The AVOmeter Model 8 Mark III Multimeter

In this video we take a look at a piece of classic test equipment, the Universal AVOmeter Model 8 Mark III Multimeter.

[tongordebeke]

I am a Dutch collector off old analog multimeters.
I now have 20+ AVO meters and several other brands.
Nice analog precision meters
Good to see that they are still appreciated.
Beautiful old technology that must be preserved.
By the way, Nice extensive video. Keep it up Jeff.

I was lucky enough to get one of these for free also. I have a modern multimeter, but it can't come anywhere close to how incredible this looks. It's a work of art.

[thephilpott]

Great, this needed to be done, thankyou from the UK. (..and well done for repairing the case. Bakelite is quite 'repair friendly' in some ways)

We hope that education like this will reduce the number of these meters that get converted into decorative mutations such as table lamps!

[circuitblog]

This type of meter thay are for life use thay are made to last
I love analog multimeter and i use them daily in my work
Sometimes i even trust their measurements more than digital
Thanks for posting god bless you

[buildstoys]

Thanks for the review Jeff, glad to see you're still posting videos!

[deemdoubleu]

While I was an apprentice at British Aerospace, I managed to accidentally knock one of these off the top of a tall trolley onto the floor. It broke the case pretty badly exposing all the inards and I was quite horrified and worried I would lose my job. My supervising engineer instructed me to take it to suchabody in Standards Lab and ask him if he would re-calibrate it straight away. This suchabody happened to be the Superintendant and was known to be very cantankerous (though I had no idea who he was). Anyway, in I walks and asks for him and then passed on the request for immediate re-calibration of the pile of bits in my hands. Well, his face turned a peculiar shade of purple and he stood up and put his face very close to mine and told me in no uncertain terms to "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING OFFICE AND NEVER COME BACK". One of many important lessons learned during my 4 1/2 years.

[Veritas-nilx]

Thank you for posting this great video!. A superb quality reconditioning job I must say!.
My WW2 veteran Dad owned X3 or four of these. MOD issue 😚🇬🇧 I am so sick of cheapy multimeters I just bought one of these.He was an electronics expert & he built radios to sell around Manchester UK in the early 1930's. Later he became a Tank Radar & rapier missile expert doing fault finding until his retirement.
Dad fought with the Canadian 3rd Armoured Brigade the renowned Desert Rats by the way. He held all Canadians & the land in very high regard. High praise indeed from my ex REME clever Dadio. 15v Batteries to fit or to make fit available from £5.

[zh]

These were the first meters I used in circuit testing, when at the age of twelve I started secondary school in 1982. Older children got modern digital multimeters, but I still loved the sound and feeling of those dials on the front of the Avometer clicking round.

[PapasDino]

Amazing the company had been making them for so long! Thanks for sharing...

[geoffcrabbe]

Still love my trusty AVO 8 ...Class analogue meters...

[Bodragon]

We call them *_AYVOH_* meters here in Britain.
>

[tommybewick]

I have an Multiminor made by AVO that I rebuilt from 2 of them, one with a bad meter movement and the other had the little round board burned up. Great little meter. Nice to see you back posting videos Jeff!

[jameshanoomansing]

classic meters...got one...thanks for the review

[DanafoxyVixen]

Ive got a Mk7 AVO and it still works a treat, but the Mk8 has more useful ranges... AVO were among the best analog mutimeters you could get and were a standard in many TV/radio repair-shops around the world except the US perhaps

[youtuuba]

Jeff, maybe you already know this, as the video is more than a couple years old, but purportedly the AVOmeters used a 15V carbon-zinc battery, with a boxy rectangular shape, which was also commonly used in some early transistor radios. I believe these were known as NEDA 208. Exell currently makes an alkaline replacement they call the 411A, and Amazon sells them for about $25.

I have a couple old Weston-Schlumberger model 660 multimeters (which Heathkit sold in kit form as the IM-105 during the 1970s), which use this kind of battery, along with a 1.5V "D" cell. The D cell provides excitation voltage for all the Ohms ranges except the highest one, which is the only place where the 15V battery is used.

[gnuPirate]

Man, great overview, Mr. Tranter!! Thanks for this video. Sub!

[SoddingaboutSi]

Jeff it's not a-v-o its avo .We don't say the letters in rapid succession but as a name. Thanks for reviewing a British workhouse.

[JannieH]

Although rather expensive, the 15V battery is indeed available on line.

[PurityVendetta]

I still use my Mk9 IV almost every day. I also have a Mk40 with a full set of shunts, all in a boxed kit courtesy of Royal Navy surplus. I use a Fluke too but it all depends on the job I'm doing.
Although the 15v battery is still available here in the UK it's expensive so I use a stack of button cells, cr2032 I think, 5 X 3v in a little tube I made. Much cheaper 😉

[AJBK]

Nice, I have an Avo in my shed (one of my dads avo's)
Never realised AVO = Amps Volts Ohms!