Simpson analog multi meters?

[John T]

I have two new ones still in the box, I gave one to a bud that flat out refuses to use a DVOM. Somewhere around mid 80's when electronic engine controls came about all my analog meters got parked except to checking diodes in alternators. This is not to insult anyone but I don't see the hype better test equipment is out there and cheap to, all these years and folks can not give a simple DVOM reading... Just this week a F250 no crank it was right there in from of yall but ell no we were off to the races.

Gotta love having choices and options and of course one’s personal preferences I’m keeping BOTH my Simpson and Fluke lol

Nice sparky chatting with you

John T

 

[Keith True]

I have a pretty good Fluke that I use on modern car work.It is useless on old car stuff,and on some old tractors.Model A Fords will make the Fluke go wonky.I lost a nice old Simpson in a fire,but intercepted this one on it's way to a dumpster at an estate cleanout.I haven't looked at it,the owner had it set on his workbench before he died.I've never seen one with a 110 plug on it before. I have to investigate if it is something I can use or not.

 

[Hobo,NC]

Gotta love having choices and options and of course one’s personal preferences I’m keeping BOTH my Simpson and Fluke lol

Nice sparky chatting with you

John T

That brings up another issue, I wounder how many meters have been killed by leaving the battery in it. I have quite a few dead ones the battery killed it.

 

[Janicholson]

I have a pretty good Fluke that I use on modern car work.It is useless on old car stuff,and on some old tractors.Model A Fords will make the Fluke go wonky.I lost a nice old Simpson in a fire,but intercepted this one on it's way to a dumpster at an estate cleanout.I haven't looked at it,the owner had it set on his workbench before he died.I've never seen one with a 110 plug on it before. I have to investigate if it is something I can use or not.

VTVM means it has a real vacuum tube inside for amplification. If it works cool beans if not the Vacuume tube can be replaced, but might cost a massive wallet thinning bunch. Jim

 

[GChief]

That brings up another issue, I wounder how many meters have been killed by leaving the battery in it. I have quite a few dead ones the battery killed it.

I use up the batteries before that happens. But I do use them as part of the day job.

 

[Texasmark]

VTVM means it has a real vacuum tube inside for amplification. If it works cool beans if not the Vacuume tube can be replaced, but might cost a massive wallet thinning bunch. Jim

The other nicety is that the grid circuit doesn't suck current like a transistor (MOSFET exempted in today's meters) so you have a high input impedance in your measurement device and don't load the circuit producing false readings.

 

[Texasmark]

Love my Triplett, the Fluke fits in my hand kit better. The analog meter is unbeatable for finding a momentary loss of voltage. You see the needle move clearly.

Off topic side note....my first truck was that truck.....very well worn out in 1959 when I bought it......but it was cheap, even in those days....forget what I paid for it. Don't remember if the thing was a 3 or 5 window.

 

[Texasmark]

I still have a Simpson 260 I was issued back in 1979. It doesn't work so I don't use it.

A friend of mine worked at an army avionics shop back in the seventies. He said that somebody in the shop discovered that the Simpson 260 front panel and back cover could be ordered separately as repair parts. When assembled you had a complete meter. So they started ordering the parts until everyone in the shop had taken home a brand-new Simpson.

Why? Is the Ohms scale the only problem? If so, take it apart and install a new battery.

 

[Tony in SD]

I have and used several Simpson 260s for nearly 50 years. But I discovered, while in college, that using a low impedance meter, like a Simpson 260, on a high impedance circuit will soon teach you that a high impedance Fluke is a better choice. But only if you want accurate readings LOL Some things like peaking a circuit, an analog meter excels. I also find testing a diode with a Simpson is easy by just switching the polarity switch. But it is nice not to have to worry about polarity when measuring DC voltages or range settings with the digital meter too. Each has there place with the job at hand.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Why? Is the Ohms scale the only problem? If so, take it apart and install a new battery.

Why? Is the Ohms scale the only problem? If so, take it apart and install a new battery.

DC volts doesn't work. It could probably be brought back to like with some contact cleaner, but I have a thirty-year-old Fluke 77 that works just fine and fits in my tool bag.

