On Sun, 16 Jul 2017 15:46:36 -0400, wrote:

Ok, I guess you have meters that I've never seen.

You haven't seen any of these?
http://www.simpson260.com
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=simpson+260
These were probably the most common VOM's available. At one time, I
had about 5 of them. They've been replaced by more modern meters, but
I still keep one of them on the shelf, just in case.

I have to wonder why
they need such high voltage to measure resistance. However, I would not
use those meters on modern circuits if I owned them.

Most (not all) VOM's did NOT have amplifiers with gain. Therefore,
resistance measurements needed to be using the basic meter
sensitivity. The meter sensitivity and battery voltage put a limit on
the highest resistor value that could be accurately measured.

The meter face usually had the meter sensitivity. In this example:
https://cdn6.bigcommerce.com/s-a1x7hg2jgk/images/stencil/500x659/products/42383/204330/50126_2__62784.1490313691.jpg?c=2
It says "20,000 ohms per volt" (on DC scales) which is the same as:
1 / 20K ohms/volt = 50 µA full scale
You could probably read 1/10th of full scale accurately. So, what's
the largest resistance that you could read at 1/10th of full scale,
using a 9V battery?
R = E / I = 9V / 5*10-6A = 45M
Good enough to measure common resistors of the 1960's. However, if
you tried it with a 1.5V battery, you would get:
R = E / I = 1.5 / 5*10-6A = 7.5M
That's too low, because there were plenty of resistors up to 22M in
older tube sets, that such a meter could not measure.

My analog meters are all older Radio Shack meters, which I have owned
for many years. All (except the mini), have two AA batteries.

I also have a few VTVM's. I am not sure what they output, so I dont use
them on any solid state devices. But they are well suited for tube gear,
and can handle the high voltages in tube gear, which a lot of the
battery operated portable VOM's cant handle.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558