ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS &

INSTRUMENTS

CPE 256

By Ing. B Odei Bempong

 Measurement is the process by which one can convert
physical parameters into meaningful numbers. The
measurement of a given quantity is the result of
comparison between the quantity to be measured, and a
definite standard.
 The instruments which are used for such measurements are
called measuring instruments.
 The necessary requirements for any measuring instruments
are:
 1) With the introduction of the instrument in the circuit,
the circuit conditions should not be altered. Thus, the
quantity to be measured should not get affected due to the
instrument used.
 2) The power consumed by the instruments for their operation
should be as small as possible. Some important terms in
‘measurement’ are;
 Instrument:
 A device for finding the value, or magnitude of a quantity or
variable.
 Accuracy:
 It is the nearness of the measured value towards the true value.
ie, the measure of conformity to the true value.
 Precision:
 It refers to the degree of agreement within a group of
measurements or instruments. ie,The measure of repeatability or
reproducibility. Precision has two characteristics: conformity
and the no. of significant figures to which measurements may be
made.
 Resolution:
 It is defined as the smallest change in input that can be
detected by an instrument.
 Sensitivity:
 It is the ratio of output signal to a change of input. Or
 It is the ratio of response of an instrument to a change in a
measured variable.
 True value:
 It is the average of the infinite no. of measurements when the
average deviation tends to become zero.
 Error:
 An error is the deviation from the true value of the measured
variable. In order to understand the concept of errors in
measurement, we should know the two terms that defines the
error and these two terms are written below:
 True Value:
 It is not possible to determine the true quantity by experiment
means. True value may be defined as the average value of an
infinite number of measured values when average deviation due
to various contributing factor will approach to zero.
 Measured Value:
 It may be defined as the approximated value of true value. It can
be found out by taking means of several measured readings
during an experiment, by applying suitable approximations on
physical conditions.
 Static Error.
 Static error is defined as the difference of the measured value
and the true value of the quantity. Mathematically we can write
an expression of error as, dA = Am - At where dA is the static
error Am is measured value and At is true value.
 It may be noted that the absolute value of error cannot be
determined as due to the fact that the true value of quantity
cannot be determined accurately.
 Let us consider few terms related to errors:
 Limiting Errors or Guarantee Errors
 The concept of guarantee errors can be clearer if we study this
kind of error by considering one example.
 Suppose there is a manufacturer who manufacture an ammeter,
now promises that the error in the ammeter he is selling is not
greater than the limit he sets. This limit of error is known as
limiting errors or guarantee error.
 Relative Error or Fractional Error:
 It is defined as the ratio of the error and the specified magnitude
of the quantity. Mathematically it is written as:
dA is the error and A is the magnitude.
 Limiting Error is defined as the maximum deviation either in
positive side or negative side in the measurement by an
instrument from the nominal value or true value. Let us assume
that the true value or nominal value of a quantity is Aa, and the
measured value by the instrument is As, then
 Limiting Error δA = (Aa – As).
 The measured value may be greater than true value As or less
than As. Thus δA will be either positive or negative. This is
why Limiting Error is specified as ± δA. This error is also
known as Guarantee Error as the error in measurement is
guaranteed to be within specified limits.
 For example, the nominal value of a resistor is 100 Ω with a
limiting error of ±10 Ω. The magnitude of measurement will be
between the limits, (100±10) Ω i.e. 90 and 110 Ω. Thus the
measurement of resistor by the instrument is guaranteed to be
between 90 & 110 Ω.
 Significance of Limiting Error:
 The accuracy of an instrument depends on various factors like
material, design and workmanship. Different instrument have
different accuracy and hence limiting error. The more the
accuracy, the lesser will be the limiting error.
 The accuracy of an instrument depends on various factors like
material, design and workmanship. Different instrument have
different accuracy and hence limiting error. The more the
accuracy, the lesser will be the limiting error.
 This means the selection of an instrument depends on the
degree of accuracy required.
 Thus while choosing an instrument a compromise between the
limiting error and degree of accuracy required should be made.
Manufacturer generally specifies the limiting error in terms of
percentage of rated value of quantity or full scale deviation.
 Relative Limiting Error or Fractional Limiting Error:
 The Relative or Fractional Limiting error is the ratio of error to
the magnitude of nominal value of the quantity. Thus
Relative Limiting Error εr = δA / As ….(1)
