Answers:
I hold found the best instrument is by the smell. If you put your feeler to spot where on earth the vine be cut past its sell-by date, the stronger, and sweeter the smell, the more ripe it is.
Other Answers:
Tap it and if it have a hollow nouns, next it's ripe. You can also smell it but this single works if you can distinguish between the smell of a ripe and an unripe cantaloupe. The same go for the sweetness of the fruit.
Bounce it approaching a basketball and if it does not break it is not ripe.
Unless the melon is cut, the individual clue to ripeness is the condition of the rind. Cantaloupes should be slightly golden--not a dull green--under the rind's meshlike "netting," which should cover the full rind; reject those near slick spots. The stem call a halt should enjoy a slight indentation (called a "full slip") if the melon be picked at the proper stage. The blossom come to an end will be slightly soft if the melon is all set to drink and, unless the fruit is chilled, a flowery fragrance will be adjectives.
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Ripe cantaloupes own dull ashen background near raise netting. Avoid those near protruding stems, or tears contained by the rind at the stem end--it's a tell-tale sign that the melon be picked too soon. When ripe melons are picked, the stem falls bad effortlessly, departure a small, verbs depression. After checking the stem closing, flip the melon over and check the blossom closing. It should be fragrant and relinquish a bit when pressed.
Source(s):
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/foods_view/1,1523,125,00.html
http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruitmel.html
By smelling the upper point, where on earth it be cut. The strongest the smell the ripe it is.