The young scientist looking for an award-winning science fair project can’t go wrong with this ammeter from the August-September 1969 issue of Radio-TV Experimenter.

The instrument can be constructed with materials from the hardware store, but will do accurate measurements of current, whether it is DC, AC, or even RF. It is a hot-wire ammeter, and was frequently used in the early days of radio for measuring RF current in order to calculate power. As the name implies, the current is measured by the expansion and contraction of a steel wire. As the current flows, the wire heats up. It is attached to a spring-loaded second wire, and that wire moves a pointer. A standard ammeter can be used to calibrate the device once constructed. In the photo here, the meter is shown measuring current from a dry cell battery (and a modern alkaline D cell will work just as well as the old-fashioned battery, especially when used with a battery holder). However, the instrument can also be used to measure AC current, and can be used as part of an experiment measuring current consumption of various kinds of light bulbs.