Everything on the meter's face, and the right way to make each measurement.
The symbols
V~- AC voltage — wall outlets, transformers, anything that alternates.
V⎓- DC voltage — batteries, USB, electronics power rails.
mV- Millivolts, for tiny voltages (600 mV max — bigger reads OL). On the field meter this position starts in AC mV; press SELECT for DC.
Ω- Resistance. Only on parts that are OUT of a powered circuit.
•)))- Continuity — beeps below ~20 Ω. The "is this a wire?" test.
→|—- Diode test — shows the forward voltage drop; OL backwards.
⊣⊢- Capacitance.
A- Current, AC or DC — red lead must move to the A jack, and the meter must be IN the circuit, not across it.
Hz %- Frequency and duty cycle of an AC signal.
OL- Overload/open — the value is beyond the range (or the path is broken).
⚡- Hazardous voltage present at the inputs (30 V or more) — shown no matter where the dial points.
Making a measurement
- Voltage
- Red lead in the
VΩ jack, black in COM. Dial to V~ or V⎓. Touch the probes ACROSS the thing (in parallel). A negative reading just means the leads are swapped.
- Resistance
- Power OFF and part out of circuit. Dial to Ω. The meter pushes a tiny test current through the part — measuring a live circuit gives garbage (and the ⚡ bolt).
- Continuity
- Dial to
•))). Beep = connected (< ~20 Ω). No beep = broken. Fastest test on the meter.
- Diode
- Dial to
→|—. Forward: 0.5–0.7 V for silicon, 1.8–3 V for LEDs. Reverse: OL. Both directions the same = bad diode.
- Capacitance
- Dial to
⊣⊢. Big capacitors take a few seconds to read. Discharge them first on a real bench.
- Current
- Move the red lead to the
A jack, dial to A, and put the meter IN SERIES — break the circuit and make the current flow THROUGH the meter.
Never connect an ammeter across a battery or outlet: that's a short circuit through the meter. The fuse will blow — that's what it's for.
On a real bench: most full-size meters also have a separate mA/µA jack with its own smaller fuse — read the panel before you plug in. The single A jack here stands in for both.
Reading the display
- Counts
- The display shows up to 6000 counts: 5.999 V, then the next range shows 06.00 V. More digits = finer resolution, not more accuracy.
- Autorange
- The meter picks its own range ("Auto"). Press RANGE to step ranges manually ("Manual"); keep pressing to cycle back to Auto.
- Units
- Watch the unit annunciator: 9.874 kΩ is not 9.874 Ω. The most common reading mistake there is.
- HOLD
- Freezes the reading so you can look away from the probes safely.
- MIN MAX
- (Field meter) Records while you watch — press to step through MAX, MIN, and average.
Two meters, one difference that matters
The field meter is True-RMS; the compact meter is average-responding.
On a sine wave they agree. On square waves, dimmers, and motor drives they
legitimately disagree — the compact meter assumes every wave is a sine.
Circuit #12 shows it. Only an oscilloscope shows why.
Safety & the fuse
- CAT rating
- Both meters are CAT III 600 V — rated for the energy behind building wiring, not just the voltage number.
- The fuse
- The A jack is protected by an internal fuse. Ammeter across a source → fuse blows → current readings silently read zero.
- Fuse test
- Dial to Ω, red lead in the
VΩ jack, touch the probe tip INTO the A jack: ~0.4 Ω = good fuse, OL = blown. If your amps always read zero, run this first.
- Test your tester
- A zero reading means a dead circuit OR a dead meter. Prove the meter on a known-good source before trusting a zero.