Crappy meters (Was: Problems with IBM 5150 Power

[Fred Cisin]

On Sat, 1 Aug 2009, Chris M wrote:
>  incidentally that gets drained crackly dry in all of about 12 minutes
> upon powering up.

I have had several of the Centech's get reasonable battery life.

> Same w/their digital calipers.

a tipoff there is the inclusion of a spare battery

>  I do. I most certainly do. You can get a decent meter for 20$.

If somebody has NO electronics tools, even $20 might seem like an
investment.  $3 lets them destroy a few while they learn what to look for
in a REAL meter.

> > Personally, I have a bigger problem with people using cheap pliers,
> > screwdrivers and soldering irons than with cheap DVMs.  It's harder to
> > damage something with a DVM.

and substantially less prone to injury

>  The point is there happens to be impressionable youth listening in on
> this conversation. They may actually go out and attempt what some are
> advocating!

Will they REALLY attempt what the old farts talk about?
Maybe there is hope, after all.