Looking for suggestions... I know none of us here usually need motivation to acquire more TEA, but I've been assessing my lab over the last few days and have decided that the obvious missing device on my bench is a VTVM. What VTVM would you guys recommend? Keeping in mind - It shouldn't be the size of a truck. It shouldn't be some rarity that goes for silly money. It should be relatively easy to find in Europe. It should be a device where the schematics and parts are readily available.
McBryce.
Easy, in Germany, at least: Grundig / H&B / Sennheiser RV55 et c.
Cheapo completeness: RCA VoltOhmyst or Heathkit stuff. (Will give DC Volts, Ohms, et c.)
The real deal: [(
hp)] 400 series, especially 410B.
Esoteric: Marconi or Metrix.
In my experience, the [(
hp)] are the ones to go for; they're the best instruments, hands down. I've bought an essentially working 410B for ~85€ in Europe; broken probe cables exchanged for new and new HV caps was what it took to get it back on track.
With that in mind, the German family are no bad meters; they're usually AC-only though.
The esoteric ones usually aren't as naturally superior as the [(
hp)] ones, but they can be interesting nevertheless.
Some outliers do exist, like Radiometer, Bang & Olufsen, and Brüel & Kjær; but those are more often than not transistorised and AC-only. And with that in mind, the [(
hp)] 410C and 427A (I still have one, BD, if you're lurking!) become possible. (And then, there are the other "Electronic VOM" too, like Norma and the different Japanese brands where Leader turns up pretty often. )
The transistor meters are continuations of the VTVM spirit, highly sensitive meters for things like audio work, low burden on DUT, et c. Which is why they're in my exposé. But they're only the same idea, not the same thing.