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Am I reading this meter correctly

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1930artdeco

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I am learning to use my Triplet analog meter and not doing well at it. I am testing a 9v battery to measure voltage. So if I read the scale correctly it is saying 12v (I have set the main switch/scale at 12v DCv).

If I use my digital craftsman then it says 9v. So what am doing wrong here?

Mike
 

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1930artdeco

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Got it. Misunderstood the instructions. Didn’t realize there were two other lines under that lower one. Thank you,

Mike
 
R

rlitman

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PCustoms said:
Looks like a hair over 9.5V

1000002965.png
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There's a parallax issue that we can see in the mirror on the scale. To my eye, I believe that if the camera were placed so that the needle would obscure it's reflection (as it is supposed to be read), the reading would be OVER 9.6VDC, even though it's just under the line for 9.6 right now. Whether it would fall closer to 9.6 or 9.7 is hard to say.
 
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Beerhippie

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For those not old enough to have used these meters 50 or 60 years ago, that's a parallax-correcting scale.

1000002965-png.2466960


See the mirror strip just above the red circle where you can see a reflection of the needle? The trick is to line the needle and the reflection up by moving your head or the meter. Then you can be sure you're looking at the needle and scale head-on, eliminating parallax.
 
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S

Schurkey

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Is that meter reading "open circuit" (no-load) voltage, or is it providing some calibrated load to the battery?

Testing lil' batteries (or cells) like that without a load on them is kinda useless. A battery (or cell) near the end of it's life can measure OK with no load, but fall flat on it's little keister with even a small load.
 
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1930artdeco

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I got this meter because of the cool factor. I just happen to like needle/analogue meters over digital. They both have their place, I just prefer analogue items that is all. As for the dB scale I skimmed it but I am not getting so far into the electrical world that it will matter to me.

Mike
 
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Beerhippie

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1930artdeco said:
I got this meter because of the cool factor. I just happen to like needle/analogue meters over digital. They both have their place, I just prefer analogue items that is all. As for the dB scale I skimmed it but I am not getting so far into the electrical world that it will matter to me.

Mike
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The dB meter seems to be more old-school telecom than electrical work. From what I understood of the article I linked above, it refers to attenuation over transmission lines.
 
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Chipm

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1930artdeco said:
. I just happen to like needle/analogue meters over digital. They both have their place,
Mike
Click to expand...

My old Kohler generator had a port where you could install an oxygen sensor to set the mixture when changing fuels. An analog meter is really the only way to watch the output. Of course, I never tried it with the bar graph on the bottom of the Fluke screen.
 
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garilla

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It is funny how after digital displays on things became more and more common place, ordinary displays like the meter in this post and clocks, watches, scales etc took on a new prefix of "analog", while the newer "Digital display" items lost the prefix of "digital"!
 
M

mikedodge

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The old Sinpson meters were what we learned on in school. The last time I was in there a few years ago it looked like thats what they were still using. Their reasoning was that anyone can use a digital meter, and they used those too, but with mechanical meters it's easier to understand what was going on seeing them work, you had to think a bit more to use them and they last longer with student abuse and are repairable.
 
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RTM

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mikedodge said:
The old Sinpson meters were what we learned on in school. The last time I was in there a few years ago it looked like thats what they were still using. Their reasoning was that anyone can use a digital meter, and they used those too, but with mechanical meters it's easier to understand what was going on seeing them work, you had to think a bit more to use them and they last longer with student abuse and are repairable.
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And much easier to detect changes value
 
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joel63

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dnschmidt said:
60 years ago if you had an analog Triplet (or Simpson) meter you were the king of the hill. They were the Fluke of their day.
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I can remember how proud I was when I bought my brand new Simpson 260 Series 6. ($40) They were widely used by the electricians in the navy.
 
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