I loved the $3.95 Radio Shack's Micronta. One sat in my ash tray next to fire crackers. Noone smoked in my Fairlane, once Dad gave it to me.

Play. Using a DVM, measure Vdc of your older VOMs, as you rotate through ohm ranges. Did I build one? Had to design and build one for basic electronics class, from scratch, 2nd semester. What tedious fun. 😋
EDIT: No kit. Show your work/formulae. No precision parts past 5% resistors.. Need one? Create it from other parts.

 

Didn't build one of those, but I did build a variable DC power supply from scratch. I made the circuit board and everything. We had an etcher in electronics class. I designed the board on a Mac. The Microsoft OS was DOS at the time.

 

I built two, plus half of my college roommate's.

Bill is correct that resistance != impedance. They may happen to be equal by accident/in practice, but impedance requires the changing magnetic field's effective resistance in order to exist. They are usually way off, in my experience.

Bill's incorrect that a DMM load to check resistance could possibly damage that gigantic inductor coil. You could connect five dozen DMMs to that speaker with zero effect. For decades, across countless speakers, my standard method of determining polarity has been to connect a 9V battery and see which way the cone moves. Never once was there damage. Now maybe this won't work on a tweeter, but tweeters don't have excursion, so you'd learn nothing anyway, so why would you bother?

 

Sorta a misquote, but ok. Times and Rules of Thumb have changed. We have learned more. All is good.

 

Bill.... are you really Bill Nye?

 

On certain 3rd Tuesdays.

 

Bill...aren't you really that safety in the workplace guy ?

 

Use be able to get the GE plastic model just about anywhere....cheap!

 

LOL, I forgot all about Mr. Bill.

Yeah, that little GE is small and a cheapy, but it's size is handy.

 

They also taught,by instilling discipline. You went to the type of reading desired first, then the highest scale, then attached the leads to the circuit. Failure often meant a ruined meter. There was a certain pride in owning one that "was still operable," and in operating it with efficiency... A badge of honor...! That, shooting, driving, fishing well, we're part of a well rounded capable young man.

EDIT: DVMs are usually an improvement over VOMs, but are virtually idiot-proof. Great to have, but no huge honor if yours still worked. Lol !