ELE 312

MEASUREMENTS AND INSTRUMENTATION

by
engr. Dr. (mrs.) n. t. surajudeen-bakinde
department of electrical and electronics engineering
faculty of engineering and technology
university of ilorin, ilorin
LECTURE 4

Electrical indicating and test instruments

OUTLINE
 Types of Electrical indicating and test instruments
 Digital meters
o Types of Digital meters
 Analogue meters
o Types of Analogue meters
 Cathode ray oscilloscope
 Digital storage oscilloscopes
 Electrical indicating and test instruments
 The magnitude of voltage signals can be measured
by various electrical indicating and test instruments
 E.g. meters (both analogue and digital), the

cathode ray oscilloscope and the digital storage

oscilloscope.
Digital meters
 Are designed to measure quantities other than
voltage are in fact digital voltmeters that contain
appropriate electrical circuits to convert current or
resistance measurement signals into voltage
signals.
 All types of digital meter are basically modified forms of the
digital voltmeter (DVM), irrespective of the quantity that they
are designed to measure.

Types of Digital Meters

 Voltage-to-time conversion digital voltmeter

 Potentiometric digital voltmeter
 Dual-slope integration digital voltmeter
 Voltage-to-frequency conversion digital voltmeter
 Digital multimeter
 Voltage-to-time Conversion Digital Voltmeter

 This is the simplest form of DVM and is a ramp type

of instrument.
 When an unknown voltage signal is applied to the

input terminals of the instrument, a negative-slope

ramp waveform is generated internally and
compared with the input signal.
 When the two are equal, a pulse is generated that

opens a gate,
 At a later point in time a second pulse closes the

gate when the negative ramp voltage reaches zero.

 The length of time between the gate opening and
closing is monitored by an electronic counter, which
produces a digital display according to the level of the
input voltage signal.

 Its main drawbacks are:

1. non-linearities in the shape of the ramp waveform
used
2. lack of noise rejection
3. these problems lead to a typical inaccuracy of
±0.05%.
 Potentiometric Digital Voltmeter
 This uses a servo principle
 The error between the unknown input voltage
level and a reference voltage is applied to a
servo-driven potentiometer that adjusts the
reference voltage until it balances the
unknown voltage.
 The output reading is produced by a
mechanical drum-type digital display driven by
the potentiometer.
 This is also a relatively cheap form of DVM
that gives excellent performance for its price.
 Dual-slope Integration Digital Voltmeter
 The unknown voltage is applied to an integrator for a fixed
time T1, following which a reference voltage of opposite
sign is applied to the integrator, which discharges down to
a zero output in an interval T2 measured by a counter.

 The output–time relationship for the integrator is shown in

Figure 4.1, from which the unknown voltage V i can be
calculated geometrically from the triangle as:
Vi = Vref(T1/T2)…………………..……………………….(4.1)

 It has better noise-rejection capabilities than many other

types and gives correspondingly better measurement
accuracy but quite expensive.
Fig. 4.1 Output–time relationship for integrator in a dual-slope
digital voltmeter (DVM).
Voltage-to-Frequency Conversion Digital Voltmeter
 The unknown voltage signal is fed via a range
switch
 And an amplifier into a converter circuit whose

output is in the form of a train of voltage pulses

at a frequency proportional to the magnitude of
the input signal.
 The main advantage of this type of DVM is its

ability to reject a.c. noise.

 Digital Multimeter
 It can measure both a.c. and d.c. voltages over

a number of ranges.
 This is through inclusion within it of a set of

switchable amplifiers and attenuators.

 It is widely used in circuit test applications as

an alternative to the analogue multimeter.

 It includes protection circuits that prevent

damage if high voltages are applied to the

wrong range.
 Analogue Meters
 They are electromechanical devices that

drive a pointer against a scale.

 They are prone to measurement errors from

a number of sources that include:

1. inaccurate scale marking during
manufacture
2. bearing friction
3. bent pointers
4. ambient temperature variations.
 Types of Analogue meters
Moving-coil meters
Moving-iron meter
Electrodynamic meters
Clamp-on meters
Analogue multimeter
Thermocouple meter
Electronic analogue voltmeters
 Moving-Coil Meters
 As shown schematically in Figure 4.2, it consists of a
rectangular coil wound round a soft iron core that is
suspended in the field of a permanent magnet.
 The signal being measured is applied to the coil and

this produces a radial magnetic field.

