Galvanometer/Applications

Prof.S.Lakshminarayana,M.Tech.,Ph.D.

12/8/15

SYLLABUS
UNIT I
Definitions, Errors in Measurement.
DC Ammeters.
DC voltmeters.
Ohmmeter Series type, Shunt type,
Calibration. Multimeter as
DC voltmeter,
DC Ammeter
AC voltmeter, AC voltmeter using rectifier
Ohmmeter,
Digital voltmeter
Ramp,
Integrating
Continuous Balance Type. (Basic Concepts)
12/8/15

DC Meter

Instrumentation and Measurement

TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS
1. Permanent Magnet Moving Coil. Only for
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

D.C.Measurements.
Moving Iron. A.C/D.C
Electro-Dynamometer. A.C/D.C
Hotwire. A.C/D.C
Thermocouple. A.C/D.C
Induction. A.C.Measurements.
Electrostatic. A.C/D.C

8. Rectifier. A.C/D.C

12/8/15

What is a meter?
A meter is any device built to

accurately detect and display

an electrical quantity in a form
readable by a human being.
Usually this "readable form" is
visual:
motion of a pointer on a scale,
a series of lights arranged to form

a "bar graph," or
some sort of display composed of
numerical figures.
In the analysis and testing of
5

circuits, there are meters

Most modern meters are "digital" in design, meaning

that their readable display is in the form of
numerical digits. (Less Error)
Older designs of meters are mechanical in nature,
using some kind of pointer device to show quantity of
measurement.
In either case, the principles applied in adapting a
display unit to the measurement of (relatively) large
quantities of voltage, current, or resistance are the
6

same.

Display Mechanism
The display mechanism of a meter is often referred to

as a movement, borrowing from its mechanical nature

to move a pointer along a scale so that a measured
value may be read.
Though modern digital meters have no moving parts,
the term "movement" may be applied to the same
basic device performing the display function.
Most mechanical movements are based on the
principle of electromagnetism: that electric current
through a conductor produces a magnetic field
perpendicular to the axis of electron flow.
7

The greater the electric current, the stronger the

magnetic field produced.
If the magnetic field formed by the conductor is
allowed to interact with another magnetic field, a
physical force will be generated between the two
sources of fields.
If one of these sources is free to move with
respect to the other, it will do so as current is
conducted through the wire, the motion (usually
against the resistance of a spring) being
proportional to strength of current.
8

Galvanometer
Galvanometer is a Permanent Magnet

Moving Coil electric current detector

(PMMC).
When a current is passed through a coil in
a magnetic field, the coil experiences a
torque proportional to the current.
If the coil's movement is opposed by a coil
spring, then the amount of deflection of a
needle attached to the coil is proportional
to the current passing through the coil.
Such "meter movements" were at the heart
of the moving coil meters (such as
voltmeters and ammeters) until they were
largely replaced with solid state meters.
The accuracy of moving coil meters is
dependent upon having a uniform and
constant magnetic field.
9

The force on the coil F= nBiSin = nBi if =900

n=No. of turns of the coil.
B=Magnetic field of induction
i=Current through the coil.
=Deflection.
The magnetic moment C=force X width of coil
C= nBilXb = nBiA (A= l Xb)
C =nBiA
i=[C/(nBA)] = k

10

Galvanomet
er
An increase in measured current

will drive the needle to point

further to the right and a decrease
will cause the needle to drop back
down toward its resting point on
the left.
The arc on the meter display is
labeled with numbers to indicate
the value of the quantity being
measured, whatever that quantity
is.
In other words, if it takes 50 A of current to drive the

11

needle fully to the right (making this a "50 A full-scale

movement"), the scale would have 0 A written at the very
left end and 50 A at the very right, 25 A being marked in
the middle of the scale.

Galvanometer used as Ammeter

Shunt Resistance.

