multimeter

Quick Tip: Tracing PCB Tracks with an Aluminum Finger

Quick Tip: Tracing PCB Tracks with an Aluminum Finger

By Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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A quick and easy way of tracing connections on a printed circuit board.

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Multimeter Basics: Measuring Voltage, Resistance, and Current

Multimeter Basics: Measuring Voltage, Resistance, and Current

Charles Platt

By Charles Platt

Charles Platt

Charles Platt is a contributing editor to Make magazine, which has published more than 50 of his articles. Six of his books are available from Make: Books

Make: Electronics, an introductory guide, now available in its second edition.

Make: More Electronics, a sequel that greatly extends the scope of the first book.

Encyclopedia of Electronic Components, volumes 1, 2, and 3 (the third written in collaboration with Fredrik Jansson).

Make: Tools, which uses the same teaching techniques as Make: Electronics to explore and explain the use of workshop tools.

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A multimeter is an indispensable tool for working with electronics, and can give you a better idea of what’s going on inside your circuits.

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How to Use a Multimeter Video Tutorial

How to Use a Multimeter Video Tutorial

By Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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This very clear 3-part video series patiently walks you through how to use a multimeter

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Voltset – The Earth’s Smartest Multimeter

Voltset – The Earth’s Smartest Multimeter

By Andrew Terranova

Andrew Terranova

Andrew Terranova is an electrical engineer, writer and author of How Things Are Made: From Automobiles to Zippers. Andrew is also an electronics and robotics enthusiast and has created and curated robotics exhibits for the Children's Museum of Somerset County, NJ and taught robotics classes for the Kaleidoscope Enrichment in Blairstown, NJ and for a public primary school. Andrew is always looking for ways to engage makers and educators.

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Voltset, the smartest and tiniest multimeter on Earth, plans to put a electrical knowledge to everyplace that needs it.

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Add a Thermometer to Your Multimeter

Add a Thermometer to Your Multimeter

By Michael Colombo

Michael Colombo

In addition to being an online editor for MAKE Magazine, Michael Colombo works in fabrication, electronics, sound design, music production and performance (Yes. All that.) In the past he has also been a childrens' educator and entertainer, and holds a Masters degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

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Hardware hacker Raj wanted to expand the functionality of his multimeter, so he hardwired a temperature sensor to it. When building new circuits, measuring heat tolerance can be important, and this hack makes it easy to do. Using an LM35 temperature sensor, all he has to do is set the multimeter to 200mV and slide a switch at the top. His extensive documentation can be found here if you’d like to do it yourself.

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How-To: Set Up An Electronics Lab

By Matt Richardson

Matt Richardson

Matt Richardson is a San Francisco-based creative technologist and Contributing Editor at MAKE. He’s the co-author of Getting Started with Raspberry Pi and the author of Getting Started with BeagleBone.

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Dave Jones from the Electronics Engineering Video Blog shows us what tools he recommends for a starter electronics lab. He makes a few surprisingly inexpensive recommendations for multimeters, oscilloscopes, function generators, bench power supplies, soldering stations, and many other tools and supplies. I, for one, am taking very careful notes on this excellent video since […]

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