 Relative Limiting Error is expressed in percentage and hence
 % relative limiting error = (δA / As)x100
 Now from (1),
 δA = εrAs ………(2)
 But the actual value or limiting value of measurement,
 Aa = As± δA
 Hence,
 Aa = As± εrAs [from (2)]
 = (1+εr)As
 Let us now consider some examples to better understand
relative limiting error.
 Example-1:
 A 0-150 V voltmeter has a limiting error of 1% of full scale
reading. The voltage measured by the instrument is 75 V.
Calculate the limiting error in percentage.
 Solution:
 The limiting error of voltmeter is 1 % for full scale reading.
This means that the error will be (1/100) of 150 = 1.5 V when
the voltmeter reads 150 V. As the limiting error of an
instrument is same unless mentioned by manufacturer, this
means the error in measurement will be 1.5 V for each and
every measurement.
 Thus when the reading is 75 V, the error will still be 1.5 V.
Hence the % limiting error = (1.5/75)x100 = 2%
 Note that the percentage limiting error is twice the mentioned
value at full scale reading. The limiting error increases as the
reading of voltmeter decrease. If the reading is 37.5 V, the
percentage error will be 4%.
 This increase in error is due to the fact that magnitude of error
is constant at 1.5 V irrespective of reading.
 So, accuracy at full scale should be chosen if the required reading
of quantity in an application is near to the full scale reading of
instrument.
 Example-2:
 A wattmeter having a range of 1000 W has an error of 1% of true
value. Find the percentage limiting error when the true power is
100 W.
 Solution:
 Note here that error is given in terms percentage of true value.
This means that the error is not a constant value but it will
change as the reading of instrument changes (reading changes as
per true power). When the true power is 100 W, the error is 1%
of 100 = 1 W. Thus the measured power will be between 99 and
101 W.
 Thus if the application requires a wide range to be measured,
error in terms of percentage of true value shall be considered
Types Of errors:
 Basically there are three types of errors on the basis; they may
arise from the source.
 Gross Errors:
 This category of errors includes all the human mistakes while
reading, recording and the readings. Mistakes in calculating the
errors also come under this category. For example while taking
the reading from the meter of the instrument he may read 21 as
31. All these types of error are come under this category. Gross
errors can be avoided by using two suitable measures and they
are written below:
 (i) A proper care should be taken in reading, recording the data.
Also calculation of error should be done accurately.
 (ii) By increasing the number of experimenters we can reduce
the gross errors. If each experimenter takes different reading at
different points, then by taking average of more readings we
can reduce the gross errors.
 Systematic Errors:
 In order to understand these kinds of errors, let us categorize
the systematic errors as follows:
 (i) Instrumental error:
 These errors may be due to wrong construction, calibration of
the measuring instruments. These types of error may be arises
due to friction or may be due to hysteresis. These types of
errors also include the loading effect and misuse of the
instruments. Misuse of the instruments results in the failure to
the adjust the zero of instruments.
 In order to minimize the gross errors in measurement various
correction factors must be applied and in extreme condition
instrument must be re-calibrated carefully.
 (ii) Environmental Errors:
 This type of error arises due to conditions external to the
instrument. The external condition includes temperature,
pressure, humidity or it may include external magnetic field.
Following are the steps that one must follow in order to
minimize the environmental errors:
 (A)Try to maintain the temperature and humidity of the
laboratory constant by making some arrangements.
(B)Ensure that there should not be any external magnetic or
electrostatic field around the instrument.
 Observational Errors:
 As the name suggests these types of errors are due to wrong
observations. The wrong observations may be due to
PARALLAX. In order to minimize the PARALLAX error
highly accurate meters are required, provided with mirrored
scales.
 Random Errors:
 After calculating all systematic errors, it is found that there are
still some errors in measurement is left. These errors are known
as random errors. Some of the reasons of the appearance of
these errors are known but still, some reasons are unknown.
Hence we cannot fully eliminate these kinds of error
 Instruments- Basics:
 The essential elements of an instrument are:
– A detector
– An intermediate transfer device
– An indicator, recorder or a storage device
 The history of the development of instruments shows three
phases of instruments.
 a) Mechanical,
 b) Electrical, and
 c) Electronic instruments
 a)Mechanical instruments
 These instruments are very reliable for static and stable
conditions. But, these instruments have moving parts that are
rigid, heavy, and bulky and hence have a large mass.
 Mass presents inertia problems and hence, these instruments
cannot faithfully follow the rapid changes, which are involved
in dynamic measurements.