Typical galvanometer have an internal

resistance of the order of Rm= 60 - that could

significantly disturb (reduce) a current
measurement.
Built to have full scale for small current I m = 1
mA or less.
Must therefore be mounted in parallel with a
Galvanometer
small resistor or shunt
resistor.
60

Rp
12

12/8/15

Galvanometer

IM

60

Rp

Lets convert a 60 ,M1 mA full scale galvanometer to an

ammeter that can measure up to 2 A current.
Rp must be selected such that when 2 A passes through the
ammeter, only 0.001 A goes through the galvanometer.
VM = (0.001A)(60) = (1.999A) Rp
Rp = 0.03002
Rp is rather small! = ImRm/(I - Im)
The equivalent resistance of the circuit is also small!
13

12/8/15

Galvanometer used as Voltmeter

Finite internal resistance of a galvanometer must
also addressed if one wishes to use it as voltmeter.
Must mounted a large resistor in series to limit the
current going though the voltmeter to 1 mA.
Must also have a large resistance to avoid
disturbing circuit when measured in parallel.
Rs

14

Galvanometer

12/8/15

60

Rs

Galvanometer

60

Maximum voltage across galvanometer:

Vmax 0.001A 60 0.06V

Suppose one wish to have a voltmeter that can measure
voltage difference up to 100 V:
100V = (0.001A)(Rs
+60)
Rs = 99940
12/8/15

Large resistance

Voltmeter Design

Some D'Arsonval movements have full-scale deflection current

ratings as little as 50 A, with an (internal) wire resistance of less

than 1000 . This makes for a voltmeter with a full-scale rating of
only 50 mill volts (50 A X 1000 )!
In order to build voltmeters with practical (higher voltage) scales

from such sensitive movements, we need to find some way to

reduce the measured quantity of voltage down to a level the
movement can handle.
Using Ohm's Law (E=I R), we can determine how much voltage will

drive this meter movement directly to full scale:

E=IR
16

E = (1 mA)(500 )
E = 0.5 volts

To get an effective voltmeter meter range in

excess of 1/2 volt, we'll need to design a circuit
allowing only a precise proportion of measured
voltage to drop across the meter movement.
This will extend the meter movement's range to
being able to measure higher voltages than
before.
Correspondingly, we will need to re-label the
scale on the meter face to indicate its new
measurement range with this proportioning
circuit connected.
17

Multimeter or VOM
(Simpson Model 260)

[CONTENTS]

 Schematic diagram of the

Simpson Model 260

multimeter

dc voltmeter section of the

Simpson Model 260

multimeter

 dc ammeter section of the

Simpson Model 260

multimeter

Ohmmeter section of the

Simpson Model 260

multimeter

Calibration of DC Instruments
[CONTENTS]

Potentiometer method of

calibrating a dc ammeter
---

Potentiometer method of

calibrating a dc voltmeter
---

Introduction to Alternating-current
Indicating Instruments.
The d'Arsonval movement responds to the average or dc

value of the current through the moving coil

If the movement carries an alternating current with positive
and negative half cycles, the driving torque would be in
one direction for the positive alternation and other direction
for the negative alternation
If the frequency of the ac is very low, the pointer would
swing back and forth around zero point on the meter scale
At higher frequencies, the inertia of the coil is so great that
the pointer cannot follow the rapid reversals of the driving
torque and hovers around the zero mark, vibrating slightly.

Measuring
Higher
Voltages

Rm

What we need is a voltage divider circuit to

proportion the total measured voltage into a

lesser fraction across the meter movement's
connection points.
Knowing that voltage divider circuits are built
from series resistances, we'll connect a resistor in
series with the meter movement.
Ohm's Law could be used to determine resistance
23

(R=E/I) for the multiplier: =

E/I Rm

MultiRange
Voltmeter
How do you

calculate all Ri (i =
1,2,3,4)?

24

Voltmeter
Loading
Effect
Since voltmeters are always

25

connected in parallel with

the component or
components under test, any
current through the
voltmeter will contribute to
the overall current in the
tested circuit, potentially
affecting the voltage being
measured.
A perfect voltmeter has
infinite resistance, so that it
draws no current from the
circuit under test.
The example represented in
the diagram on the right is
very extreme case

Voltmeter Rating
Voltmeters with electromechanical movements are typically

26

given ratings in "ohms per volt(Sensitivity of meter) of

range to designate the amount of circuit impact created by the
current draw of the movement.
Because such meters rely on different values of multiplier
resistors to give different measurement ranges, their lead-tolead resistances will change depending on what range
they're set to.
On any DC voltage range:
Analogue Meter Resistance = Sensitivity Max. reading
of range
e.g. a meter with 20k/V sensitivity on its 10V range has a
resistance of 20k/V 10V = 200k.
By contrast, digital multimeters have a constant resistance of
at least 1M (often 10M) on all their DC voltage ranges. This is
more than enough for almost all circuits.

