Hi everyone, just as a little addendum to my Multimeter Mini-Tutorial, if you have an Analogue Needle-style Multimeter, here's the procedure you need to follow before you do a resistance measurement:
Assuming that the meter has a good fresh battery installed:
1, Switch the meter to an appropriate resistance range, X1 or X10 is a good choice if you are doing continuity checks.
2, Touch the tips of the two meter probes together, the meter needle will swing to the right towards the Zero-mark on the meter scale, it may also come to a stop before or after the Zero-mark.
3, Next, rotate the Zero-Adjust knob one way or the other to get the meter needle to sit right over the Zero-mark on the meter scale, this compensates for the small amount of resistance that the meter leads contribute to the resistance reading, it also compensates for the battery gradually going flat too.
4, Proceed to doing the continuity checks, continuity will be indicated by the meter needle coming to a rest near the zero-mark.