 Thus, the disadvantages of mechanical instruments are:

– They are unable to respond rapidly to measurements of dynamic and
transient conditions.
– Most of them are a potential source of noise and cause noise pollution.
 b)Electrical instruments:
 Electrical method of indicating the output of detectors is more
rapid than mechanical methods. But, electrical instruments
depends on the mechanical movement of an indicating device,
having some inertia and thus have a limited time response (0.5
– 24 s).

 c)Electronic instruments:
 These instruments are used for fast responses required for
scientific and industrial measurements. They are used for the
detection of electromagnetically produced signals such as
radio, video, and micro waves, space applications, and
computers.
 These instruments make use of semiconductor devices. In
electronic devices, the only movement involved is that of
electrons. Thus, the response time is extremely small on
account of very small inertia of electrons.
 eg: nano seconds- A Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO) is
capable of following dynamic and transition changes of the
ord-nanoseconds(10-9s)
 Advantage:-
i. Can detect very weak signals. ( eg:- In the area of Bio
Instrumentation, the bio electric potentials are very weak, ie lower
than 1 mV).
ii. They can monitor inaccessible or dangerous locations.
iii. They can be used to measure non-electrical quantities.
 They have
 - higher sensitivity,
– Lower weight
– Lower power consumption
– Higher degree of reliability compared to electrical or
mechanical instruments
 Classification of Instruments:
 Instruments can be broadly classified in to the following:
– Absolute instruments
– Secondary instruments
 Absolute instruments- give the magnitude of the quantity under
measurement in terms of physical constants of the instruments.
 e.g:- Tangent galvanometer, Rayleigh’s current balance.
 Secondary instruments- the quantity under measurement can
only be measured by observing the output of the instrument. The
secondary instruments should be calibrated by comparing with an
absolute instrument or another secondary instrument which has
already been calibrated against an absolute instrument. e.g:-
Voltmeter, pressure gauge.
 The secondary instruments are the commonly used instruments
compared to the absolute instruments.
 Electrical measuring instruments may be classified according to
their functions as:
 (i) Indicating instruments;
 (ii) Integrating instruments;
 (iii) Recording instruments
 i.Indicating instruments:-
 These instruments directly indicate the value of the electrical
quantity at the time when it is being measured. In these
instruments, a pointer moving over a graduated scale directly
gives the value of the electrical quantity being measured.
 e.g:- Ammeter, voltmeter, wattmeter.
 ii. Integrating instruments
 The instruments which measure the total quantity of electricity
(in Ampere hours ) or electrical energy (in Watt hours) in a
given time are called integrating instruments.
 In such instruments, there are a set of dials and pointers which
register the total quantity of electricity or electrical energy
supplied to the load.
 e.g:- Ampere- Hour meter, Watt-hour meter.
 Recording instruments
 Recording instruments give a continuous record of the variations
of the electrical quantity to be measured. A recording instrument
is merely an indicating instrument with a pen attached to its
pointer. The pen rests lightly on a chart wrapped over a drum
moving with a slow uniform speed.
 The motion of the drum is in a direction perpendicular to the
direction of the pointer. The path traced out by the pen indicates
the manner in which the quantity being measured, has varied
during the time of the record.
 e.g:- Recording voltmeters, Recording ammeters in supply
stations.
 TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS:
 (1) Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC) instruments .
 (2) Moving iron instruments.
 (3) Electrodynamometer instruments.
 (4) Thermal instruments
 (5) Induction instruments.
 (6) Electrostatic type instruments.
 (7) Rectifier type instruments.
The PMMC instruments can be used for direct measurement
only, and the induction type for alternating current measurements
only.
The moving iron(MI) and moving coil(MC) types both depend
for their action upon the magnetic effect of current. The MI
instruments can be used for either direct or alternating current
measurements, and is the cheapest.