 Interaction between this induced field and the field

produced by the permanent magnet causes a

torque, which results in rotation of the coil.
 The amount of rotation of the coil is measured by

attaching a pointer to it that moves past a graduated

scale.
 The theoretical torque produced is given by:
T = BIhwN……………………………………………....(4.2)
where:
B is the flux density of the radial field,
I is the current flowing in the coil,
h is the height of the coil,
w is the width of the coil and
N is the number of turns in the coil.
 If the iron core is cylindrical and the air gap

between the coil and pole faces of the permanent

magnet is uniform, then the flux density B is
constant, and equation (4.2) can be rewritten as:
T =KI……………………………………………………(4.3)
 i.e. the torque is proportional to the coil current and the
instrument scale is linear.
 It operates at low current levels of 1 mA or so and only
suitable for measuring voltages up to around 2 V.
 If there is a need to measure higher voltages, the measuring
range of the instrument can be increased by placing a
resistance in series with the coil called a shunting resistor.

Fig. 4.2 Moving-coil meter.

 Moving-Iron Meter
 It measures d.c. signals and a.c. signals at
frequencies up to 125 Hz.
 it is also commonly used for measuring voltage

signals.
 The signal to be measured is applied to a stationary

coil, and the field produced is often amplified by the

presence of an iron structure associated with the
fixed coil.
 The moving element in the instrument consists of an

iron vane that is suspended within the field of the

fixed coil.
 When the fixed coil is excited, the iron vane turns in a

direction that increases the flux through it.

 The types are 1. the attraction type 2. the repulsion
type. 3. A few belong to a third combination type.
 The attraction type, where the iron vane is drawn

into the field of the coil as the current is increased, is

shown schematically in Figure 4.3(a).
 The alternative repulsion type is sketched in Figure

4.3(b).

Fig. 6.3 Moving-iron meter: (a) attraction type; (b) repulsion type.
 For an excitation current I, the torque
produced that causes the vane to turn is given
by:
I dM
T=
2

2dθ
where:
M is the mutual inductance and is the angular
deflection. Rotation is opposed by a spring that
produces a backwards torque given by:
Ts=Kθ
 At equilibrium, T=T , and is therefore given by:
s
I dM
2

θ = 2kdθ …………………………………(4.4)
 Itcan typically measure voltages in the range
of 0 to 30 V.
 However, it can be modified to measure

higher voltages by placing a resistance in

series with it.
 A series resistance is particularly beneficial in

a.c. signal measurements because it

compensates for the effect of coil inductance
by reducing the total resistance/inductance
ratio.
 Hence measurement accuracy is improved.
A switchable series resistance is often provided
within the casing of the instrument to facilitate
range extension.
 But it becomes impractical when the voltage to

be measured exceeds 300 V due to heat

dissipation problem.
 Electrodynamic Meters
 Also called dynamometers can measure both

d.c. signals and a.c. signals up to a frequency

of 2 kHz.
 As illustrated in Figure 4.4, the instrument has

a moving circular coil that is mounted in the

magnetic field produced by two separately
wound, series-connected, circular stator coils.
 The torque is dependent upon the mutual

inductance between the coils and is given by:

T = I1I2dM …….……………………..…………………(4.5)
dθ
where:
M is the mutual inductance
θ represents the angular displacement between the
coils.
 When used as an ammeter, the measured current is

applied to both coils.

 The torque is thus proportional to I 2.
 If the measured current is a.c., the meter is unable to

follow the alternating torque values and it displays

instead the mean value of I2.
 By suitable drawing of the scale, the position of the

pointer shows the squared root of this value, i.e. the

r.m.s. current.
 They are typically expensive.
 However, they are more accurate than moving-coil

and moving-iron instruments.

 Voltage, current and power can all be measured if the

fixed and moving coils are connected appropriately.

Fig. 4.4 Electrodynamic meter.

