Amateur Electronic Supply in Milwaukee sells Velleman multimeters for about $10. They aren't incredibly fancy (just one large knob on the front panel below the display for range changing and power switching, as well as the jack panel), although they do have a transistor and diode test function. I purchased one, albeit a more deluxe version, about five years ago, as I am rebuilding my toolbox (left most of my tools back at my former residence when I moved here eleven years ago). This meter works well enough for my purposes and is my first new item of test gear; it should also work well for you, if all you are interested in at this point are continuity testing and voltage readings -- although the transistor and diode test function could come in handy for you if you ever get an older transistor portable radio with plug-in transistors, such as the Zenith Royal 500 series or one of the solid-state Transoceanics.
Amateur Electronic Supply's website and physical street address are as follows:
Amateur Electronic Supply
5710 West Good Hope Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53223
Toll free order line: 800.558.0411
AES web site:
www.aesham.com
You can also order an AES catalog on the website; it's been a while since I used that link as I am on their mailing list, so I can't tell you at the moment where it would be on the home page.
You do not need to be a radio amateur to order from AES; many non-hams order equipment such as radios, digital TV antennas, etc. from them all the time.
73 (best of regards) and good luck restoring your antique Admiral TV. As I think I mentioned to you in another post, it's a great feeling to get these old sets working again as they did when they were new. Don't forget, you will need an ATSC->NTSC converter box and probably an outdoor antenna to receive digital TV signals on your set, although it will work with rabbit ears if there are still LP (low power) or translator stations on VHF channels in your area.
BTW: Don't expect to see or hear anything on channel 1 (I think your Admiral TV, being a 1948 model, has a 13-channel tuner). The FCC originally reassigned the frequency range (originally 44-50 MHz) to other services around 1949 or so; in fact, this range was eventually realigned and became, in the early 1950s, what is now the amateur six-meter band.