 Electrodynamometer type of instruments can be used both on a.c
as well as on d.c. They are useful as “transfer instruments” , as
their calibration for both d.c and a.c is the same.
 The calibration for d.c and a.c is same for the Multi-meters also.
 Moving coil meters used in scientific laboratories are often made
with a single shunt or series resistor for measurements over a
single range. In electronics, we more often use a meter which has
switchable ranges. This is known as a multi-meter.
 The multi-meter has two wires plugged into its positive and
negative (0 ) terminal sockets. These may end in a test prod, a
crocodile clip or some other type of connector.
 Usually there is a rotary switch, used to bring various shunts or
series resistors into the measuring circuit. The meter may also
have a separate input terminal for a.c. measurements with a diode
leading to the measuring circuit, or there may be a d.c./a.c.
switch to bring the diode into action when needed.
 Instrumentation System Elements
 Indicator
 The moving coil meter is an analogue data presentation element
involving a pointer moving across a fixed scale. The basic
instrument movement is a d.c. microammeter with shunts,
multipliers and rectifiers being used to convert it to other ranges
of direct current and alternating current, direct voltage and
alternating voltage.
 With alternating current and voltages, the instrument is
restricted to frequencies between about 50 Hz and 10 kHz. The
overall accuracy is generally of the order of ±0.1 to ±5%.
 The time taken for a moving coil meter to reach a steady
deflection is typically in the region of a few seconds. The low
resistance of the meter can present loading problems.
 Moving Coil Multimeter. Fig. 1

 Test Equipment Principles

 Measuring voltages:
 Moving coil meters can be very easily adapted to measure
voltages. We know the required current to drive the meter’s
pointer to full-scale deflection, and we know the voltage that we
want to cause FSD, so we apply Ohm’s law. Perhaps we want to
convert our 1 mA meter movement to read 40 V FSD:
 R=V/I=40V/ 1mA=40kΩ
 This calculation effectively states that a 40 kΩ resistor would
pass 1 mA if 40 V were applied across its terminals. If we
placed a perfect 1 mA meter in series with the 40 kΩ resistor, it
would achieve FSD when 40 V was applied.
 You will notice that the final voltmeter has an FSD of 40 V and
a resistance of 40 kΩ, or 1 kΩ per volt. It was common for
moving coil multimeters to specify their loading resistance in
this manner because it allowed the user to easily assess the
loading the meter imposed on any given voltage range.
 But all meters have internal resistance, and a typical 1 mA
meter has an internal resistance of 65 Ω, so we ought to
subtract this from the series resistor to make the total resistance
40 kΩ:
 Rseries=40kΩ−65Ω=39.935kΩ
 A freshly calibrated laboratory standard moving coil meter
having a 5″ mirror scale could attain accuracy at FSD of ±0.5%
or, to put it another way, there is little point in worrying about
precisely trimming the series resistance by 0.16% when the meter
itself contributes more than three times the error (we will see
later that this factor of 3 is very significant).
If the previous attitude offends your sensibilities, consider why
we are fitting the meter in the first place. We very rarely measure
to confirm a theoretical value – we generally make a
measurement to display aberrations from the required value.
In short, we want to know if the voltage/current is not what it
should be. Taking dodgy action films as an example, meter scales
in villain’s lairs rarely show precisely calibrated scales; one
section is generally marked green and the other red (perhaps
subscripted “Danger” or “Evacuate” for the hard-of-thinking).
Once the required value is observably wrong, the precision of
the measurement becomes irrelevant. Distinguishing between
the need to identify a fault condition rather than making a
precision laboratory measurement is significant because it
makes identifying fault conditions much cheaper.