 Clamp-on Meters
 The meter clamps onto a current carrying conductor,
and the output reading is obtained by transformer
action.

 The principle of operation is illustrated in Figure 4.5,

where it can be seen that the clamp on jaws of the
instrument act as a transformer core and the current-
carrying conductor acts as a primary winding. Current
induced in the secondary winding is rectified and
applied to a moving-coil meter.


 It is very convenient to use.
 The clamp-on meter has low sensitivity.
 The minimum current measurable is usually about 1 A.

Fig. 4.5 Clamp-on meter

 Analogue Multimeter
 It is a multi-function instrument that can measure
current and resistance as well as d.c. and a.c.
voltage signals.
 It consists of a moving-coil meter with a switchable

bridge rectifier to allow it to measure a.c. signals, as

shown in Figure 4.6.
 A set of rotary switches allows the selection of

various series and shunt resistors

 This make the instrument capable of measuring both

voltage and current over a number of ranges.

 An internal power source is also provided to allow it to
measure resistances as well.
 It is very useful for giving an indication of voltage levels.
 But the compromises in its design that enable it to measure so
many different quantities.
 This necessarily mean that its accuracy is not as good.

Figure 4.6 Analogue Multimeter

 Thermocouple Meter
 The principle of operation of the thermocouple meter
is shown in Figure 4.8.
 The measured a.c. voltage signal is applied to a small

element.
 This heats up and the resulting temperature rise is

measured by a thermocouple.
 The d.c. voltage generated in the thermocouple is

applied to a moving-coil meter.

 The output meter reading is an r.m.s. quantity that

varies in a non-linear fashion with the magnitude of

the measured voltage. Very high-frequency voltage
signals up to 50MHz can be measured by this method.
Figure 4.8. Thermocouple Meter
 Electronic Analogue Voltmeters
 Electronic voltmeters differ from all other forms of
analogue voltmeters in being active rather than
passive instruments.
 They have important advantages compared with

other analogue instruments.

 Firstly, they have a high input impedance that avoids

the circuit loading problems associated with many

applications of electromechanical instruments.
 Secondly, they have an amplification capability that

enables them to measure small signal levels

accurately.
 The standard electronic voltmeter for d.c.
measurements consists of a simple direct coupled
amplifier and a moving-coil meter, as shown in Figure
4.9(a).
 For measurement of very low-level voltages of a few

microvolts, a more sophisticated circuit, known as a

chopper amplifier, is used, as shown in Figure 4.9(b).

Figure 4.9 D.C Electronic Voltmeter : (a) simple form (b) including chopper amplifier
 Cathode Ray Oscilloscope
 The cathode ray oscilloscope is probably the most
versatile and useful instrument available for signal
measurement.
 In its basic form, it is an analogue instrument and is

often called an analogue oscilloscope.

 It is widely used for voltage measurement, especially

as an item of test equipment for circuit fault-finding,

 It is able to measure a very wide range of both a.c.

and d.c. voltage signals.

 It can also measure other quantities such as the

frequency and phase of a signal.

 It can also indicate the nature and magnitude of
noise that may be corrupting the measurement
signal.
 It has high input impedance, typically 1 MΩ, which

means that the instrument has a negligible loading

effect in most measurement situations.
 As a test instrument, it is often required to measure

voltages whose frequency and magnitude are totally

unknown.
 Digital storage oscilloscopes

 They consist of a conventional analogue cathode ray

oscilloscope with the added facility that the measured
analogue signal can be converted to digital format.
 Which is stored in computer memory within the

instrument.
 This stored data can then be reconverted to analogue

form at the frequency necessary to refresh the

analogue display on the screen.
 This produces a non-fading display of the signal on

the screen.
 The signal displayed by a digital oscilloscope
consists of a sequence of individual dots rather than
a continuous line as displayed by an analogue
oscilloscope.
 However, as the density of dots increases, the

display becomes closer and closer to a continuous

line.
 The best instruments have displays that look very

much like continuous traces.

 The density of the dots is entirely dependent upon

the sampling rate at which the analogue signal is

digitized.
 And the rate at which the memory contents are read

to reconstruct the original signal.