Jazzy

An Ammeter is placed in-line with either the pos or neg lead while connected to a load.
A Voltmeter is placed accross the positive and negative leads open circuit or closed (with a load).

The 1.6, (many use 1.5), multiplier is used when charging at rates close to the capacity divided by ten. It is there to compensate for innefficiencies during charging. I personally have found that as charge rates increase the multiplier decreases. For instance: A standard 500 mAH pack charged at 50 mA will take (500mAH/50mA)*1.6 = 16hrs.

Matt, you likely found the max current the charger can supply to ground by placing the Ammeter across the leads without any load. (Load meaning a battery to charge.) Connected to an 8 cell pack it may yield the rated voltage and current. Since I don't know what it was designed for this is just a guess.