Introduction: Index Finger Voltmeter [a Way to Meter DC Voltage Without Holding Your Meter]

By www.georgousis.info/

This is an idea to help low voltage (DC) field technicians like me.  

The problem:
When you are working in strange places to like basements, storage rooms, or when you are using a ladder to access a distant (LOW VOLTAGE) equipment  holding the multimeter and the probes is a pain in the... :-) 
Well, there are lot of small sized multimeters in the market but this approach fits my needs at its bests.
As a professional security systems technician the most common value I want to meter is the power supply to various devices spread around distant and hard to reach locations on the buildings. In addition back light equipped multimeters are quite large and heavy them and hold the probes at the same time.

The solution:
Thanks to the panel digital voltmeter which can be found in several e-shops the solution is simple, tiny and "glows in the dark".
I got mine on buyincoins.com for about € 2,00 (less than $3,00).
This little device is a two wire "auto scale" multimeter for voltages up to 99VDC and the good thing is that it need no extra power, it can be powered by its testing points.

Making the trick:
Stitching a Velcro Cable Management Strip around its PCB and extending the cables in order to have enough cable to use them as probes it was the solution to an everyday problem. A solution which stays always with me and is wrapped around my index finger.
This solution is simple and effective enough and as I started to using it I realized that helps in one more common issue for technicians: I can't forget my equipment (in this case the voltmeter) because it is attached to me :-).

Possible improvements:
In a later time, I thought that it will be more convenient for some cases to attach only the "hooks side of Velcro" in the back side of tiny voltmeter and wrap around the finger a strip with "loops side of Velcro", this way the voltmeter can be detached from finder and leave my hands free for any other activity.

Warnings!
This equipment does not protect user from high voltages or sparks and is not recommended at all to use it on "unknown" voltage levels , "unknown" live wires or "unknown" devices!
It is assumed that you will take all safety measures and you are going to use this device ONLY FOR LOW DC VOLTAGES under 48 VDC.

This is device is not protected from reverse polarity.