Digital voltmeters, on the other hand, often

exhibit a constant resistance across their test
leads regardless of range setting (but not always!),
and as such are usually rated simply in ohms of
input resistance, rather than "ohms per volt"
sensitivity.
What "ohms per volt" means is how many ohms of
lead-to-lead resistance for every volt of range
setting on the selector switch.
Example: On the 1000 volt scale, the total
resistance is 1 M (999.5 k + 500), giving
1,000,000 per 1000 volts of range, or 1000 ohms
per volt (1 k/V). This ohms-per-volt
"sensitivity" rating remains constant for any
range of this meter.
The astute observer will notice that the ohms-pervolt rating of any meter is determined by a single
factor: the full-scale current of the movement,
27in this case 1 mA.
Sensitivity of a meter = 1/Full scale Deflection Current. ("ohms per

Minimizing
Loading Effect
To minimize the loading of a

28

voltmeter on any circuit, the

designer must seek to
minimize the current draw of
its movement.
This can be accomplished by
re-designing the movement
itself for maximum
sensitivity (less current
required for full-scale
deflection), but the tradeoff
here is typically ruggedness:
a more sensitive movement
tends to be more fragile.
Another approach is to
electronically boost the
current sent to the
movement, so that very little
current needs to be drawn
from the circuit under test.

This special electronic circuit

is known as an amplifier,
and the voltmeter thus
constructed is an amplified
voltmeter.
Solid-state transistor

amplifier circuits accomplish

the same task in digital
meter designs. While this
approach (of using an
amplifier to boost the
measured signal current)
works well, it vastly
complicates the design of
the meter.

Minimizing
Loading Effect
An ingenious solution to the

problem of voltmeter loading

is that of the potentiometric
or null-balance instrument.
In a potentiometric

instrument, a precision
adjustable voltage source is
compared against the
measured voltage, and a
sensitive device called a null
detector is used to indicate
when the two voltages are
equal.
In some circuit designs, a

29

precision potentiometer is
used to provide the
adjustable voltage, hence the
label potentiometric.

When the voltages are equal,

there will be zero current drawn

from the circuit under test, and
thus the measured voltage
should be unaffected.
The "null detector" is a

sensitive device capable of

indicating the presence of very
small voltages.
Null detectors are typically

designed to be as sensitive as
possible in order to more
precisely indicate a "null" or
"balance" (zero voltage)
condition.

Ammeter
Design
In ammeter designs, external

30

resistors added to extend the

usable range of the movement
are connected in parallel with
the movement rather than in Using 5 amps as an extended
series as is the case for
range for our sample
voltmeters.
movement, let's determine the
This is because we want to
amount of parallel resistance
divide the measured current
necessary to "shunt," or
(not the measured voltage)
bypass, the majority of current
going to the movement, and
so that only 1 mA will go
because current divider
through the movement with a
circuits are always formed by
parallel resistances.
total current of 5 A.
Taking the same meter
Rsh = E/(Ish IG)
movement as the voltmeter
= 0.5V/(5A 1mA)
example, we can see that it
would make a very limited
= 0.5V/4.5999A
instrument by itself, full-scale
= 100.02 m
deflection occurring at only 1

Multi-Range
Ammeter
As is the case with

multiple-range
voltmeters, ammeters
can be given more than
one usable range by
incorporating several
shunt resistors switched
with a multi-pole switch.
Notice that the range

resistors are connected

through the switch so as
to be in parallel with
the meter movement,
rather than in series as it
was in the voltmeter
design.
31

The five-position switch makes

contact with only one resistor at a

time, of course. Each resistor is
sized accordingly for a different fullscale range, based on the particular
rating of the meter movement (1
mA, 500 ).
For an ammeter with ranges of 100

mA, 1 A, 10 A, and 100 A, the shunt

resistances would be as such:

Shunts Power
Dissipation
One thing to be aware of when

sizing ammeter shunt resistors

is the factor of power
dissipation.
Unlike the voltmeter, an

ammeter's range resistors have

to carry large amounts of
current.
If those shunt resistors are not

sized accordingly, they may

overheat and suffer damage, or
at the very least lose accuracy
due to overheating.
For the example meter above,

the power dissipations at fullscale indication are presented.

32

Using Voltmeter as
Ammeter
Sometimes, shunt resistors are

33

used in conjunction with

voltmeters of high input
resistance to measure current.
In these cases, the current
through the voltmeter movement
is small enough to be considered
negligible, and the shunt
resistance can be sized according
to how many volts or millivolts of
drop will be produced per amp of
current.
If, for example, the shunt resistor
in the above circuit were sized at
precisely 1 , there would be 1
volt dropped across it for every
amp of current through it.
The voltmeter indication could
then be taken as a direct
indication of current through the

Ammeter Impact on
Measured Circuit
Just like voltmeters, ammeters tend to influence the amount of

current in the circuits they're connected to.

