[Alberg30] Tables and Voltmeters?

[Daniel Sternglass]

Randy Katz wrote:
> 
> ...An electrifying question-- I'd like to buy an all around useful digital
> voltmeter for checking batteries accurately as well as whatever other useful
> purposes it might afford...

Funny you should mention that... I'm an electronics engineer, and I
bought a meter for the boat a few days ago, since I got tired of not
having my "good" meter at home when I needed it. The two most used
funcitons on the boat are the voltmeter and the continuity tester. An
ammeter (current - amps) is useful, but actually used rarely. The AC
volts scale is useful if you have AC power or plug into shorepower for
charging.

In my experience, any "low end" meter will have the required fucntions.
"Autoranging" is sometimes helpful, but you usually know what you are
measuring, so not necessary. What you -really- want to pay attention to
is is the ruggedness of the pachaging -- a lot of $20 dollar meters
won't survive being dropped. Surprisngly, I got an off-brand unit for
about $25 at Sears that seems just fine. It's 3 digits, autoranging, and
had a rubber sleeve-like protector. It's really all you need, and since
it's Craftsman barnded, I assume there is a decent waaranty. You can
spend $70-100 on a Fluke or other reputable brand, but I didn't think it
was worth it for a boat meter.

Also, there -are- highly specialized meters such as "engine tune up"
meters with dwell, tach, duty cycle etc, but unless you do a lot of
engine work, they aren't worth it. Advanced features like capactance
measuring and frequency counters aren't really used very often,
especially troubleshooting basic systems on a boat.

Lastly, buy or make a few clip leads with aligator clips at both ends,
these are very useful for making measurements. If you have other
questions, e-mail me off the list.

--Dan S.
dans at stmktg.com
Watcher of the Skies, #201, 1966, Cayuga Lake, Ithaca, NY
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