4 hours ago, 240260280 said:

I use the beep for chasing wires

Yeah, I can see that. That's what I was thinking when I said it was faster. Just listen for the beep instead of waiting for the display to settle.  I'm not judging. 

And that brings up one of the reasons I don't like autoranging... It takes longer for the display to settle because it has to first figure out the correct range and THEN display the value.

That's the good thing about the analog meters.

This is sort of related, but not a multimeter per se,  but  is there a digital- type oscilloscope that is "affordable" (less than about $250 or so) that might be useful for automotive use?  It might be a good reason to buy one if it could do double-duty in your electronic hobby too. 

I suppose stuff like that not only can sample & display electrical stuff, but also record and transfer to a PC.

This is the LabNation SmartScope:  https://www.lab-nation.com/

Edited February 13, 20178 yr by TomoHawk

I've been searching a couple hours, and there really  isn't anything you'd want to use right now in regards to oscilloscopes, but there are several very nice  developments, like the LabNation digital sampler/adapter ($230).    I found some DIY kits on eBay, but this isn't something I feel comfortable assembling myself.  I'll put my dollar every week into the envelop marked "Scope" and when it's full, there will be a number of adapters available & affordable.

There is still plenty of things to do with the multimeter to keep yourself busy, unless you really need the $10 eBay endoscope for smartphone, to look down the spark plug bores...

reg CRT based analog scopes can be picked up pretty cheap, a HP will work well, esp for looking at the waveforms of most car stuff. I have an old DeVry scope that I may even pull out of the attic one day just to see how well it can look a the injector signals. Its a real antique, uses a 5" crt and some 12AX7 tubes in it, which are worth way more to the audiophools than I paid for the scope (5$).

Edited February 13, 20178 yr by Dave WM

I think I'd do the same kind of stuff with the pocket or tablet  scope.

I have an old Tektronix dual trace scope you can have if you pick it up.  I  need the space, and I don't like  to fool with knobs that much.  I even have an engine analyzer scope  that someone gave me, but I couldn't use it on the modern EFI vehicles.  Maybe I'll hook it up to the CubCadet sometime.

Edited February 13, 20178 yr by TomoHawk