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Any use for an analog Voltmeter when I have a good DMM?

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    Any use for an analog Voltmeter when I have a good DMM?

    A friend recently gave me an old analog Heathkit IM-5238 AC Voltmeter that he'd had for decades. It is in very good condition, but I very rarely work with AC equipment and I already have an old Fluke 75 DMM that another friend gave me several years ago. I use the Fluke constantly. I mainly repair vintage PC components and boards. Once in a while I do some work the audio equipment but it isn't my area of expertise.

    Does the analog AC Voltmeter offer any practical benefits over the little Fluke 75? It is very large and very specialized (as opposed to a DMM that can test many different things) and I don't really have a large enough work area to have extra equipment like this set up if I will never use it.

    #2
    Re: Any use for an analog Voltmeter when I have a good DMM?

    If it's in perfect condition it's a vintage piece!
    Back in 70's it was sold for about 90$
    Other than that...

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      #3
      Re: Any use for an analog Voltmeter when I have a good DMM?

      I still have analog (passive) voltmeters that I use as passive measurement... hate it when it eats batteries leaving it idle watching trends over time. However this one is active, at least it's AC powered.

      This also has a 1mV range and good to around 1MHz it seems. I don't have any accurate digital multimeters that will measure down to fractions of a millivolt... But depending on what you're working on you may not need fractional millivolt sensitivity...

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        #4
        Re: Any use for an analog Voltmeter when I have a good DMM?

        Thanks guys. I may run it by my friend to see if he has any suggestions. I hate to get rid of useful, working equipment... especially vintage stuff since it is generally possible to maintain older equipment essentially forever by replacing parts that wear out (compared to highly integrated newer devices). However, I can't think of the last time I set my DMM to AC voltage...

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          #5
          Re: Any use for an analog Voltmeter when I have a good DMM?

          Here is the manual: https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...4b43c29b53.pdf
          The Lytics caps will probably need to be replaced, and hopefully that whom ever put it together did a good soldering jobs on it.
          Never stop learning
          Basic LCD TV and Monitor troubleshooting guides.
          http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthr...956#post305956

          Voltage Regulator (LDO) testing:
          http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthr...999#post300999

          Inverter testing using old CFL:
          http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthr...er+testing+cfl

          Tear down pictures : Hit the ">" Show Albums and stories" on the left side
          http://s807.photobucket.com/user/budm/library/

          TV Factory reset codes listing:
          http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24809

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