 Display, recording and presentation

of measurement data
 Despite the technical superiority of digital meters, particularly
in terms of their greater accuracy and much higher input
impedance, analog meters continue to be used in a significant
number of applications. Firstly, they are often preferred as
indicators in system control panels, where they are known
as panel meters.
 This is because deviations of controlled parameters away from
the normal expected range are spotted more easily by a pointer
moving against a scale in an analog meter rather than by
variations in the numeric output display of a digital meter.
Analog instruments also tend to suffer less from noise and
isolation problems, which favours their use in some applications.

 In addition, because analog instruments are usually passive

instruments that do not need a power supply, this is often very
useful in measurement applications where a suitable mains power
supply is not readily available.

 Many examples of analog meters also remain in use for historical

reasons. A typical, commercially available analog panel meter is
shown below.
 Analog Panel meter. Fig. 2

 This instrument Fig.2 is used for measuring current.

 Analog meters are electromechanical devices that drive a pointer
against a scale.
 They are prone to measurement errors from a number
of sources that include inaccurate scale marking
during manufacture, bearing friction, bent pointers,
and ambient temperature variations.
 Further human errors are introduced through parallax error (not
reading the scale from directly above) and mistakes in
interpolating between scale markings. Quoted inaccuracy
values are between ±0.1% and ±3%. Various types of analog
meter are used as discussed below Fig.3.

 Moving-coil meter
 A moving-coil meter is a very common form of analog
voltmeter because of its sensitivity, accuracy, and linear scale,
although it only responds to DC signals
 As shown schematically below, 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:
 Moving coil Meter: Fig.3

 Torque T=BIhwN………………………..(1)
 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 Eq. (1) can be rewritten as:
– T=KI…………………………………(2)
 i.e., the torque is proportional to the coil current and the
instrument scale is linear.
 The torque due to the coil current is opposed by the reaction
torque of a torsional spring such that the final rotational
displacement of the coil is proportional to the measured
current.
 As the basic instrument operates at low current levels of one
milliamp or so, it is only suitable for measuring voltages up to
around 2 volts.
 If there is a requirement to measure higher voltages, the
measuring range of the instrument can be increased by placing
a resistance in series with the coil, such that only a known
proportion of the applied voltage is measured by the meter. In
this situation the added resistance is known as a shunting
resistor.
 While Fig. 3 shows the traditional moving-coil instrument with
a long U-shaped permanent magnet, many newer instruments
employ much shorter magnets made from recently developed
magnetic materials such as Alnico and Alcomax.
 These materials produce a substantially greater flux density,
which, besides allowing the magnet to be smaller, has
additional advantages in allowing reductions to be made in the
size of the coil and in increasing the useable range of deflection
of the coil to about 120 degrees.
 Some versions of the instrument also have either a specially
shaped core or specially shaped magnet pole faces to cater for
special situations where a nonlinear scale such as a logarithmic
one is required.

 Moving-iron meter
 As well as measuring DC signals, the moving-iron meter can
also measure AC signals at frequencies up to 125Hz. It is the
cheapest form of meter available and is used in similar numbers
to moving-coil meters.

 The signal to be measured is applied to a stationary coil, and the

associated 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 majority of moving-iron instruments are either of the
attraction type or of the repulsion type. A few instruments
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 Fig. 4A. The alternative repulsion type is sketched in Fig. 4B.
 For an excitation current I, the torque produced that causes the
vane to turn is given by:
 Torque T=I2dM2dθ…………………………………2)
 where M is the mutual inductance and θ is the angular
deflection. Rotation is opposed by a spring that produces a
backwards torque given by:
 Torque Ts=Kθ……………………………………….3)
 Moving Iron Meter Fig.4

 At equilibrium, T = Ts, and θ is therefore given by:

