[kelly]

Hello all and seasons greetings!I am looking for a recommendation on purchasing a variac and a multimeter upgrade for my workbench.Something in the 50 dollar each range.Any advice??And thank you in advance.

[Dave]

Discount tool stores like Harbor Freight have decent entry level multimeters. Look for one that has a has larger gauge leads and a fold out stand. They are usually in the $30 range. Stay away from the cheaper ones, they work fine but the leads tend to beak easily.
A good place to find a variac is at a swap meet or a ham radio show. I recently bought an antique variac at a hamfest for $30. I had to replace the dry rotted wiring, but it works great & the price was right.
Dave

[Texasrocker]

The new digital auto-ranging multimeters can be found easily these days. I own several DMM's. They are handy indeed! If you want to invest in really good quality bench test gear, I would suggest looking at ebay for a good used vintage Variac made by Superior, with a 10 amp load rating. It will last forever. For a really good quality analog multimeter, I would suggest a good old Simpson model 260 VOM capable of tests in the 1KV range. A good Simpson analog 260 multimeter can't be beat once you know the differences how to use them versus all the new modern DMM VOM digital meters. Simpson still sells new analog types model 260 VOMs, but they are "pricey"! The reason?.. they are the Best, period! And the Simpson model 260 VOM's are much more accurate in any and all comparisons. You just have to learn how to use them.

[wakani]

Kelly:

What Texasrocker said. Analog meters are so much easier to read when trouble shooting circuits. I never take my eyes off the circuit as I can see out of the corner of my eye what an analog meter is doing. 95% of the time I do not need the accuracy of a digital reading. Simpson 260 have always been the gold standard of analog VOM's. Still pricey but worth it. That said my all time favorite is the Heath IM 28 VTVM. The large display makes it so easy to use.

I also use a $10 VOM, flea-bay out of HongKong, that is accurate and works well, albeit with a smaller movement.

Variac, best source is a swap meet.