nelson remember this classic ??

About six lines down.......very common acronym of the electronics world.

A quick Google search found Volt-ohm-milliammeter, Volt-Ohm-Meter, and even Volt-Ohm-Multimeter. Volt-Ohm-Meter seems to be a modern adaptation (dumbing down?) occuring about the time the DVM was introduced.

According to "Modern Electrical Test Equipment by John F. Rider" published in

1932 (Around the time the first multimeters were made) the tester is called "....a Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter or V.O.M for short" J.F.Rider was the largest publisher of electronic manuals and equipment service information at the time. This is also the term used in the NRI training manuals used by the electronics schools for many years.

So, Originally and for about the first 40 years of their existance they were referred to as Volt-ohm-milliammeter.

Tom

So, your saying that Bozo is stuck in 1932...

I don't know if it's been necessarily "dumbed down," it's entirely possible that the technology commonly available in 1932 only allowed for milli-amp measurements to be made internal to the meter without having to resort to using a shunt. (i.e., that's all they could do)

Is a Fluke 87 a VOM? How about a Fluke 73? or a Blue Point MT-145?

All measure milli-amps. They also measure up to 10 amps. They also measure milli-volts, but they're not referred to as milli-volt-ohm-milli-amp-meters.

We have abandoned the use of the term as far as our Workshop Manuals are concerned and are now instructed to use a DMM - digital multi-meter.

At any rate, agonizing over the correct meaning of an acronym is not as important as selecting the appropriate tool for the test and using the tool correctly.

While my replies are seldom gentile, I try to judge the skills and knowledge of the poster from the question(s) asked and endeavour to tailor my reply to that persons (assumed) capabilities and the probable contents of his/her toolbox. I should think that others involved in the trade that reply to this forum consider these factors when they compose their replies.

I think most of the questions here (and in similar forums) are not asked by seasoned veterans.... while, on occasion, it can be difficult to ansewr a question without it sounding like we are "talking down" to a recipient..... We are techs, while we understand your cars psyche, we may not understand your psyche but we are trying to help, all the same.

You are right Jim. I was just trying to get one on the village idiot. I do use my Simpson 260 occasionally for automotive work,but yes the DMM is usually the proper choice. Tom

I have an old MAC ET455 that I paid way too much for. I was looking for something with freqs in it at the time and never noticed the lack of current measurement.

I'd love a Fluke 189 but we're talking near $600 CA...

Fords latest proposal is a VCM (vehicle communications module) that plugs into the DLC and communicates wirelessly with my laptop perched on the side of my tool chest. I know that's not DMM related, but it leaves me wondering what we'll see next...

the proper choice.

I left the business in 2001, not long after WDS came out. Did they ever get that thing straightened out? It had a lot of potential but was tempermental at best at the time. Tom

Oh, I went to the Simpson site to get the calibratiom info for my 260 (this thread reminded me that I needed to freshen it up). I found this:

last entry on the page. VOM Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter: This is a meter which is capable of measuring voltage, resistance, and current.

Ummmm, can you say "reboot" ten times real fast. Even though the WDS is on it's way out, it is one hell of a tool in regards to functionality and they have added small improvements but with W98 as an operating system and saddled with a wimpy little P266 processor, I call it the Wait-a-while Diagnostic System.

It is an impressive tool when it's not suffering from the computer version of PMS. Aside from code reading, PID monitor, active command, flight recording capabilities, we get Mode 6 data and mode 9 data (helps with the diesels), we can do injector performance testing, relative compression, power balance and the digital lab scope (which also suffers from a scan rate low enough to mis important info). Build this around a 3 Gig P4 processor and it would be awesome.

Software updates can be a chore, too. If we leave them connected to the network, they are supposed to update automatically but we are still left having to load the update CDs in the service bay.... usually at the same time you need the thing (and anywhere up to an hour to load the update).

Hmmm, maybe a little better, doesn't sound like much though. We always called it Won't Do S***.