However, unlike the ideal voltmeter, the ideal ammeter has zero
internal resistance, so as to drop as little voltage as possible as
electrons flow through it.
Note that this ideal resistance value is exactly opposite as that of
a voltmeter. With voltmeters, we want as little current to be drawn
as possible from the circuit under test.
With ammeters, we want as little
voltage to be dropped as possible
while conducting current.
With the ammeter disconnected
from this circuit, the current
through the 3 resistor would be
666.7 mA, and the current
through the 1.5 resistor would
be 1.33 amps.
34

Ammeter Impact on
Measured Circuit
If the ammeter had an internal

resistance of 1/2 , and it were

inserted into one of the branches
of this circuit, though, its
resistance would seriously affect
the measured branch current:
Having effectively increased the
left branch resistance from 3 to
3.5 , the ammeter will read
571.43 mA instead of 666.7 mA.
Placing the same ammeter in the
right branch would affect the
current to an even greater extent:

35

Clamp-On Ammeter
One ingenious way to reduce the impact that a current-

36

measuring device has on a circuit is to use the circuit wire as

part of the ammeter movement itself.
All current-carrying wires produce a magnetic field, the
strength of which is in direct proportion to the strength of the
current.
By building an instrument that measures the strength of that
magnetic field, a no-contact ammeter can be produced.
Such a meter is able to measure the current through a
conductor without even having to make physical contact with
the circuit, much less break continuity or insert additional
resistance.
Ammeters of this design are made, and are called "clamp-on"
meters because they have "jaws" which can be opened and
then secured around a circuit wire.
Clamp-on ammeters make for quick and safe current
measurements, especially on high-power industrial circuits.
Because the circuit under test has had no additional resistance
inserted into it by a clamp-on meter, there is no error induced

Clamp-On
Ammeter
The actual movement mechanism of a clamp-on

ammeter is much the same as for an iron-vane

instrument, except that there is no internal wire
coil to generate the magnetic field.
More modern designs of clamp-on ammeters

utilize a small magnetic field detector device

called a Hall-effect sensor to accurately
determine field strength.
Some clamp-on meters contain electronic

amplifier circuitry to generate a small voltage

proportional to the current in the wire between the
jaws, that small voltage connected to a voltmeter
for convenient readout by a technician.
Thus, a clamp-on unit can be an accessory device

to a voltmeter, for current measurement.

37

Ohmmeter
Design
The purpose of an ohmmeter is

38

to measure the resistance

placed between its leads. This
resistance reading is indicated
through a mechanical meter
If the test leads of this
movement which operates on
ohmmeter are directly shorted
electric current.
together (measuring zero ), the
The ohmmeter must then have
meter movement will have a
an internal source of voltage to
maximum amount of current
create the necessary current to
through it, limited only by the
operate the movement, and
battery voltage and the
also have appropriate ranging
movement's internal resistance.
resistors to allow just the right
With 9 volts of battery potential and
amount of current through the
only 500 of movement resistance,
movement at any given
our circuit current will be 18 mA,
resistance.
which is far beyond the full-scale
When there is infinite
rating of the movement. Such an
resistance (no continuity
excess of current will likely damage
between test leads), there is
the meter.
zero current through the meter
movement, and the needle

Ohmmeter
Design
We need a way to make it so that

the movement just registers fullscale when the test leads are
shorted
together.
This
is
accomplished by adding a series
resistance to the meter's circuit
The total circuit resistance needed
to limit current to 1 mA (full-scale
deflection on the movement) with
9 volts of potential from the
battery can be calculated from:

39

On the left side of the scale we

have "infinity" and on the right

side we have zero.
Besides being "backwards"

from the scales of voltmeters

and ammeters, this scale goes
from nothing to infinity.
Infinity cannot be approached in a

linear (even). With a logarithmic

scale, the amount of resistance
spanned for any given distance on
the scale increases as the scale
progresses toward infinity, making
infinity an attainable goal.

Series-Type Ohmmeter

Certain disadvantage : When the battery is old, the full-scale current drops

and the meter does not read "0" when A and B are shorted. R2 is adjusted to
get the full scale reading.
If R1 is to be adjusted to get the full scale deflection calibration will change. So

it will be better to adjust R2 only.

