victorialynn2 Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Can anyone tell me what this is and what it is used for? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 (edited) Its an analog multimeter, for electrical testing. It is also known as a VOM. Its model number suggests military origins. Today, most of us use digital ones (DVM) for automotive work. The design with all the extra probe connections around the perimeter would suggest the 1930s or 1940s if it were civilian. I suspect it is much newer. The military changes slowly. Edited July 4, 2017 by Bloo typo (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer09 Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 has very little value.................. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorialynn2 Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 A Google search of the model number will reveal a couple for sale. Both are quite overpriced in my personal opinion. I was hoping to find more information to help date it through the search but did not locate any source with much information. The presence of common rather than phillips screws holding the case together as well as the design of the connectors on the test leads and the heavy duty look of the bezel makes me think it is probably from the 30s or 40s or so. It is probably still functional. Unfortunately you can probably find one at Harbor Freight Tools or somewhere similar that works just as good or better for less than $5. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorialynn2 Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 It belongs to a friend who has a dad like mine... Never threw out a thing. She strongly believes it's from the 40's. Thanks for the info and I will pass it along! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I would agree on overpriced and of limited use for todays work. The newer DVOM/ digital volt ohm meters are far superior at a lesser price. I would say that it is good for a collector of old electronic equipment. Kind of like vacuum tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickelroadster Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 This multimeter probably works ok. There are situations where an analog meter will tell you more than a modern digital meter. When the meter runs into something intermittent, it is easier to follow with an analog needle than a bunch of digital numbers flashing by. For automotive work they are usually just as good as a modern meter. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I did a little looking. It turns out the whole mess including that divider thing on top and the test leads, etc is called a ts352/u. The meter (I think) is a me-9/u and the "g" is just a different contract or supplier or something. If you go and ask on the test equipment forum at antiqueradios.com, you will probably find some guys that used them in the military. Keep your pics fairly narrow (800px or less) because the software wont scale a picture over there. A flamesuit might be advisable. There is some information about the ts-352/u here: http://www.virhistory.com/navy/manuals/test-94200/dir-test-94200.4.1.pdf I don't know about a date for it. I'm sure it goes back a long way, but I doubt the 40s. Things stay the same a long time because once manuals are written around certain equipment, they don't want to rewrite them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the government was still buying these meters in the 80s. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 In the late sixties, the navy used Simpson 260, at least in the shops I worked in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 They're still in business under the same name http://www.phaostron.com/companyprofile.html , http://www.phaostron.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArticiferTom Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Still would not be without my Simpson . Found many of compressions shorts and intermittent opens that digitals just cannot . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28 Chrysler Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 7 hours ago, ArticiferTom said: Still would not be without my Simpson . Found many of compressions shorts and intermittent opens that digitals just cannot . I still use the old standard Simpson 360 This one looks to be late 1960s and most likely would work with a couple of new batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger914 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 On 7/4/2017 at 4:36 PM, Bloo said: Its an analog multimeter, for electrical testing. It is also known as a VOM. Its model number suggests military origins. Today, most of us use digital ones (DVM) for automotive work. The design with all the extra probe connections around the perimeter would suggest the 1930s or 1940s if it were civilian. I suspect it is much newer. The military changes slowly. This is a blast from the past and some of these were still in use in the 70's. Hard to say how new, or old it is, or when Uncle Sam pulled the last one out of service, if there aren't a few still in use. For some things electrical this is still the best type of tool to use. This thing is 100% repairable and except for needing to be square on with good eye sight to read the d'arsonval meter, when calibrated, they are more accurate that than any $20 DVM from Harbor Freight or Home Depot. About as heavy as a patio paver and hard as a rock, these things will survive a 20 foot drop and the wiggling meter will show voltage fluctuations that you can't see with a digital volt meter. Considering how sensitive the computers in new cars are to voltage fluctuations, it's still a good tool for the garage if you can find one at a decent price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 On 7/5/2017 at 5:25 AM, BillP said: In the late sixties, the navy used Simpson 260, at least in the shops I worked in. We used Simpson meters at U.S. Steel in the early-to-mid 60's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I have yet to go digital on my own test equipment and actually hated the stuff I had to use at work. Been using a late-70s Radio Shack multimeter since the late 70s and it works well for my use. My experience even w high-end digital is that they are very sensitive to stray voltage and static,and I had knuckleheads at work who would refuse to accept lockout paperwork if the digimeter showed anything other than zero voltage. Their way of delaying a job and charging more hours to the work... One of my swap meet prizes is a 1950s RCA "Voltohmyst" meter. Picked up for the grand sum of ten bucks and it functions as designed. Its original manual came with it, Beautiful piece of vintage electronic equipment. Victorialynn, PM me if you want to sell that gizmus. I'll pay a fair price, but as pointed out, not much market for stuff like this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorialynn2 Posted July 7, 2017 Author Share Posted July 7, 2017 4 hours ago, rocketraider said: I have yet to go digital on my own test equipment and actually hated the stuff I had to use at work. Been using a late-70s Radio Shack multimeter since the late 70s and it works well for my use. My experience even w high-end digital is that they are very sensitive to stray voltage and static,and I had knuckleheads at work who would refuse to accept lockout paperwork if the digimeter showed anything other than zero voltage. Their way of delaying a job and charging more hours to the work... One of my swap meet prizes is a 1950s RCA "Voltohmyst" meter. Picked up for the grand sum of ten bucks and it functions as designed. Its original manual came with it, Beautiful piece of vintage electronic equipment. Victorialynn, PM me if you want to sell that gizmus. I'll pay a fair price, but as pointed out, not much market for stuff like this. Thanks for the info everyone. I forwarded the info to my friend. A couple people have expressed interest here. I asked her if she has a price yet and wants to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorialynn2 Posted July 7, 2017 Author Share Posted July 7, 2017 She said she has some traveling to do and a doc appointment and will get back to me in about a week on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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