Old tech at my last shop swore by analog testers, I laughed at him

Back in 2019 I had this guy named Dave who had been doing avionics since the 80s. He told me to keep a basic analog multimeter on my bench for chasing intermittent faults on old wiring. I thought he was crazy, digital stuff is faster and more precise right? Fast forward to last month, I spent 4 hours on a Cessna 172 with a flickering nav light using my Fluke. Finally broke out Dave's old Simpson 260 and found a corroded pin on a connector in about 10 minutes because the needle showed the voltage drop. Anyone else keep old gear around for those weird gremlins?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason52416d ago

Dude, same. Old Simpson meter saved me on a Piper stall warning.

james_torres16d ago

It's funny how the stuff that's supposed to be outdated or "junk" is usually the most reliable. That analog needle tells you the truth, no software glitch. You just know that meter is gonna outlive half the digital stuff in our hangars, @jason524.