I have a Micronta (Radio Shack) analog meter made iirc in the 70s that
I bought at a hamfest in the last 10 years. It calls itself, and I
remember the ads, a Range Doubler meter, and has a knob to switch from
V-A to V-A/2.

I figured that V-A/2 would give readings that are half the real
values, but it seems like it is the opposite. They are twice the real
value and I have to take that value and divide by 2 (V-A/2?).

Is this the way it is supposed to be, or did mine get miswired
somehow? Did anyone other than Micronta sell range doubler meters?



I don't use it much because when I need analog I have a Lafayette
meter I bought in the early 70's that I like better, but I think the
range doubler feature should be very helpful. I wanted the meter in
the 70's and maybe 80's but couldn't rationalize buying it new, since
I had a VOM and really needed a VTVM.

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for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

mm wrote:

It calls itself, ... a Range Doubler meter, and has a knob to switch from
V-A to V-A/2.

I figured that V-A/2 would give readings that are half the real
values, but it seems like it is the opposite. They are twice the real
value and I have to take that value and divide by 2 (V-A/2?).

My Range Doubler shows 125 Volts, if I set the main knob to the
250 V range and input 125 V.
If I then set the doubler knob to V-A/2, the needle goes to 250 V,
and I have to divide by two to find the voltage at the input.

I guess they wanted to give us more ranges without having
to print more numbers onto the instrument.

Regards,
H.

Heinz Schmitz wrote:

My Range Doubler shows 125 Volts, if I set the main knob to the
250 V range and input 125 V.
If I then set the doubler knob to V-A/2, the needle goes to 250 V,
and I have to divide by two to find the voltage at the input.

I guess they wanted to give us more ranges without having
to print more numbers onto the instrument.


Mine has sufficient scales that mental arithmetic is not needed! The
range-doubler switch reduces the sensitivity from 50KO/V to 25KO/V,
but allowes all measurements to be taken on the upper half of the
scales. For example if I am measuring 119v I can choose whether to read
the value off the 0-250v scale or the 0-125v scale. It is the Archer
28-4014A model, which i bought in 1981.

"mm" wrote in message
...

Is this the way it is supposed to be, or did mine get miswired
somehow? Did anyone other than Micronta sell range doubler meters?

I think so. This is a crappy idea anyway.

mm wrote:

Did anyone other than Micronta sell range doubler meters?

Sears sold almost the same meter as Radio Shack, for $60, only it added
a battery test function.

On 18 Nov 2006 19:17:51 -0800, "larry moe 'n curly"
wrote:


mm wrote:

Did anyone other than Micronta sell range doubler meters?

Sears sold almost the same meter as Radio Shack, for $60, only it added
a battery test function.

Thanks, and thanks all.


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)