 θ=I2dM2Kdθ……………………………………….4)
 The instrument thus has a square-law response where the
deflection is proportional to the square of the signal being
measured, i.e., the output reading is a root-mean-squared (rms)
quantity.
 The instrument can typically measure voltages in the range of
0–30 V. However, it can be modified to measure higher
voltages by placing a resistance in series with it, as in the case
of moving-coil meters.
 A series resistance is particularly beneficial in AC signal
measurements because it compensates for the effect of coil
inductance by reducing the total resistance/inductance ratio,
and hence measurement accuracy is improved.
 A switchable series resistance is often provided within the
casing of the instrument to facilitate range extension.
 However, when the voltage measured exceeds about 300 V, it
becomes impractical to use a series resistance within the case
of the instrument because of heat-dissipation problems, and an
external resistance is used instead.
 Clamp-on meters
 These are used for measuring circuit currents and voltages in a
non-invasive manner that avoids having to break the circuit
being measured. The meter clamps onto a current-carrying
conductor, and the output reading is obtained by transformer
action.
 The principle of operation is illustrated in Fig.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. Although it is a very
convenient instrument to use, the clamp-on meter has low
sensitivity and the minimum current measurable is usually
about one amp. Fig.5
 Analog multimeter
 The analog multimeter is now less common than its
counterpart, the digital multimeter, but is still widely available.
It is a multifunction instrument that can measure current and
resistance as well as DC and AC voltage signals.
 Basically, the instrument consists of a moving-coil analog
meter with a switchable bridge rectifier to allow it to measure
AC signals, as shown in Fig.6.
 A set of rotary switches allows the selection of various series
and shunt resistors, which 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.
 While this instrument is very useful for giving an indication of
voltage levels, the compromises in its design that enable it to
measure so many different quantities necessarily mean that its
accuracy is not as good as instruments that are purpose-
designed to measure just one quantity over a single measuring
range.

Fig.6
 Measuring high-frequency signals with analog
meters
 One major limitation in using analog meters for AC voltage
measurement is that the maximum frequency measurable
directly is low, 2 KHz for the dynamometer voltmeter and only
100 Hz in the case of the moving-iron instrument.
 A partial solution to this limitation is to rectify the voltage signal
and then apply it to a moving-coil meter, as shown in Fig. 10.7.
This extends the upper measurable frequency limit to 20 KHz.
 However, the inclusion of the bridge rectifier makes the
measurement system particularly sensitive to environmental
temperature changes, and nonlinearities significantly affect
measurement accuracy for voltages that are small relative to the
full-scale value.
 Bridge Rectifier.Fig.7

 Calculation of meter outputs for nonstandard

waveforms:
 The two examples below provide an exercise in calculating the
output reading from various types of analog voltmeter. These
examples also serve as a useful reminder of the mode of
operation of each type of meter and the form that the output
takes.
 Example 1
 Calculate the reading that would be observed on a moving-
coil ammeter when it is measuring the current in the circuit
shown in Fig. 8.
 Solution
 A moving-coil meter measures mean current.
 Imean=12π(∫0π5ωtπdωt+∫π2π5sin(ωt)dωt)=12π([5(ωt)22π]0π+5[−
cos(ωt)]π2π)
 =12π(5π22π−0−5−5)=12π(5π2−10)=52π(π2−2)=−0.342amps
 Example 2
 Calculate the reading that would be observed on a moving-iron
ammeter when it is measuring the current in the circuit shown
in Fig. 8.
 Solution
 A moving-iron meter measures rms current.
 Irms2=12π(∫0π25(ωt)2π2dωt+∫π2π25sin2(ωt)dωt)=12π(∫0π25(ωt)2
π2dωt+∫π2π25(1−cos2ωt)2dωt)
 =252π([(ωt)33π2]0π+[ωt2−sin2ωt4]π2π)=252π(π3+2π2−π2)
 =252π(π3+π2)=252(13+12)=10.416
 Metering and measuring
 Practically all the applications for meters in electronics work
are met either by some form of moving-coil meter or by a
digital voltmeter. The moving-coil instrument consists of a
magnet with pole-pieces shaped so as to generate a radial field
(Figure 9) with a rectangular coil of wire suspended in the gap.

