From the Rolls Royce thread. I’ve got one of these that was my dad’s. I’m never going to use it.

What would be the best thing to with it?

AVO with analogue sweep needle and two rotary selector dials? Not worth a helluva lot but definitely a nice keepsake especially if it was your dads. He’s probably hung onto this as it was the go-to instrument for any discerning electrician back in the day.

I’d think long and hard before permanently disposing of this. IMVHO

Is it one of these ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avometer

It will sell on ebay.

I used one in the RN very accurate meters.

As above I would keep.

You’re absolutely right, but in this case I think I’d rather it went to someone/somewhere that really appreciated it.

they are beautiful things.  I would just keep it (in fact I have one – Avo 8 Mk III)

Yep, one of those, in a nice leather case. He had it serviced about 20 years ago and as far as I know it’s all good. As far as I know. Never understood electronics despite his best efforts. He was BR.

Just sat on a shelf with the dial lit up and it’ll make a nice ornament. Stick an Arduino on the input (tucked behind it) for a quirky room thermometer or vague clock. Little practical use as it is bit a nice thing to hold onto.

You’re absolutely right, but in this case I think I’d rather it went to someone/somewhere that really appreciated it.

Your own appreciation will grow. It’s in good hands :o)

Nickjb that’s not a bad idea.

OK, will hang onto it.

Thanks all.

Check the battery. Mine uses a massive square one that I’ve not seen for sale for ages. They are pretty stable but I saw evidence that a previous one had leaked.

OK, it’s working (just checked).

How do you get at the battery?

There’s some tiny screws on the side of the case. Undo those and the front pulls off. Do it gently as the leads connecting the battery to the meter are short and fragile.

No sign of any screws. It’s an Avo 8 Mk V (and indeed a very nice thing).

There’s this on the back/underside.

Pretty sure you turn that “key” to open the back mate.

Definitely a keeper, with it being your dad’s and all.

Some corrosion on the fuses but batteries look OK.

(Had to turn the key 180 degrees which wasn’t obvious at first).

When my father had an Avo that he brought back from Burma after the war. They were told to junk most of their equipment so he bagged one for himself. It had a bespoke wooden box. Thinking about it most of his workshop tools had a broad arrow on them.
Many years later could have been sixties or seventies he sent it off to Avo for repair only to be told that according to their records this was MOD property and could he prove ownership?

Ouch. Got the receipt and warranty card for this one 🙂

Glass fuses. Take them out (carefully), clean and replace?

Hmm my dad had one of those from his BBC days. Wonder if he still has it. Lovely but of kit.

Having had a proper look at it now definitely want to do something with it.

Nickjb, you mentioned backlighting the dial. Any tips?

Any test equipment needed to be put back into “working service” will need to be calibrated , they all lose accuracy to some degree over time.

modern day electricians / instrument technicians are unlikely to use such meters now in the work place , EAW legislation requires a certain level of built in user protection & safety test leads that old kit like this cant provide.

best use for it is to plonk it on a display shelf at home just for nostalgia’s sake and fiddle with knobs and needles now and then for sh*ts & giggles.

edit ; last time i used an avo was whilst building a transistor radio in electronics class at college

about 30 yrs ago……

edit edit : re needle gauge backlights –  many models had this feature as standard , if not lit up when switched on , tiny lamps inside may have blown.

That’s useful to know, thanks. If it’s of no practical use then I don’t feel bad about it not being used.

Will have a look into projects to display it to its best advantage. Thermometer is a good idea. Bat detector maybe.

If all goes well might have a look for any blown bulbs.

As an apprentice in the 80s they were used throughout the servicing/calibration/QA section of BT. Someone gave me one some years later (no case or full probe set) but useable.
A few weeks ago whilst replacing the soldered-in rechargables in a razor, couldn’t find my Radioshack meter from the 70s, or the BT kit-build from my apprenticeship. Managed to find the avo, still works fine 🙂
They’re big and heavy – and even 30 years ago were a bit big for other than bench work- but in 30yrs of electronic engineering (and assorted home dabbling) about the only thing extra a DVM gives you is a little more easily read precision, and mebbe a continuity buzzer. And there’s less to go wrong in an Avo.

Still, less of the misty-eyed nonsense 😉 -looks like you might get between 20-50 quid on eBay (many don’t have case or leads) or a little more if you’re lucky.

If you’re going to repurpose it, it’d be a shame to hack a working/complete bit of kit, but it might be possible to be creative
.. just wire it in circuit with a few banana plugs, if you can think of a use.

I assumed this would be a sort of durometer for gauging avocado ripeness.

Having read the thread, I’m still not 100% sure if I’m wrong.

It does have a case (actually 2! The other one has the digital multimeter and soldering iron etc that came from Malins for my 15th birthday) and all the leads etc but I actually did put it on gumtree a couple of years ago knowing no better and it didn’t sell. Quite glad now.

Not looking at hacking it, just maybe connecting it to a modern simple electronics kit I can do with my daughters.

Avocado tester? Maybe.