what the result is and why the digital meter was unable to give me a result.
I've done DC calibration and the meter is quite accurate, resistance measurement seems good also so very pleased with this 50 years old instrument - and I can clearly see the meter- it;s huge!
I would like to make up a better set of leads for it - the ac/ohms and common inputs have odd pin type input jacks that won't accept banana plugs - any idea where these could be sourced? The DCV is closer to a RCA plug, but a little smaller. thanks for all the interesting and educational clips - well paced and explained
Glad to hear you got it working. On the Leads I would search eBay.
AllAmericanFiveRadio it's the odd type of pin going to inputs that I just don't know what to call so I can even start a search! Do they have a name? Leads are plentiful but not made with 50 year old VTVM s in mind! I'm in South Australia so no chance of local seller..
I would consider changing the meters plug sockets so they will accept banana plugs.
Thanks again destroyersoueu
Thanks destroyersoueu