 The coil is supported by springs or by fine metal threads (in the

taut-band version of the movement) which combine the actions
of supporting the coil, passing current in and out, and restoring
the coil to its rest position when it has been turned.

 When current flows, the field of the magnet acts on the coil so
as to turn it against the restoring torque (twisting effort) of the
springs or threads.
 At some angle of turn the turning effort of the current
equals the opposing effort of the springs, and the coil
comes to rest so that a pointer attached to the coil will
indicate a value on the scale of the meter.
 Typical sensitivities for modern instruments range
from 1 μA to 50 μA for full-scale deflection (FSD),
although movements in the 100 μA to 1 mA range are
preferred for their low cost and rugged nature where
the higher current is not a problem.
 In addition, the higher current movements have a lower
resistance and a lower voltage drop across the movement at
FSD.
 Moving-coil instruments measure current, and any moving-coil
movement will have its value of FSD current marked, along
with the resistance of the coil. This allows the movement to be
adapted to measure other current ranges and also to measure
voltage and resistance.
 The other current ranges are obtained by using shunts, resistors
of low value which take a known fraction of the current from
the meter so that the range indicated is greater than the natural
range of the movement.
 Voltage is measured by adding resistors in series to the
movement so that the desired voltage range will pass the
correct amount of current through the movement.
 Figure 10 is a brief reminder of the methods that are used to
calculate values of simple series and shunt resistor values,
although most meters use a combination of series and shunt
resistance.
 Methods for Measuring Currents and Voltages

Fig. 10
 Resistance is measured by a moving-coil meter by setting the
meter to read full scale with a known resistance value in series
with a battery, and then connecting in the unknown resistance
so as to cause the current reading to drop.
 The scale that is used is non-linear and is a reverse scale with
the zero resistance mark at the position of maximum current
and voltage, and the infinite-resistance mark at the position of
zero current or voltage.
 Some older moving-coil instruments pass enough current,
when switched to a low-resistance scale, to burn out delicate
components.
 Digital voltmeters operate on an entirely different principle.
Referring to the much-simplified diagram of Figure 11, the
voltmeter contains a precision oscillator that provides a master
pulse frequency.
 Digital Voltmeters. Fig.11

Fig.11

 The pulses from this oscillator are controlled by a gate circuit,

and can be connected to a counter. At the same time,
the pulses are passed to an integrator circuit that will provide a
steadily rising voltage from the pulses.
 When this voltage matches the input voltage
exactly, the gate circuit is closed, and the count
on the display represents the voltage level.
 For example, if the clock frequency were 1 kHz,
then 1000 pulses could be used to represent 1 V
and the resolution of the meter would be 1 part in
1000, although it would take 1 s to read 1 V.
 The ICs that are obtainable for digital voltmeters
employ much faster clock rates, and repeat the
measuring action several times per second, so that
changing voltages can be measured.
 Complete meter modules are available, containing an IC,
display and some passive components. The simple system
illustrated here is very susceptible to noise pulses in the
measured input, and in a practicable instrument the input would
also be integrated to reduce this effect.

 The example shows a type of circuit referred to as single slope,

now obsolete. Modern digital voltmeters use a dual-slope
action.
 Like the moving-coil meter, the digital voltmeter can be
adapted for other measurements.
 If the digital voltmeter is used, for example, to measure the
(very small) voltage across a low-value resistor, then the meter
can be scaled in terms of the current flowing, so that current
measurements over a very wide range can be carried out.
 Resistance measurements are also possible, making use of a
current regulator to pass a known current through the
unknown resistor and measuring the voltage across the resistor.
 It is now possible to make at very low cost a digital meter
whose precision is as good as the best moving-coil instruments
of a decade ago, and the only penalty that is attached to the use
of these instruments is that the reading can often take some
time to settle down to a steady value, depending on the rate at
which measurements are repeated.
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