The design can be approach by recognizing that, if introducing Rx reduces the

meter current to ( .Ifsd ). Rh is half of full scale deflection resistance.

R1 R h

I fsd Rm R h
E

Values of R1 and R2 can be determined from the

value of Rx which gives half the full scale deflection.

where Rh = half of full scale deflection resistance.

The total resistance presented to the battery then
equals 2Rh
Ih=V /2 Rh .
The battery current needed to supply
half scale deflection is
To produce full scale current, the battery current must
be doubled.
Therefore, the total current of the ckt, It= V/Rh
The shunt current through R2 is given by (I2 = lt lfsd)

The voltage across shunt, Vsh , is equal to the

voltage across the meter.
Therefore Vsh= Vm
I2R2 = IfsdRm
But I2=It-Ifsd
Substitut
e
But

Substituting the vale of

R2

Shunt-Type
Ohmmeter

Particularly suited to the

measurement of low-value resistors

When Rx= the full-scale meter
current will be
E
I fsd
R1 Rm
The meter current for any value of

Rx , expressed as a fraction of the

full-scale current, is

By shorting AB, Im =0. So

left side is 0.
If Rx is open, maximum
current flows through the
meter
and
full
scale
deflection is infinity is on the
right most, adjusted by R1.

Rx
s
Rx R p

At half-scale reading Rh of the meter

R1 R m
Rh
R1 Rm

Another type of ohmmeter is the SHUNT

OHMMETER. In the shunt ohmmeter, the resistance
to be measured shunts (is in parallel with) the meter
movement of the ohmmeter. The most obvious way
to tell the difference between the series and shunt
ohmmeters is by the scale of the meter.

Calibration of DC
Instruments
Potentiometer
method of
calibrating a
dc ammeter
---
Potentiometer

method of
calibrating a
dc voltmeter
Current through R
is adjusted to
give a standard
voltage acrossR.

Multimeter Construction
Multimeter is an instrument

with the capability of

measuring voltage, current,
and resistance.
With all three fundamental

functions available, this

multimeter may also be
known as a volt-ohmmilliammeter.
On an analog multimeter, the

meter movement is marked

with several scales, each one
useful for at least one range
setting.

46

AC Voltage & Current:

Peak to Peak Value
We encounter a measurement problem if we try to express how

large or small an AC quantity is.

One way to express the intensity, or magnitude (also called the

amplitude), of an AC quantity is to measure its peak height on a

waveform graph. This is known as the peak or crest value of an
AC waveform.
Another way is to measure the total height between opposite

peaks. This is known as the peak-to-peak (P-P) value of an AC

waveform.
Unfortunately, either one of these expressions of waveform

amplitude can be misleading when comparing two different types

of waves.

47

AC Voltage & Current:

RMS and Average
A square wave peaking at 10

48

volts is obviously a greater

amount of voltage for a greater
amount of time than a triangle
wave peaking at 10 volts.
The effects of these two AC
voltages powering a load would
be quite different.
One way of expressing the
amplitude of different
waveshapes in a more equivalent
fashion is to mathematically
average the values of all the
points on a waveform's graph to
a single, aggregate number.
If we average all the points on
the waveform algebraically (that
is, to consider their sign, either
positive or negative), the
average value for most

AC Voltage & Current: RMS and Average

Im

Diodes are non linear at low values of forward current.

Hence the readings are crowed at the lower range of voltmeter.
In this part of the meter has low sensitivity because of high forward

resistance.
The capacitance of the reverse biased diode bypass higher frequencies
and the error is 0.5% decreases for every 1KHz rise in frequency.

RMS and DC
With Diode, the
scenario is different

In the two circuits above, we have the same amount of load

resistance (2 ) dissipating the same amount of power in the

form of heat (50 watts), one powered by AC and the other by DC.
Because the AC voltage source pictured above is equivalent (in

terms of power delivered to a load) to a 10 volt DC battery, we

would call this a "10 volt" AC source.
More specifically, we would denote its voltage value as being 10 volts RMS. The

qualifier "RMS" stands for Root Mean Square.

