MultimeterHat

I have been too scared/anxious to solder lately. However, I was asked to figure out a hands-free multimeter. So, here's how to make one without soldering, in approximately 2 hours, spending approximately 25 dollars.

Procure a cheap multimeter. You will also need some small mirrors, some putty, a bit of acrylic glue, some speaker wire, tape, twist ties, and a ball cap.

Roughly attach mirrors with putty.

Angle mirrors like so. Start with one at 45 degrees and the other vertical, then adjust. You will do fine adjustment later.

Procure a cheap ball cap.

Remove lettering.

Discover possible ancient 1990s conspiracy.

Cap and multimeter together for size.

Procure disposable plastic food tray. Supermarket sushi shown here.

Remove back of multimeter, prepare to use screws.

Cut screw holes in food tray.

Sandwich the cap brim between the meter and the tray.

Repeat for however many screws you have, two in this case.

Adjust the mirrors with the cap on. Place fixant or superglue on putty as needed.

Further cut a food tray corner. You can store the probes there.

In this case, there are no screws on the other side of the multimeter, so it will sag. We'll improvise.

Make holes as needed.

Glue twist ties in place.

Twist on the other side. This makes for easy removal to change batteries.

We don't want the probes in our faces, so let's extend them.

Cut staggered and pass through the hole.

Speaker wire will do for extending. I'm still a bit scared of soldering at the moment, so it's a twist splice.

Gaffer tape covers it nicely. Do the same with the probes on the other end of the speaker wire. The probes fit well.

External view. Once it's all set, it might be good to paint the mirror and putty.

Internal view. It's not very bright, but usable.

Things to do next: When I can solder again, I'll add a backlight, and probably 3d print a case for the mirror in meantime. As it is, this took about 2 hours to put together, and does the job.