Unpopular opinion: Multimeters with auto-ranging actually made me slower

I always swore by manual range multimeters for board work. But last month I saw a YouTube video from a guy who restores vintage radios where he timed himself swapping a cap on a 1960s Grundig. He did it 30 seconds faster with auto-range because he wasn't fumbling with the dial every test. I was annoyed but tried it on a busted TV power supply I had sitting here. After 3 repairs I honestly saved about 2 minutes per board fiddling less. Has anyone else switched and noticed a real time difference on actual repairs?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_faith24d ago

Maybe it's just me but I'll keep my manual range meter for when I'm feeling nostalgic.

wendy62825d ago

Wait, isn't autoranging actually faster because it skips the guesswork on each test point?

carter.casey25d ago

Exactly. Not having to stop and turn the knob every time saves way more time than I expected.