Digital Electronic Voltmeter:

Definition: Digital Voltmeter is a voltage sensitive device. It measures AC or DC voltage and displays the
value directly in numeric form instead of pointer deflection. DVM is an acronym for Digital Voltmeter. DVM
was first invented in 1954 by Andrew Kay.

There exist many factors that affect the measurement accuracy of a digital voltmeter(DVM). These are basically
temperature, input impedance, variation in power supply voltage etc.

As we know that an analogue instrument provides results by pointer deflection on a continuous scale. On
contrary, a digital instrument provides results as discrete numerals. Thus providing accuracy and versatility
together.

The input range of DVM may vary from ±1 V to 1000 V. Precision DVM offers input resistance of 1 GΩ or
high for a voltage range of less than 20 V.

Block diagram of Digital Voltmeter

The figure below shows the block diagram of a typical digital voltmeter.

As we can see, the block diagram consists of attenuator with an analogue to digital converter after it. This ADC
unit basically distinguishes between various types of Digital Voltmeters which we will discuss later.

A counter section is also employed in the circuitry that is usually a decade counter. The read-out system is
used to display the digital voltage of the input signal.
Working of Digital Voltmeter

Let us now have a look at the detailed diagram of a Digital Voltmeter. The figure below will help you to
understand the working of a DVM.

The attenuator section consists of a series resistance that attenuates the input signal. The voltage at point A will
be exactly same as the input voltage Vin.

By voltage division rule it is clear that voltage at B will be less than the voltage at A. Similarly, the voltage at C
will definitely be less than the voltage at both the points A and B. So, in this way an attenuator section works.

Now, the thing that comes to our mind is what is the need for this attenuator at the beginning of the circuit?

So, the reason for this is, an attenuator placed here minimizes the excess voltage that can damage the other
components of the device. It is basically a predefined resistive network that performs attenuation for circuit
protection.

Here, the attenuation is termed as decade attenuation as it is a digital voltmeter and we require decimal count.
That means if attenuation occurs it will be in powers of 10.

So, at the input of ADC, we will have Vin/N as the input voltage.

: N = 1, 10, 100, 1000

The ADC employed in the circuit converts analogue signal into digital one in order to provide the digital output.
A digital signal is the one having 2 levels i.e., 0 and 1.

So, the input at ADC Vin/N gets converted into digital signal. This will provide us a sequence of digital pulses.
One pulse for 1 mV as at the ADC we have taken resolution as 1 mV/step.

These digital pulses are then fed to the counter unit. Here, we have used a decade counter. A decade counter
counts in decimal inspite binary.
The counter unit on a whole consist of 3-decade counters that are cascaded together. These decade counters
have the ability to count from 0-9 i.e., 10 counts. Hence the three will count up to 1000.

DC 7447 converts the BCD value into 7 segment display. That means now the input value will be displayed
here in digital format. The decimal point selector at the end of the circuit will select the position of
decimal according to the magnitude of the voltage.

Types of Digital Voltmeter:

The classification of DVM is based on different ADC conversion methods-

1. Ramp type DVM

In a ramp type DVM, the operation basically depends on the measurement of time. The time which a ramp
voltage takes to change from the level of the input voltage to that of 0 voltage or vice versa. An electronic time
interval counter is used to measure the time interval and the count is displayed in digits as voltmeter output.

Let us have look at the block diagram and operating principle of a ramp-type DVM.

Here, as we can see in the figure below a negative going ramp voltage is shown. This ramp voltage is compared
with the unknown voltage. An input comparator employed in the circuit generates a pulse when ramp voltage
becomes equal to the voltage under measurement.
Now, the ramp voltage falls to reach 0 value. The ground comparator employed in the circuit generates stop
pulse. This stop pulse closes the gate.

The gate opening time duration is proportional to the value of input voltage. The sample rate Multivibrator
employed here is used to find the rate by which the measurement cycle begins.

2. Integrating type DVM

In this category of Digital Voltmeter, the true value of input voltage is measured over a fixed measuring time.

Here, an integration technique is employed that uses voltage to frequency conversion. This voltage to
frequency converter act as a feedback control system. This basically governs the pulse generation rate is
proportional to the magnitude of applied input voltage.
In voltage to frequency conversion technique, a train of pulses is generated. The frequency of these pulses
depends on the voltage being measured.

Then these pulses are counted that appears in a definite time interval. After all, the frequency of pulses is a
function of input voltage, the number of pulses is an indication of the input voltage.

