My first suggestion is to forget about Radio Shack's multimeters. You can get way more features for for less money. Take a look at MCM Electronics and see what they have to offer. I do agree that you want to buy "more" than what you think you will need right of the bat, as this will save you money in the long run. Instead of having to buy a seperate capacitance meter, ammeter, frequency counter, etc.. if you get more involved in things, all of these can be had in a VERY reasonably priced multimeter nowadays. Besides that, it's far more handy to have all of these things in one package than to have to drag out several different pieces of test gear to do the job. While an "all in one" multimeter may not have the utmost in resolution compared to top notch seperates, for all practical purposes it will almost always suffice. You can probably find something like that for about $60 - $100 or so. As to something having "auto-range", that is a personal choice. I typically prefer manual settings myself. I have no doubt that "auto-hold" is a nice feature though. Sean
What to look for in a multimeter?
One quick question to follow my earlier question-- is there any kind of special multimeter that I should use? Radio Shack has multimeters from $19 to >$200. As long as it has two leads and a digital readout, should I be okay with one that is on the more affordable side? What other features besides voltage measurements should I need. Thanks again! d