 

[John T]

I have and used several Simpson 260s for nearly 50 years. But I discovered, while in college, that using a low impedance meter, like a Simpson 260, on a high impedance circuit will soon teach you that a high impedance Fluke is a better choice. But only if you want accurate readings LOL Some things like peaking a circuit, an analog meter excels. I also find testing a diode with a Simpson is easy by just switching the polarity switch. But it is nice not to have to worry about polarity when measuring DC voltages or range settings with the digital meter too. Each has there place with the job at hand.

Good point Tony I still remember way back in EE school an IDEAL voltmeter has infinite impedance.

Love having choices and options when it comes to meters ditto each has their place I’m keeping both my Flukes and Simpsons

John T

 

[jd2cyl]

Any of you use the old Simpson meters? The 260 was a popular one. I still do some, but everything has gone to digital. Any stories on them?

I used a Simpson 260 back in the day, worked for Texas Instrument, now I aquired a Simpson 355 from a deceased friend but it doesn't work. I've been out of the electronic game for so long that I'm lost in trying to fix it. Anyone know of a repair service or anyone on here want to take a shot at it, don't want to sink a bunch of money in it, I do have a nice Fluke DVM to use.
Russ

 

[Jim in LA]

I have and used several Simpson 260s for nearly 50 years. But I discovered, while in college, that using a low impedance meter, like a Simpson 260, on a high impedance circuit will soon teach you that a high impedance Fluke is a better choice. But only if you want accurate readings LOL Some things like peaking a circuit, an analog meter excels. I also find testing a diode with a Simpson is easy by just switching the polarity switch. But it is nice not to have to worry about polarity when measuring DC voltages or range settings with the digital meter too. Each has there place with the job at hand.

When I was in vo-tech school in the late seventies when I began radio and tv repair, the instructor explained to us not to use the Simpson VOMS to troubleshoot tube circuits (which were right at their extinction level in tv and radio) as they were low(20Kohm per volt) impedance meters and to use only the RCA Senior VTVM as it was high impedance(1Megohm per volt) and would give more accurate readings. The brand new all electronic B&K Precision digital meters with LED display would provide highly accurate readings too. I remember when we got the new Beckman 310 LCD meter, everyone wanted to use it. I had my employer get one for me a few years later and used it for almost twenty years til the display died.

 

[Tony in SD]

When I was in vo-tech school in the late seventies when I began radio and tv repair, the instructor explained to us not to use the Simpson VOMS to troubleshoot tube circuits (which were right at their extinction level in tv and radio) as they were low(20Kohm per volt) impedance meters and to use only the RCA Senior VTVM as it was high impedance(1Megohm per volt) and would give more accurate readings. The brand new all electronic B&K Precision digital meters with LED display would provide highly accurate readings too. I remember when we got the new Beckman 310 LCD meter, everyone wanted to use it. I had my employer get one for me a few years later and used it for almost twenty years til the display died.

When digital meters became affordable in the late 70s, I was using one (I think it was an HP) in a lab on an audio circuit I was designing. When I hooked up an oscilloscope to measure frequency response, I noticed the meter was injecting a digital stair step. That kind of turn me away from digital meters for awhile. I also had a Beckmann. It was a good small meter. But it is hard to beat a Fluke now days.

 

[Bob M]

I still use my ancient Simpson 260 - also a Triplett 630 - regularly for old car/truck/tractor electrics.

I also own a Klein digital clamp-on and a pair of Fluke DVM's. But for noisy tractor, etc. electrics the "stone age" analog meters still work best!

 

[JOCCO]

I used a Simpson 260 back in the day, worked for Texas Instrument, now I aquired a Simpson 355 from a deceased friend but it doesn't work. I've been out of the electronic game for so long that I'm lost in trying to fix it. Anyone know of a repair service or anyone on here want to take a shot at it, don't want to sink a bunch of money in it, I do have a nice Fluke DVM to use.
Russ

Simpson and some other companies still repair them.

 

[3LFarms]

Use my Fluke 99.99% of the time, but I keep a Simspon analog meter around.
The analog meters will work in the cold when LCD displays stop working.