Advantages of Digital Voltmeter

1. DVM provides numerical readouts that eliminate observational errors. Thus providing
better readability.
2. DVM offers better accuracy and versatility as compared to analogue voltmeters.
3. DVM has a greater speed of taking voltage readings as compared to analogue instruments.
4. The output of DVM can be fed to memory devices for further computations.
5. The decreased size of DVM increases the portability if the instrument.
6. DVM can measure both AC and DC voltages
DVM offers an accuracy of 0.5% + 1 digit and the operating temperature range is -5 ⁰C to 55 ⁰C.

Disadvantages of Digital Voltmeter

1. Digital Voltmeters are prone to damage if the voltage is increased beyond the limit.

2. The display depends on the external power source or battery.

3. While measuring the voltage, there are chances of the digital voltmeter getting heated up.This might
output wrong readings.

4. When a fluctuation occurs in a circuit, the digital voltmeter cannot read and displays an error.

5. Speed of operation is limited due to the digitizing circuit in digital voltmeters.

6. It is very hard to spot the transient voltage spikes.

The A/D converter has a limitation on word length which causes quantization noise giving rise to errors in
measured values.

Q Meter:
Definition: The instrument which measures the storage factor or quality factor of the
electrical circuit at radio frequencies, such type of device is known as the Q-meter. The quality factor is one
of the parameters of the oscillatory system, which shows the relation between the storage and dissipated
energy.

The Q meter measures the quality factor of the circuit which shows the total energy dissipated by it. It also
explains the properties of the coil and capacitor. The Q meter uses in a laboratory for testing the radio frequency
of the coils.
Working Principle of Q meter
The Q meter works on series resonant. The resonance is the condition exists in the circuit when their inductance
and capacitance reactance are of equal magnitude. They induce energy which is oscillating between the electric
and magnetic field of the capacitor and inductor respectively.

The Q-meter is based on the characteristic of the resistance, inductance and capacitance of the resonant series
circuit. The figure below shows a coil of resistance, inductance and capacitance connected in series with the
circuit.

At resonant frequency f0,

The value of capacitance reactance is

At inductive reactance,

At the resonant frequency,

and current at resonance becomes

The voltage across the capacitor is expressed as

Input voltage

The above equation shows that the input voltage E is Q times the voltage appears across the capacitor. The
voltmeter is calibrated for finding the value of Q factor.

Applications of the Q-meter

The following are the applications of the Q-meter.

1. Measurement of Q – The circuit used for measurement of Q is shown in the figure.

The oscillator and tuning capacitor adjust to the desired frequency for obtaining the maximum value of E 0.

Under this condition, the value of the quality factor is expressed as

True value is given as

The value of the quality factor is obtained by the voltmeter which is connected across the capacitor. The
measured value is the Q factor of the whole circuit and not only of the coil. Thus, errors occur in the reading
because of the shunt resistance and distributed capacitance.

The above equations show that the measured value of the Q is smaller than the true value.

1. Measurement of Inductance – The inductance is measured by the equation shown below.

The value of f0 & C is required for calculating the value of inductance.

2. Measurement of Effective resistance – The equation computes the value of effective resistance

4. Measurement of Self-Capacitance – The self-capacitance is determined by measuring the two capacitance

at different frequencies. The capacitor is adjusted to the high value, and the circuit is resonated by adjusting the
oscillator frequency. The resonance of the circuit is determined by the Q meter.
Thus,

or distributed capacitance

5. Measurement of Bandwidth – The equation below calculates the bandwidth

6. Measurement of Capacitance – The capacitance is determined by connecting the dummy coil across the
terminal T1 and T2. Let the capacitor under test is connected across the terminal T 3 and T4. The circuit is again
resonated by varying the value of tuning capacitor C 2. The value of testing capacitance is determined by
subtracting the C1 and C2.
What is the Smith Chart?

The Smith Chart is the graphical representation of a complex mathematical equation. It is the circular plot of the
characteristics of microwave components. The Smith Chart is the most used tool for microwave engineers to
visualize complex-valued quantities and calculate the mapping between them. It consists of two sets of circles
for plotting various parameters of mismatched transmission lines. One is the set of complete circles whose
centers lie on the straight line and the other one is the set of two arc circles which lie on the either sides of the
straight line.

The figure to the right shows the Smith Chart. The horizontal axis represents the normalized resistance and the
normalized line reactance is shown on the outer edge of the circles. The complete circle of the Smith Chart
represents a half wavelength along the straight line.

Applications of Smith Chart

In any domain of RF engineering, the smith chart has various applications. Few of the foremost applications of
the smith chart are
 It is used in the transmission line is used to calculate impedance provided at any load
 The chart is even employed to calculate admittance values provided at any load
 Used in the measurement of the length of the short-circuited section of the Tx.line in order to offer the
required amount of inductive reactance of capacitance
 Used for the purposes of impedance matching
 Employed to know the value of VSWR amongst others.