an instrument for measuring resistance in ohms Take a look at this diagram to see how an ohmmeter is used to check a small control transformer The ohmmeter's pointer deflection is controlled by the amount of battery current passing through the moving coil Before measuring the resistance of an unknown resistor or electrical circuit, the ohmmeter must first be calibrated If the value of resistance to be measured can be estimated within reasonable limits, a range selected that will give approximately half-scale deflection when the resistance is inserted between the probes If the resistance is unknown, the selector switch is set on the highest scale Whatever range is selected, the meter must be calibrated to read zero before the unknown resistance is measured