Just realized digital multimeters beat analog ones for my bench work

I was an analog guy for years because I liked seeing a needle move on a trend, but after chasing a glitch on a Garmin G1000 display at my shop in Phoenix I switched to a Fluke 87V. The digital model caught a 0.2 volt drop that the analog needle just couldn't show clearly, and it saved me 4 hours of rechecking connections. Has anyone else found a specific test scenario where one type of meter clearly outshines the other?

2 comments

2 Comments

lunag3017d agoTop Commenter

That 0.2 volt drop thing sounds like a pretty specific edge case. I've been using a ratty old analog meter for basic continuity checks on my truck's wiring and it works fine. Rebuilding spacecraft is a good way to put it. Most of us aren't troubleshooting avionics glitches but people love to act like their bench is a NASA lab.

stellanelson18d ago

Starting to wonder if we're overthinking this. A 0.2 voltage drop on a G1000 sounds like you were on the edge of a bad solder joint or connector issue anyway. Analog meters are fine for checking if a battery is dead or a switch is working. People act like they're rebuilding spacecraft sometimes.