Hi, All:
Not the most experienced Juke guy, by any means, and I haven't tried any of the meters listed. But I am a 55 year experienced, FCC licensed electronics tech, and I was a test equipment repair guy in the Marines, so I think I can comment on this discussion.
Correct, you can't go wrong with Fluke. That said, no matter how fast they are I've never seen a dmm that can replace an analog meter for intermittents. If you want to hook your meter to a pot and turn it while watching for bad spots, you are still just seeing a blur of numbers on a DMM. Intermittent switches can flicker pretty fast, and you can still miss things. I have also never been satisfied with DMMS for testing transistors and diodes. With experience, an analog meter can also give you a good idea of whether a capacitor is good by watching the charge time on the pointer in ohms mode. DMMs suck for this as well.
For my everyday DMM I use a cheap ($30 ish) Uni-T UT203+. This meter gives you everything, including the wonderful clamp meter for ac and dc current. This thing is as bullet proof as anything I've ever seen. I have dumb-assed over 300v on the ohmmeter function and it doesn't hurt it. (I can't say that for my expensive Fluke meter.) That said, the auto ranging is frustratingly slow, as mentioned here.
I still think you need to carry an analog meter for hunting bad switches and pots and for wiggling plugs while watching for bad connections. I carry a cheap little Elenco M-1250. This is an awesome little meter that doesn't break the bank if you bust it, and doesn't add too much space and weight to your tool box. It has the continuity beep also, but I never use that. Doesn't react fast enough and takes too big a swing in resistance to trip it. Just hook up the darn ohms function and watch for the meter to twitch. With experience, analog meters can tell you the difference between germanium, silicone and selenium, very helpful if you are trying to ID an unknown semiconductor. With experience, an analog meter can also give you a good idea of whether a capacitor is good by watching the charge time on the pointer in ohms mode. DMMs suck for this as well.
In short, I have yet to see one meter that does it all. I always carry a DMM and an analog. You can own both for about $75.
That's my 2 cents, and many folks might not agree, but a great many years has taught me this.
Best
Mike
On 2025-12-31 18:51, joeymcd via Jukebox-list wrote:
I have extensive experience with Fluke DMM meters. They are a premium meter but with meters you get what you pay for. They also have a live meter range on the display in real time. Peak min max feature to capture high and low on test readings. The continuity beep function I think beeps through the complete range. It is useful for testing intermittent micro switches for opens. Have the meter beep on and slowly move the micro switch and listen for the beep to interupt. The beep is ultra fast and great for testing intermittents. Fuke meters are a professional meter but even there more entry meters like a Fluke 117 is all you would need for juke and pinball repair. large display, backlit, amp testing up to 10 amps, fast, everything you would need. I have a few models and my main one is a 189 but my travel tool kit I have a 117 as well. Hope this helps.
Joey McDonald
-----Original Message----- From: Tony jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com To: Jukebox jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com Cc: Tony tonysjukeboxrepair@gmail.com Date: Wednesday, 31 December 2025 5:52 AM CST Subject: [Jukebox-list] Re: Fast Autoranging DMM
On 12/20/2025 12:48 PM, Tony Miklos wrote:
Does anyone know/use a really fast autoranging meter? I'm looking at this one to try. (I didn't see a price yet) I think it takes .8 seconds to read but I got that spec somewhere else.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fastest-dmm-ohm-autoranging- suggestion-fluke-177-hioki-dt4261-keysight-u1233a/
I'm so used to my ancient Beckman 310 being so quick, but it isn't auto- ranging, so that of course makes it slow if I have to turn the dial.
A follow up even though no one was interested :) I bought that meter and yes it auto ranges in .8 seconds for resistance, diode test, and voltage. Finally a fast autoranging DMM! I tried resistance on a dirty volume control and the bar graph looks like it's darn near instant. I bought it from Amazon so after I'm done scrutinizing it, if I don't like it I can return it.
One thing I didn't check out before buying it is the continuity test. Unfortunately, like every other meter I've used or asked about, they all show continuity and beep at up to 25 ohms (some even more). To me, that is a useless test. I think they should go down to at least 2 or 3 ohms before it senses continuity.