Sometimes the alternative terms equivalent or DC equivalent are

used instead of "RMS," but the quantity and principle are both the
same.
50

Conversion Coefficient
For "pure" waveforms, simple

conversion coefficients exist for

equating Peak, Peak-to-Peak,
Average (practical, not algebraic),
and RMS measurements to one
another.
The crest factor of an AC waveform
is the ratio of its peak (crest) value
divided by its RMS value.
The form factor of an AC waveform
is the ratio of its peak value divided
by its average value. Square-shaped
waveforms always have crest and
form factors equal to 1, since the
peak is the same as the RMS and
average values. Sinusoidal
waveforms have crest factors of
1.414 (the square root of 2) and
51 form factors of 1.571 (/2).

AC VOLTMETER USING HALF WAVE RECTIFIER

If a diode D1 is added to the dc voltmeter, measuring 10V full scale
deflection. The sensitivity of the dc voltmeter is given by
Sdc = l/Ifsd=l/lmA=lk
10 V dc input would cause exactly full scale deflection when
connected with proper polarity. Assume D1 to be an ideal diode
with negligible forward bias resistance. If this dc input is replaced
by a 10 V rms sine wave input. The voltages appearing at the
output is due to the +ve half cycle due to rectifying action.
The peak value of 10 V rms sine wave is
Ep = 10 V rms x 1.414= 14.14 V peak
The dc will respond to the average value of the ac input, therefore
Eav = Ep x 0.636 = 14.14 x 0.636 = 8.99
V
52

Since the diode conducts only during the positive half cycle,
the average value over the entire cycle = average value of 8.99 V,
i.e. about 4.5V.(Half wave)
The meter reading for a full scale is 10V dc.
4.5 V when a 10 V rms sinusoidal signal is applied.
This means that an ac voltmeter is not as sensitive as a dc
voltmeter.
Example 4.9
Calculate the value of the
multiplier resistor for a 10V rms range on the
voltmeter shown in
Solution

For HW rectifier, The ac sensitivity is almost half of DC sensitivity.

AC VOLTMETER USING FULL

WAVE RECTIFIER
The peak value of a 10 V rms
signal
Ep= 1.414xErms= 1.414x10 =
14.14V peak.
Average Value Eav= 0.636 x
Epeak = 0.636 x14.14=8.99V
Fig. ac Voltmeter Using Full
Wave Rectifier
Therefore, we can see that a 10 V rms voltage is equal to a 9 V dc for
full scale deflection, i.e. the pointer will deflect to 90% of full scale,
or
Sensitivity (ac) = 0.9 x Sensitivity (dc)

Example 4.10 Calculate the value of the multiplier resistor for a 10 V rms ac
range on the voltmeter in Fig. Ex. 4.5. Solution
The dc sensitivity is given by
Sdc= 1/Ifsd = 1/1 mA = 1 k/V
Therefore AC sensitivity = 0.9 x dc sensitivity
(F.W)
Sac = 0.9 x 1 k /V = 0.9 k /V Therefore AC sensitivity = 0.45 x dc
sensitivity (H.W)
The multiplier resistor is given by
Rs = Sac x range Rm = 0.9 k For
/V full
x 10 wave
V - 250rectifier, the sensitivity is
= 900 x 10 - 250
almost same like DC.
= 9000 - 250
= 8750

AC Voltmeter

Gives RMS
Value of Voltage

RESISTOR VALUES
AC Voltage: Twice the
value of DC ranges. Why?
56

DC Voltmeter

57

Diagram of a
Multimeter

RESISTOR VALUES
AC Voltage: Half the value of DC
ranges. Why?

AC Voltmeter
Figure above shows the ac voltmeter section of a
multimeter. To measure ac voltage, the output ac
voltage is rectified by a half wave rectifier (Green
Circle) before the current passes through the
meter. Across the meter, the other diode (Red
Circle)serves as protection. The diode conducts
when a reverse voltage appears across the diodes,
so that current bypasses the meter in the reverse
direction.
59

There are several points to note from this typical analogue

multimeter specification:
The low voltage AC voltage, and in this example the 10V AC
range may have a different scale to the others. The reason for this
is that at low voltages a rectifier is non-linear and this needs to
be taken into consideration. It is also for this reason that no 2.5V
AC range was included.
The 1000V or 1kV ranges will often use a different input
connection to enable the reading to be taken through a different
shunt and kept away from the rotary switch that may not be able
to handle a voltage this high.

60

AC current is often not included in the lower end meters because

of the difficulties of undertaking the measurement without a
transformer to step up any voltage across a series sensing resistor
for rectification.

Normally the sensitivity of an analogue meter is much less on

AC than DC. A meter with a DC sensitivity of 4k ohms per volt
on DC might only have a sensitivity of 2k ohm per volt on AC.