Sometimes you need some juice on the go for a portable appliance whose battery needs charged or for which you need power to operate. Sockets and the power they provide are necessarily ubiquitous. I have even seen small polls with sockets on sidewalks down the street of a big city.
I want to be able to verify that a power source is 1) operating and 2) is unlikely to damage my equipment. It would be nice to have a singular, compact device that performs all the testing that we conclude is necessary, but for now I just want to identify the tools anyone could acquire and use to make a reasonable guess as the the quality of a line.
I do not have an electronics background so this will just be applied tool use for the layperson. Assume United States electrical grid and building code specifications.
I assume I will need to at least verify that the line is providing AC, that the voltage is 110 (115? 120? 125?) +/- 15 (?) V. Do I need to check for amps? I assume I will also need to measure cycles which ought to be 60hz +/- 10. Do I need to be concerned about impedence or resistence or any other such thing?
So, I know I can find a pen-type contactless voltmeter at any regular store. Can I use my multimeter to verify other values (except cycles, maybe?)
What is it I really need to do to get a preliminary integrity check?