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Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment For discussions about vintage test gear and workshop equipment such as coil winders.

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Old 14th Aug 2018, 9:43 am   #1
newlite4
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Default Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

Picked up this rather unusual multimeter on a very wet Sunday morning for £2. It turns out it measures far more than the usual Amps Volts and Ohms. It also measures inductance and capacitance, insulation and RF signal strength!
It is in a rather battered condition with no glass (new piece cut and fitted last night) and a rather rough repair to the badly damaged face plate, but it works and is the subject of ongoing improvement and replacement.
The most interesting feature is the built in lamp which not only illuminates the scale but also illuminates the work area.
Dating from around 1960, it reminded me of a seventies Russian multimeter, but it turned out to be yet another prime example of Japanese post war ingenuity.
Neil
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Old 14th Aug 2018, 10:11 am   #2
ajgriff
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Default Re: Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

What an interesting and unusual find. Just my kind of thing and potentially very useful. Love the large polka dots too.

Alan
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Old 14th Aug 2018, 11:27 am   #3
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Default Re: Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

Yes, rather a hurried photo session on the kitchen table this morning, the polka dots are the pattern on the table mat which is actually a pet feeding mat but does the job just as well .
Neil
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Old 14th Aug 2018, 5:11 pm   #4
TonyDuell
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Default Re: Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

How does it measure inductance and capacitance? I can't see any internal oscillator, so does it use an external AC supply like the mains (the Italian 'Supertester 680R' measured capacitance that way)?
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Old 14th Aug 2018, 5:19 pm   #5
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Default Re: Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

Yes, it does warn of damage if using the wrong setting when connecting L or C in series with the mains.
Neil
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Old 14th Aug 2018, 5:31 pm   #6
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Default Re: Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

Ouch, in more ways that one. At least the Supertester 680R had a mains lead (which looked as though it was designed for 12V, but I digress) and the probes ended up connected to it through high-ish resistors. I remember getting a tingle from the probes when using it to check capacitors, but nothing worse.

Some time back I got a Chinese 'DY1' multimeter at a Dulwich museum sale. This unit measures inductance and capacitance using internal oscillators. The design is an oscillator followed by a monotstable, the meter indicates the duty cycle of the monostable output. For capacitance there's a fixed-frequency oscillator (based round a unijuction transistor), the monostable time is set by the capacitor under test. For inductance, the oscillator a colpitts circuit using the inductor under test (and a bipolar transistor), the same monostable is used but the time is set by an internal capacitor.

I think I prefer that to having the mains applied to the component I am testing.
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Old 14th Aug 2018, 8:59 pm   #7
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Default Re: Hansen Handy Bright, simply amazing!

Nice! I recall "Hansen" as a brand that sold HF/VHF SWR/power-meters into the amateur-radio market in the 1970s/1980s.

They were one of the better brands, certainly better than most of the stuff that was originally designed for the 27MHz CB market but got 'tarted-up' to sell to the technically-naiive Class-B hams who entered the sector on the back of the 70s/early-1980s CB boom.
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